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Something is still missing

  • Thread starter Deleted member 6067
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D

Deleted member 6067

Guest
ToBP.png

New novel, new cover!
I do not fancy it as much as my first one's, though. So far whomever I asked about it all seemed to like it but the simplicity of the symbol in the middle and the ornate corner designs still throw me off. Like it needs more detail to it. Is it just me?
 

K.S. Crooks

Maester
Perhaps it's as simple as changing the colour scheme. Or maybe have something in the distant background such as a city, forest or characters.
 
Try a fancy ornate ring/ circular frame around the center symbol. Nothing too big, just enough to tie in with the corner motifs. That way, it's not too jarring and it makes the simplicity of the symbol seem deliberate and important, like an illuminated manuscript highlighting a calligraphic text character.

Dover publishers has great royalty-free clip art for purchase, sometimes for free. You should be able to edit it in with your existing file pretty easily.

Also, work on the tracking, size and centering of the top line of text. Too me, it's crowded enough to be almost illegible. Might need to simplify the font, or at least the boldness. I think it reads "Tales from the"... "Enchanted Sector"?

My two cents, spend them however you wish ;)
 

Insolent Lad

Maester
I would be inclined to make the symbol smaller and the type larger and more prominent. Move the author name up some and the subtitle down, tying it all together more, creating more of a central focus. It looks a bit disjointed as-is, like the elements are just sort of floating there.
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
Looks good to me. You could impose a more ornate pattern on the logo, and I'd make your name larger, but as it is the cover is already publishable.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
I would be inclined to make the symbol smaller and the type larger and more prominent. Move the author name up some and the subtitle down, tying it all together more, creating more of a central focus. It looks a bit disjointed as-is, like the elements are just sort of floating there.

Yes. The subtitle and author name need to be WAY BIGGER. Also, you should really choose a different font as this one is going to be illegible at thumbnail size.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
One thing that's throwing me off a little is the word "sector" in the subtitle. It says "Tales from the uncharted sector," right? My thinking is that an uncharted sector is something that exists in space, and that it would be a collection of sci-fi or space opera stories. Looking at the font and the overall design it doesn't really say sci-fi at all. It looks more like there's a gothic occult theme to it.

You can probably keep the design as is, and the font for the main title, but change up the font for the author name and the subtitle to support the sci-fi theme better.
That said, this is all just based on the word sector, so I could be completely off.
 
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Deleted member 6067

Guest
Thank you for your help. I've added a little decor ring and rearranged the text here and there. It feels a whole lot better now. I also dropped the subtitle altogether. In that light I have also remade my first novel's cover.
Let me know what you think:

ToPF.png
ToBP.png

(EDIT: Whoops, I forgot I used the image link from my own site, so now both the first post and this one looks the same. Sorry about that.)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
Cool. This looks a lot better.
You could probably move down the title and the author name a little bit more even.
 
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