Help me choose a book cover.

By Richach · Jul 5, 2020 · 649 · 8
  1. I have made these mock up's for my book cover. Just looking for peoples input to help me decide which if any might work. I can change any details quite easily.

    I am also interested to know if you think the quality is on the right track and have I missed anything.

    Many Thanks.

    Rich.


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  1. Dogberry's Watch
    I think the all white text works the best with the color scheme. The middle one could also work, but if I can only choose one, I'd say the all white.

    Although now I've looked at them longer and I think I prefer the middle one more. Are the colors significant? The background ones, I mean. The gradient between them is a bit aggressive to me. I almost want to say just red and blue gliding into one another would work better? I dunno.

    Hope this helps.
    Dogberry's Watch, Jul 5, 2020
      Richach likes this.
  2. Richach
    I have used a double gradient here, so two shades of blue and red through orange. The idea is that by giving depth to the outer edges, it lifts the middle where the eye should be looking, so an ever so slightly 3D effect (too much and I would need to bend the typography and that would be weird!) Maybe it is a bit over-engineered. With at least three other parts to the series, I was thinking of maybe changing the colours slightly to maintain the theme. It's kind of like an instantly recognisable brand thing. Although it will probably only end up on my own bookshelf. On the bright side, I could always force unwanted house guests to read it. Yes, I am looking at you, door to door salesmen. :D

    Thanks for the feedback, it helps!
    Richach, Jul 5, 2020
  3. big soft moose
    I'd really suggest that you look at other books in your field and see how their covers compare to yours.. for me these a) don't fit into the genre, and b) don't stand up well alongside pro covers

    also the colour scheme is just nasty
    big soft moose, Jul 5, 2020
      Richach likes this.
  4. Richach
    Thanks, Moose, for feedback.
    Richach, Jul 5, 2020
  5. Steve Rivers
    I think it could do with a bit of work, to be honest, Richach. I can understand what you're going for, but it needs elevating a bit more.
    I don't know how much of a mock-up these are, but it also needs capitalization of the title letters. "The Magical Tales of Niernash" "Part One - Jacindoor the Fall of Mother Earth"

    Are the colors of blue and orange important contextually to the story? If they are, if they're part of a nation's colours for instance, it might be best getting them a thread-like texture to overlay on them, to drive the point home they are part of a flag or something.

    Also, if you scour free font websites, like Dafont.com you can find some really nice free fonts that look more "fantasy" than the more standard font you have here.

    To make it look more professional, most book covers do a lot of things in a similar style, namely "THE MAGICAL TALES OF NIERNASH" title, boom, all caps. Then the secondary thing of most importance. by JOHN DOE. Boom, author's name. "Part One - Jacindoor the Fall of Mother Earth" should be smaller text, that people read as an afterthought after the main title and the author's name. Try using a second font for the authors name to break up the look.

    Those are just a few tips i noticed straight off the bat. Hope they help!
    Steve Rivers, Jul 5, 2020
      Richach likes this.
  6. Richach
    That is really thorough feedback Steve, thank you. You have pointed out things that I have not really noticed before and that is really very useful. I will make amendments and post an improved version once you and others have steered me in the right direction. :)
    Richach, Jul 5, 2020
      Steve Rivers likes this.
  7. Iain Aschendale
    I gave a shot at designing my own cover here and one thing that was pointed out to me was the... kerning? Anyway, the margins of your cover, the distance between the words and their nearest edge and the balance of the letter sizes is kind of off in a "looks unprofessional" way... I can't explain this well, but I typed (no quotes or anything)

    fantasy books with simple covers

    into Google. Take a look there and I think it might get you on the track of what I mean.
    Iain Aschendale, Jul 6, 2020
  8. big soft moose
    Kerning is the layout of the text itself, space between letters, that kind of thing. Margins is a pure layout issue. However the major font isue here is that its a screen font, not a design/print font
    big soft moose, Jul 6, 2020
      Iain Aschendale likes this.
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