The Hows and Whys of Cover Design

cheapbag214s · Posted: Thu 15:31, 03 Oct 2013 Post subject: The Hows and Whys of Cover Design

The Hows and Whys of Cover Design
From the desk of Anne Diebel,[url=http://parajumpersjakkernorgejacketkodiak.olimx.com/][b]Parajumpers Jakker Norge Jacket[/b][/url], Senior Creative Director of FSG and Roaring Brook
After more than twenty years designing books,[url=http://parajumpersjakkernorgejacketkodiak.olimx.com/][b]Parajumpers Jakker[/b][/url], you would think that I would be able to recognize a truly challenging project at first glance avoid it I did not see this one coming.
Nancy Mercado phoned me this past summer while I was still freelancing for Roaring Brook to tell me about a book she wanted me to design. She said it was called The Baby Quota. I accepted without hesitation, not so much because I needed the money, but because of the letterforms. A capital Q is a real treat for designer and the proximity of the lower case y to that Q was almost too much to hope for. Happily, happily, I took the assignment.
Now, in the first pages of this book a mother gives birth, the midwife drugs her, then takes the baby to hand it over to The Enclave,[url=http://duveticaoutletcanada.halod.com/][b]duvetica canada[/b][/url], a privileged portion of this future world that lives within a walled section of the city. This scene and others like it describe what the baby quota is.
In very short order I sent Nancy a comp that I thought was pretty nifty. It showed the graphic profile of a pregnant woman with the title curved into the shape of a womb. The whole cover was flat black and red to convey the harrowing tone of the book,[url=http://www.duveticajacketsjp.com/][b]デュベティカアウトレット[/b][/url]. Seemed like a winner.
I was mistaken. "We've changed the title," Nancy said. "It is now The Baby Code".
I stifled a little gasp thinking of my capital Q.
"Not a problem," I tell her and start kicking around new ideas.
Shortly thereafter I sent some solutions utilizing black and white photography and the title The Baby Code. They were interesting, but not resoundingly received. So I did another round of comps, but we decided the word "Baby" was working against this cover. The depiction of this tattoo may sound like a solution, but in point of fact it was kind of a dead end.
More titles, more images. Suffice it to say that over the course of weeks and months I created dozens and dozens of options for this cover. That is not a proud admission for a designer. It is so much more satisfying to say that you dashed off one design on a Post-it that sent everyone into an ecstasy, but that was not the case for this one.
At a certain point we decided that showing a baby in any form was as bad as saying baby. So I focused my attention on the books heroine,[url=http://woolrichdeutschland.albirank.net/][b]Woolrich Arctic Jacket Damen[/b][/url], Gaia, who is the young midwife. Gaia bears a scar across one side of her face. I suggested the title Birthmarked with the taglines "The Scars You Bear Set You apart,[url=http://duveticaonline.olimx.com/][b]http://duveticaonline.olimx.com/[/b][/url], And The Circumstances of Your Birth Chart Your Future", referring to both Gaia and the babies. With modified copy, this seemed like a terrific idea one of our major accounts saw the cover.
So, to make a long story short, and as cheerful as it can be,[url=http://parajumpersoutletdanmark.albirank.net/][b]Parajumpers jakker Udsalg Danmark[/b][/url], I re-assigned this title. (I could do that now because in the midst of this project I was hired on as the Senior Creative Director for RBP and FSG). I assigned it to one of our cracker-jack freelancers, who was gallant enough not to resolve the whole thing in one round, but resolve it he did. It is a beautiful thing too.
Some of the dozens of covers created are shown here. No blood, sweat,[url=http://monclerjacketsdeutschland.albirank.net/][b]Moncler Jacken Deutschland[/b][/url], or tear stains remain,[url=http://giuseppezanottiweddingshoes.webmium.com/][b]giuseppe zanotti wedding shoes Shop[/b][/url], just the memory of a hard-fought fight.
Birthmarked is a terrific book,[url=http://www.duveticajacketsjp.com/][b]デュベティカ激安[/b][/url], by the way. My hope is that you and 75,[url=http://woolrichoutletitalia.albirank.net/][b]Woolrich Piumini[/b][/url],000 others will want to give it a look, cover notwithstanding.
I got an ARC of the book that has the first cover of Gaia. Frankly, I really liked the cover and was disappointed when I saw what will be the final cover. The book was great reading, but I think the girl on the new cover looks too young. The whole thing is too gray and dreary looking and I really don't know what the colored squiggles are meant to represent--they certainly don't look like the code or the birthmark pattern. I'd be curious to know more about why the major account didn't care for the ARC cover because the new cover will be a harder sell to the teens in my library.
I just finished reading birthmarked, and was really curious about the charging cover. I had agreed to read an ARC of it,[url=http://duveticasale.albirank.net/][b]Duvetica Online[/b][/url], after the cover(the blue one) drew me in to read what it was about. When I received it with the girls face front and back, i was taken aback. it no longer appeared like a book that would interest me(I hate to say this,[url=http://monclerjassengoedkopekoop.albirank.net/][b]Moncler Jassen[/b][/url], knowing how hard you worked on all the covers). I didn't like the font of the title,[url=http://monclerdownjacketsoutlet.albirank.net/][b]Cheap Moncler Down Jackets For Men[/b][/url], it was too sci-fi, and I usually would say "I don't read sci-fi". (the problem with that is,[url=http://duveticaonline.olimx.com/][b]duvetica jackets shop[/b][/url], I love dystopian books, which are pretty much sci-fi).
Thank you so much for posting this article! It was fascinating to see "behind the scenes" work on the creation of a cover. Truly work! I'm a big fan of both the ARC cover and the published cover, although I probably prefer the published 1st (my husband liked the ARC better). I'm definitely glad you decided to go "baby-less" as I think you wouldn't have appealed to the audience quite as well as with the other two.
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