Feedback on Cover Idea

[Foah]

Heya

So I've been thinking about branding and cover designs, and came up with something I felt looked nice in photoshop. The artwork itself is borrowed for testing purposes (credit: Jameszapata @ DeviantArt), and I've used it since it's composed in a similar way that my own artwork will be. The "pop-out" character in the lower third of the picture, with the daunting and dark top third. It's a very simple layout really, and instead of that porcelain girl and bird, my cover will have Daki, the MC, on his knees and a leafless tree's crown in the top.

Hence, this is no original cover design that I created, rather it's a cover design in progress where I'd like some thoughts on overall composition I love clean and minimalistic styles in general, but I'm not sure others agree. I'd love some thoughts; does it work for you? Why, why not?

 

[teacup]

That cover looks fantastic, and I think the way you described it would look great, too.

 

[Ginger Bee]

I would pick up the book with the cover you've shown. I like the intensity on the porcelain girl's face, the black/white nature between her and the bird with the integration of her holding the feather, and the athleticism of her pose versus the femininity of her body.

I am not sure if I would like it so much with a man. I would have to see it to know.

 

[Foah]

I would pick up the book with the cover you've shown. I like the intensity on the porcelain girl's face, the black/white nature between her and the bird with the integration of her holding the feather, and the athleticism of her pose versus the femininity of her body.

I am not sure if I would like it so much with a man. I would have to see it to know.

Yea, I'm more than aware of the fact that the fantastic artwork does most (nearly all) of the work here, which is why I made sure to to credit properly. I'll see if I can't work up a good sketch, or ask a less artistically impaired friend to do one, that shows you what mine would look like in the end But font style, size and placement is what I'm most concerned with here, and hungry for opinions of.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I'm thinking it would be eye catching even if the girl was changed to a man.

Now I'm no graphics wiz, but I believe there are people here who are and who'd be happy to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm thinking that the bright spot at the bottom and the looming dark figure above is what does it. It would probably work just as well with a big dark tree and male figure crouching at the bottom. I also think that the dark eyes in the girl's face are rather effective as a focal point.


On an unrelated note, you should probably add a note about there being NSFW images in the thread. Yes, I know I shouldn't be browsing the forums while at work, but...

 

[Foah]

I'm thinking it would be eye catching even if the girl was changed to a man.

Now I'm no graphics wiz, but I believe there are people here who are and who'd be happy to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm thinking that the bright spot at the bottom and the looming dark figure above is what does it. It would probably work just as well with a big dark tree and male figure crouching at the bottom. I also think that the dark eyes in the girl's face are rather effective as a focal point.


On an unrelated note, you should probably add a note about there being NSFW images in the thread. Yes, I know I shouldn't be browsing the forums while at work, but...

Yea, the misty bottom is a great trick and does alot And to answer that unrelated point, I added a little disclaimer, and I hope a mod can fix it so that you don't have to enter the thread to read it

 

[Svrtnsse]

Yea, the misty bottom is a great trick and does alot And to answer that unrelated point, I added a little disclaimer, and I hope a mod can fix it so that you don't have to enter the thread to read it

It's fine here - the image is big enough that it's no issue in a maximized window on a 1920x1080 monitor.


I do believe eyes are powerful too. It's one of those patterns humans tend to find in everything, even where there aren't any. Dark eyes on a white background like in the picture are quite striking, but you also have the eyes of the crow at the top. Putting in stars or something in the background that shine through the branches of the tree might work out really well.

Also, I think Nihal might be able to do something cool with this, you should ask her.

 

[AnneL]

It's a cool picture. I like the font and the way the words seem to come forward out of the dark. The length to width ratio looks higher than is standard, and I think you need to experiment with cropping it to 9 x 6 proportions. If you do that, some of the effect of the height is going to be lost. If you have a leafless tree's crown which is spreading where the raven narrows things, that will be a big change, even more so if you make it wider. I would also put something *small* and lightcolored at the top because the bottom 2/3 have a lot of contrast whereas the top 3rd is mostly dark. A hint of fog or lighter sky or the tagline. I like the suggestion of stars from Svrtnsse.

 

[Foah]

It's a cool picture. I like the font and the way the word's seem to come forward out of the dark. The length to width ratio looks higher than is standard, and I think you need to experiment with cropping it to 9 x 6 proportions. If you do that, some of the effect of the height is going to be lost. If you have a leafless tree's crown which is spreading where the raven narrows things, that will be a big change, even more so if you make it wider. I would also put something *small* and lightcolored at the top because the bottom 2/3 have a lot of contrast whereas the top 3rd is mostly dark. A hint of fog or lighter sky or the tagline. I like the suggestion of stars from Svrtnsse.

It's just a quick mockup for a 300dpi 5 by 8, which is the most common pocket size here in Sweden. I'm still unsure of what ratio I'll go for in the end, but yea. Technicalities for when I start doing the actual image

And yes, both you and Svrt's suggestions of some light detail are good. It definitely wouldn't be too hard to keep that in mind There's a citadel tower with a beacon in the city where most of the story takes place.Having that light show through the crown would probably look good. This tree and the MC would be some 2 miles away from the city.

 

[AnneL]

Someone did some research once on Gothic-type romance book covers and found out they didn't sell as well when the light in the tower in the background was taken out.

 

[Addison]

It's soooooo cooooooooool. 8o I usually don't go for the creepy, spooky stuff but I really like your cover.