I need idea help

[risu]

Hello all! I am back, designing more covers for myself.

The first book is out already. But I want to get the others nailed down with a series look and feel. I'm satisfied with Isto. I think I'm good with Sovereign, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any. But I need idea help with Harbinger.

My goal was to somehow integrate the symbol in with the stone. I'm a bit iffy with Sovereign being metal and embedded into the stone, but I'm willing to go with it since I have no other ideas.

Without repeating what I did in a previous book, does anyone have suggestions as to what to try for Harbinger? There are three swirls, and I wanted them to not blend in together. Right now, I'm just showing them in different colors/transparency to indicate where they would be.

The symbols are clan symbols from the series. There are five total.

Any suggestions?

 

[2WayParadox]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/0b/f8/5f/0bf85f2d12815315714c0fc5b328b19c.jpg

perhaps consider doing something like this? It's the rock from hearthstone and Wow. The point I'm trying to make is: If you want to make it look like it's engraved in rock, why not have an actual rock on the cover, with an engravement?

 

[risu]

As opposed to having the background be stone? I don't want to deviate too much, or I might lose my series look.

 

[2WayParadox]

Yeah, I thought about that too. There are different shades and types of stone you can use though.

 

[risu]

I'll play with adding the rock and see how it pans out. I made the stone the same color as the clan color (gray for air), so I'll have to think about color schemes.

A friend said it looked like a tunnel or wormhole to her, and representing a gateway would apply to my story, so I might try that as well.

 

[cdgallantking]

What if the runes were polished gemstone embedded in the rock? It might work well with the theme of the covers (I really like the metal bands in the third book).

Alternately, if the symbol is an "Air" symbol, what if the markings were actually hollow and looked through the stone - into sky, space, etc. Would also fit well with your idea of a tunnel or passage.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I like the idea of continuing a theme of rock drawings / sculptures. My thought is that since the first one is out the other three need to follow it more closely. At present they don't do that well enough. I'd suggest redoing all of them so that the symbols are all etchings coming out of the rock simply for thematic continuance with the first one. Then since you obviously want to add colour to them to make them stand out, perhaps a glow.

I also see an issue with the fonts. They vary in size a little bit (and the T in Isto almost looks like a capital). Can you redo the titles so that they're all two words with the top one in the more compressed font?

Hope that helps,

Cheers, Greg.

 

[risu]

@cdgallantking I like the idea of looking through the stone to the sky or space. Gemstones don't play much of a role in the story, so I'll probably not go that route.

@psychotick Isto, Sovereign, and Harbinger are the same heights, though Sovereign and Harbinger are stretched to match. I'm not sure there are more suitable titles that would work. I would need one long word (before Isto) and two short words (after Sovereign and Harbinger) in order to get the same look.

My sis-in-law actually joked saying I should've called Thanmir War just Thanmir.

I had started with a rock protrusion for Isto and the overall look was too mild for my intended feel. In fact, I've done a rock protrusion for the first three (and removed the cracks), with intentions of doing a lenticular image for each--one peaceful, the other not so much.

The clan symbol being portrayed as claw marks are also symbolic to the story in Iso. I'm reluctant to change it. Sovereign and Harbinger, I'm a little more open.

 

[2WayParadox]

I think the problem might be the coloring of the last one. The third has the same issue to some extent.

Number one and two have natural colors. Greens (plants), oranges, yellows (fire). The other two and especially the last one have a lot more white and even black. The lines are also a lot more fluent instead of jagged. I think it kind of breaks up the feel of the other two.

So that would my suggestion be: change up the colors. The last on's supposed to be air right? You can use blues, or you could borrow colors from sundown/up or you could even go for the special colors that you sometimes see before heavy storms (I remember once seeing grey green clouds, it was ****ing awesome). The third one I'm not sure what it's supposed to be, so I can't really link it to any particular colors.

 

[risu]

The third one is supposed to be a flame. Perhaps it's too light? If I made it more yellow, would it look more flame like?

Green clouds? I seem to recall green clouds following my husband around after he ate something that didn't agree with him... J/K

I think you're right with the colors and the jaggedness though.

What do you think of adding sky? The lighting doesn't match up with the title currently, but do you think I should pursue this route? Or should I make it sunset maybe?

 

[2WayParadox]

I thought the second one was fire. Or are there two?

Something else stands out now. The overlapping circles give an impression of depth that the other designs didn't.

 

[MineOwnKing]

What if you just change the cracks in the stone to purple, and leave the rest as is? Purple and gray look good together.

 

[risu]

@2WayParadox Is the depth a bad thing?

@MineOwnKing I can try the purple glow, but were you meaning with or without the sky visible?

 

[Mindfire]

Instead of sky, what if you made the swirls grooves in the stone and filled them with water? Then maybe you could have the sky as a reflection if you wanted to go that far. But I think water would be a good choice. And it would complement the elemental theme. You could even reverse the pattern and have the symbol in stone and surrounded by water, just peeking through the surface. Having the symbol partially submerged might give you that illusion of depth and separation you want.

 

[2WayParadox]

the depth perception makes it feel more modern to me

 

[risu]

I suppose more modern isn't too worrisome.

@Mindfire - I like the water idea (both pools and stone protruding from the water), but I'm not sure it fits in with that book. But I'm going to try it for the alternate cover for Isto! Thanks for the idea!

 

[Mindfire]

I suppose more modern isn't too worrisome.

@Mindfire - I like the water idea (both pools and stone protruding from the water), but I'm not sure it fits in with that book. But I'm going to try it for the alternate cover for Isto! Thanks for the idea!

No problem. If water doesn't fit with the book, perhaps you could use sand or dust for Harbinger instead, with the symbol peeking through. The symbol reminds me of a cyclone, and when I think cyclone I often think of sand and dust. I'd definitely suggest considering the water-based alternate for Isto since its symbol looks like a crashing wave. And if you do go with it, then perhaps you could use the fire theme for Harbinger if the sand idea doesn't work out.

 

[risu]

Sand might be tough to create, but it would be more fitting to the book. I'll see if I can do it. Thanks!

 

[K.S. Crooks]

I love your cover designs. I prefer the black on the stone instead of the sky. When I look at the cove I see the swirl above the stone, not cut out of it. It is a little confusing to have the stone cut out to show sky, but it is also making what looks like a shadow. Is the grey one a shadow or is it three swirls of different shades in the air above the stone? If you want colour perhaps a type of granite or marble could be used for the stone.

 

[risu]

@K.S. Crooks What if I blur the white spiral and the dark spiral more? I had hoped the light gray one would look like the shadow of the white spiral. But if that's not coming across right, then I'll have to rework it.