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Just Showing This Off (cover for my anthology)

tlbodine

Troubadour
Final+Version2.jpg


I am really, really happy with this, so I just wanted to show it off. I am extremely blessed to be friends with several artists. I had the art drawn for me by a friend, and another design-minded friend helped me with the lettering placement and font and everything. I'm feeling a little bit insecure about my contribution to it, but I fiddled with it for an embarrassingly long time and showed it to a bunch of people and they all assured me it looked fantastic, so I figured I'd better stop trying to thinker with it before I drove myself insane.

Anyway. Um. It's my first book, I'm e-pubbing it in a week. It's seven fairytale retellings that straddle genres between fantasy and horror, and all of them deal in one way or another with fantastic (and often ill-advised) romances.

If you're curious, I'm talking about it all week on my blog: T.L. Bodine

And my artist posted a bunch of progress photos on her own blog, which gives kind of a cool insight into how the whole process works: Brain Drain: Art and Sketches by Jillian Lambert: The Beast in the Bedchamber: book cover progress!

So, um, yeah.

I'll happily take constructive criticism, but be gentle on me...I won't be tweaking *this* cover any more because it will drive me insane (unless, like, sales are totally awful and all the reviews are complaining about the cover or something) but I'll take advice in mind for future covers. And I even promise to keep my big girl pants on even though I'm kind of a ball of nerves about this book release right now :)
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I'll happily take constructive criticism, but be gentle on me...

The art is beautiful, and your friends did a great job. I'm just finding the font a little hard to read, so I think you need to work on that just a little. It's probably an easy fix but I've never been good with fonts.
 

Motley

Minstrel
I agree with Devor. The art is fantastic, and I'm very jealous of you having friends who can do this kind of thing for you. The script font is a bit hard to read, and says pretty to me rather than scary. The beginnings of both words get a bit lost over the darker bedclothes behind. Making the blankets lighter to better match the open floor might work.

Best of luck with it! Looks like a winner to me.
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
I did some tinkering with a white drop shadow instead of a black one. Does this show up a bit better?

FinalVersion3_zpsbd339f58.jpg
 

CL Frey

Dreamer
The biggest problem setting words over an image is getting them to not fight! LOL.

So, because there are diagonal lines (the shadows) under the top layer of vertical lines (the type), the reader has to do a bit of deciphering either way. I do think it's more legible with the type at that larger size. And as the previous poster mentioned, the style of font is saying something different than what the image says. The font says "Beauty and the Beast", where as the image says something more dark and scary.

You know what would have been cool, is to fit the type diagonally in between the shadows on the floor. I don't know if you can post a high-res version of your cover art but if you can and if you get time, I would play around with it :)
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
The dissonance between the type and the image was intentional - the stories themselves are straddling right between Beauty and the Beast and "Ahh! Scary!" so I figured this would be an easy way to start raising that question :) "Are these fairytales? Or are these horror stories? Oh, wait, maybe they're both." (my first version went with a much different sort of font, and looked, as someone gently informed me, like a Goosebumps book. LOL).

I did try several iterations of fitting all the title onto the floor, but it looked weird. I'll try it between the floor shadows, though, I hadn't thought of turning it at an angle....
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
OK. I tried the shadow thing, and it actually looks really good. I was afraid it wouldn't look good in thumbnail since the font has to be so small, but I think this might work. It looks surprisingly clear in thumbnail. At the small size, I did have to ditch the script, but I guess that might be a good thing depending who you ask ;)

Moving in the right direction, or should I just stop fiddling with it?

Testing3_zpsf1b43f11.jpg
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I think that font treatment looks ten times better.

Keep tinkering with font effects maybe, but I think you're just about there now.
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
I ran this version by my readers on Facebook and they unanimously voted against it in favor of the original LOL. I'm just going to back away from this thing before I drive myself nuts.

For future reference though, I've learned some lessons about getting art commissioned, especially concerning leaving empty space to work around.

Thank you guys for for the input, though. (and if sales tank after all my friends buy it, well, I can always try v2.0 then)
 

CL Frey

Dreamer
Sorry... I know you aren't asking for any more input, but I threw this together before I read your last comment.

It's going to be hard to read at a small size, but in this case it would be more the image that catches people's eye. I think you might be better off that way anyway, since it's such a - not sure how to put this - visually demanding image? ie, if you take the image but try to make the text the legible thing at small sizes, they're just going to compete.

beast-bedchamber.jpg
 

CL Frey

Dreamer
The font is Charlemagne in case anyone's wondering. Very similar to Trajan, but a bit more medieval and not nearly so overused.

PS - I agree with your FB page, I like the second version of the first cover (with the script) over the version with the type between the shadows. I can picture it in my head but it would almost have to be drawn-in type to make it fit properly :p Or maybe it's just an idea that doesn't work, period.

Anyway, I'll stop now :D
 
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Addison

Auror
CL Frey, you are scary good. The font pops but matches the tone the art sets. But I think chopping the beast's head in half with the authors name isn't good....actually it is cool. But maybe if the title and/or author name is a foreboding color, blood red or something, then it can help set the mood even more. Color variety.
 

CL Frey

Dreamer
*blushing* Thank you :)

Have spent the last 13 years in graphic design so I should hope I managed to pick something up along the way ;)
 

Grimmlore

Minstrel
i loved the second post of the cover it reminded me of an old school monster story and i had an image of person laying in bed for some reason theyre ill and in the shadows they hear the low growls of something....... dun dun dunnn,.... anyway haha that is what my impression was, the last cover with the slanty font makes me think there is a detective on the scene investigating the suspicious dissapearences of all these people in the night. :D
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
I ended up sticking with the 2nd version :)

Not that CL Frey's version wasn't excellent -- it is -- but because that 2nd version is the one that kept getting the most positive feedback, and because I was going to drive myself batty if I kept messing with it. So. Glad to hear you like it ^^
 

tlbodine

Troubadour
Thanks Addison :) I'm so far pretty pleased with the way things are going. As nerve-wracking as the whole experience is, it really is quite fun.
 

Evilyn

Scribe
Great artwork! I agree with the nosferatu vibe

My favourite was the second one, good luck with it all sounds very intriguing

Just brought your e-book on amazon as I was that curious, will let you know how I get on :)
 
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