thinking about covers

[asakiyume]

I still have several (or at least two) Timor-Leste posts to make, but meanwhile, I'm playing around with ideas for covers for Pen Pal. What are the pros and cons, as you see them, of something like this?



ETA It's funny, just having it up here and talking about it even a little is helping me articulate other things that dissatisfy me about it. I think it's too *static* somehow, for one thing.

I think I may want something entirely different.

Comments

[sovay]

What are the pros and cons, as you see them, of something like this?

Where would you put the text?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Indeed. My instinct would be to put it in the upper third of the cover, in a box defined by faded-out color. But if I did that, then all the saltwater marsh grass would be obscured. So, maybe the lower third, in a similar box of faded-out color, but in the lava.

--That's if I use the cover. I'm not sure I will. I might try something completely different. Plus, those commenting below are suggesting potential compositional changes to the cover, if I were to stick with this one. So everything's up in the air.

[marrael.livejournal.com]

The diagonal perfectly splits the picture space into half, which makes poor composition, unfortunately. I would play with alternate ways to crop the image so that it's not so 50-50. That said, inserting text into a plain box/rectangle within the picture may work; otherwise, the red earth is too busy for naked text to go on top of it.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thanks; this is very helpful. I have mixed feelings about the image overall, but it's interesting to hear some of the concrete reasons the image is problematic.

If I *were* to stick with this image, and if I were to tweak it, I'd probably increase the portion that was saltwater marsh--bring that down--and decrease the portion that was lava. (Interesting too that you read that just as earth--that's informative too.)

[wuweibaby.livejournal.com]

Thirds are always good, compositionally. Or thereabouts.
Shrink the red?

$.02 for what it's worth. :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Mmm, your two cents would buy me half a loaf of bread in Timor-Leste, or almost (one little loaf goes for five cents).

I may try something entirely different for a cover, but yeah, both you and marrael have commented on the compositional problems of having an equal split in space, and yeah, if I were to increase one or the other, I'd increase the water.

[wuweibaby.livejournal.com]

However I do like the color and pattern

I'd like 1/3 of a loaf of that fine bread, please

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention the rule of thirds, too.

I could see something like this working for your split idea: http://i2.wp.com/www.coverdesignstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/9781416950608.jpg?resize=142%2C201

Instead of the bird, a message in a bottle or some such. You have a bird, too, but it would be too similar.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Amazing that you picked this book as it's one of three that I'd mentioned to agents when they wanted to know books that I thought were similar to this one! I do love that cover.

[zdenka]

I was going to say something similar to the others, though for a slightly different reason. The lava (which I interpreted as just fire) is very bright, so to have it be half of the image overwhelms the salt marsh somewhat. Have you thought about different ways of combining the two images -- maybe something like a rectangle of salt marsh surrounded by a border of lava? Or dividing them with curves rather than straight lines?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am thinking that insofar as I'd keep the lava-salt marsh thing, I'll have it in a very different way--maybe just hints of the lava in a ragged, intruding way (I realize those words probably don't convey well what I'm thinking....), and then mainly the sea and salt marsh. And I'll have to probably use a photo or modified photo to make clear that it's lava and not just fire.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I strongly encourage you to use a photo . . . rachelmanija has been studying covers, what works and doesn't, and said that photography is the way to go now.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I will take that under advisement. I have a rather visceral dislike of many of the photographic covers that I see around, and I'm rather charmed by some of the non-photographic ones that I see, but I know enough to know that I'm only one data point.

My personal preferences aside, in order to create the cover I'm imagining (I'm now imagining something rather different from this), I will probably end up using photographs, though maybe modified.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Modify, sure! Make it artistic; I had the same conversation with R, who pointed out what sells, not what suits our particular aesthetic. (So I've been trying to combine both, with the result of three recent cover changes: A Posse of Princesses, Lhind the Thief, and most recently, Sartor.)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Ooh, can you link me to where I can see the new covers?

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Sure!

There's one to go.
http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/bvc-author/sherwood-smith/

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh, I very much like the new cover for A Posse of Princesses

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Thanks! One of my gowns, one of our tapestries, an old fan, my son's pretty girlfriend, a cell phone cam, and voila!

[coffeesvp.livejournal.com]

I was about to suggest a high resolution photo of Krakatoa, although I don't know the cost or licensing implications. And of course another photo for Mermaid's Hands.
I love these. (scroll down)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203028/Will-Krakatoa-rock-world-Last-time-killed-thousands-changed-weather-years-deadlier.html

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Those are fabulous photos--but since the Ruby Lake is a lava lake, I'm more likely to use an image from Nyiragongo or Ambryn or one of the other lava-lake volcanos.

