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Contessa Cover- Final?

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
I'm looking at this and wondering if others will be bugged by one little thing or not, so without saying what it is, take a look!
The-Contessa-of-Mostul-Ûbar-03.jpg
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I liked without seeing the question.

Well...I dont know what you are looking for. I find this type of cover is always a hard choice for me. Is that the Contessa in the picture?

Looking away from the camera, I cannot see her. So the image is one of an impending 'Me against that", which is a strong image I've seen in many iterations, but its still a shot of the back of the character. I would wrestle with that if it were my cover.

After that I would just have to get nitpicky. Nothing in the picture would make me think less of the book.

Is it that the A is in two different fonts?
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
It would be the Contessa in rapier-training gear, at the time practicing using the cloak in combat. The quibble my eye has is common with robes and cloaks in digital art. On our left side, where her braids end, there's a crook in the flow of the cloak/cape. At once, I can imagine her arm is causing that, but... it still draws my eye. LOL. Am I being nutty? All right! I'm always nutty; am I being too nutty?

For the main, it fits the general styling of the 3 previous books, which were also blue, orange, and green, and this gives a golden yellow to the collection.

The change in A's doesn't bug me since it balances the "N" in the top line... in a sense. But now that you mention it, I notice it more, LOL.

AND, now I noticed the rapier's length is more smallsword, but I can attribute that perception to the angle, heh heh.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Excellent. but no, there's a bend in the angle of the cloak on the left that catches my eye and bugs my perception of flow.

You are thinking it makes her hair look too long?

I did see the braids, I don't see anything wrong with her cloak.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Even looking to be nitpicky, the figure of the girl drew no additional scrutiny from me. I thought the building on the hill looks very large compared to the others, and that the sun behind the building probably could not shed its light in such a way, but...the girl...I mean, shes got her shirt on inside out, but nothing else I notice.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
There is enough of a breeze to fill the sails of the ship in the harbor. Which means there is enough of a breeze to move her cloak.

Does the cloak have pockets? And if so, do they contain any weighty objects?
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
None I know of, but she does hangout with a smuggler... hmmm.
There is enough of a breeze to fill the sails of the ship in the harbor. Which means there is enough of a breeze to move her cloak.

Does the cloak have pockets? And if so, do they contain any weighty objects?
 

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
All looks fine to me, the cloak didn't stand out to me as "wrong" in any way. Even after having it pointed out, it wouldn't bother me. Just the wind being the wind.
 
I see what you mean with the cloak (now that you've pointed it out). It does look like there's a metal rod or something pushing her cloak back (starting from the end of her braid). And if it's the wind it's actually blowing the wrong way, since the ship is moving away from the viewer, and the wind is clearly filling the sails, which means the cloak should actually be wrapped around her legs, not flowing back. And the sword is indeed to short to be a rapier.

Having said that, they're minor details, and I only noticed them because you mentioned the cloak, and I spent a lot of time looking at it.

It's a great cover. It makes me want to buy the book. It evokes images of an adventure story of a woman travelling to fantastical places in a slightly steam-punky, 16th century, middle eastern like setting. Give it a good blurb and you've sold it to me.
 
As a graphic designer, this is really nice, the typography needs to readable and appropriate to the subject, which I think it is.

The only thing bothering my eyes is the the words ‘Mostul Ubar’, where I think they could do with being made a smaller point size and tracked slightly - extending the space between the letters so they aren’t bunched up.

The image has a central figure and creates a rule of three drawing the eye to centre of the book, so from that perspective, that also works.

That probably isn’t the kind of critique you were looking for…
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Nope, that fits well in what I want to hear. Unfortunately, I finalized it before reading this because I think you're right.

As a graphic designer, this is really nice, the typography needs to readable and appropriate to the subject, which I think it is.

The only thing bothering my eyes is the the words ‘Mostul Ubar’, where I think they could do with being made a smaller point size and tracked slightly - extending the space between the letters so they aren’t bunched up.

The image has a central figure and creates a rule of three drawing the eye to centre of the book, so from that perspective, that also works.

That probably isn’t the kind of critique you were looking for…
 
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