[coffeesvp.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who recently returned from Nyiragongo, but he didn't have a camera. Anyway, I felt guilty as soon as I posted the comment - didn't really want to advise you on your strength, artistry, but did want you to see the photos of Krakatoa. I've been thinking a lot about Krakatoa.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

No need to feel guilty or bad in any way! I love volcanos and love photos of them. On the contrary: thank you!

What did your friend have to say about his visit to Nyiragongo?

[coffeesvp.livejournal.com]

Design Talk on NHK had a segment on the geometry of Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa. An arc with a radius equal to the altitude of the drawing goes through the crest of the wave and the top of Mt. Fuji.
A neat video on the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji -
http://youtu.be/tOcDbP3yRsI
Viewing the video made me wonder if you could merge the two locations into one location and yet somehow keep them separate in the mind of the viewer.
(The thoughts of one who has trouble drawing stick figures.)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I will take a look at the video--when you say merge the two locations, do you mean the distant mountain and the foreground wave?

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

Disclaimer up front, I haven't read Pen Pal, so I could be totally wrong. But I look at this image and it tells me nothing about what might be inside the cover. In other words, it doesn't draw me in or make me want to pick up the book.

Having fought cover wars recently, I'm pretty sensitive to what an image tells a potential reader. You need to give them something to identify with or latch on to. This is pretty, but it is static and a bit generic.

What someone said before me about photographs is very true. They work better as covers than watercolor illustrations.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It is *very* static (and has other problems and things about it that dissatisfy me), and my ideas of what I want to do on the cover have changed--in part they were already going that way before I posted this, but in part they've really clarified based on what people are saying.

The cover as I'm conceiving of it will have maybe a few more hints to draw the reader in. Watch this space for more!

[cecile-c.livejournal.com]

I don't know if that will help, but I think that sometimes, a picture looks static when the viewer's gaze is static. Many pictures have a focal point, which causes the viewer's gazeto travel, whether they realise it or not; for example, converging lines will direct the gaze to a certain point, or a gradation of colours from cold to warm or from light to dark may achieve the same effect. The process is very quick, but in the end, the viewer starts looking at a random part of the picture and ends up directed to the focal point, which creates an impression of depth and movement. The two-thirds rule in composition is often used to reinforce that effect, too.

Perhaps the problem here is that there are very sharp lines in the picture that direct the viewer's gaze straight outside the frame. The diagonal in the middle is one, but there is also the grass that points upward, to what's outside the frame as well. The viewer's gaze isn't directed to any part of the picture in particular. That may be perfectly okay if you want to create a pattern rather than a composition; but it might be why you feel the picture is a bit static. Adding text might change a lot, though.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

These thoughts are very helpful indeed--for my understanding of how pictures work, most fundamentally. So thank you!

This picture shows me how something can seem like a good idea in your head and then end up revealing itself to not be so good in reality. I was dissatisfied with the results but unable to think why I was dissatisfied, and I was reluctant to scrap the effort. Now, however, thanks to people's comments, I have lots of good reasons, plus lots of other ideas of how to approach the task of cover art.

[dudeshoes.livejournal.com]

I get involved with covers a good bit. So who is the audience you think will see the cover and want to read more? The young person? The parent? The agent? I like the water and fire imagery, but you probably need people on the cover. Maybe people a little more abstract. If you get published, you won't be involved in the choice of art. If you are self-publishing, it might be fun to invite illustrations form the public, have a popular vote and prize but pick your own preference. I've been discussing different Web payment methods with my son. He notes videogames in which you have to pay a small amount to get some feature that will help you. Or pay a small amount to get the next level if you don't want to wait 8 min. You could charge to give out the next chapter or part chapter sooner than say next week. Also I am going to blog about a band that for a small fee offers MP3s at the rate of one a week. It is not clear to me how one prevents copying.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Great thoughts dudeshoes; thanks for your input! You're reminding me that I'd originally contemplated all this happening in the context of what, in my mind, was to be a fun and interactive website. Well, I started investigating website options, but it's kind of like investigating Kickstarter--as you investigate, you realize it's a whole complicated world unto itself.

I imagine the band you're going to blog about knows the risk of copying, but is banking on the spread of word of mouth offsetting the losses due to copying.