Iterative design is just like writing! I'm discovering as a retired cover designer that all the revisions I put my stories through is just like making a dozen comps before finally developing the right one. Might be why I have no reluctance to kill favorite sentences or people if I think the story needs it. Practice at letting go.
Of your examples I like the yellow one with the orange heart, and I sort of like the one with the landscape on the lower right corner except it reads too _Guns Germs & Steel_ to me.
Otherwise the selected cover is the best one. Case file over the hint of a classical landscape.
Top row middle is my favorite. Hard to define why I like any book cover, it just strikes me. Can you recycle those designs for other books with content that matches them better?
"The greatest strength a designer can have is caring enough to do a good job, but never getting too attached to a particular outcome." May I never forget this 🙏 These covers are all gorgeous. I'm going to remember this article next time I start to take a client's revision requests too personally.
My second-favorite killed cover was the one on the top right for the combination of the use of the bird (birds read as hopeful to me) and the script text, which I thought was a nice touch.
My favorite was the bottom right. I love that style of art and always gravitate toward it in galleries, and I think they always *feel* hopeful for reasons I can't always articulate. Maybe because they feel big and open and full of possibility?
I like where you ended up, though. I think the art choice was great (a restored Eden seems to fit the feel of the title) and composition is excellent.
I think the cover they went with seems to tell the story of the expected content, but I like the heart one and the one above it for possibly different books. Those are the ones that if I saw them in a bookstore, I would pick up to see what they were about.
I actually like the cover you went with. While the other covers are clearly well done, I feel like the cover you went with exemplifies more of what the book is about. It also made me curious to see what the rest of the artwork (what was removed) looks like!
Iterative design is just like writing! I'm discovering as a retired cover designer that all the revisions I put my stories through is just like making a dozen comps before finally developing the right one. Might be why I have no reluctance to kill favorite sentences or people if I think the story needs it. Practice at letting go.
Of your examples I like the yellow one with the orange heart, and I sort of like the one with the landscape on the lower right corner except it reads too _Guns Germs & Steel_ to me.
Otherwise the selected cover is the best one. Case file over the hint of a classical landscape.
Top row middle is my favorite. Hard to define why I like any book cover, it just strikes me. Can you recycle those designs for other books with content that matches them better?
Theoretically yes, but I almost never do that 1:1. Sometimes I borrow the underlying idea or composition for something else, though.
"The greatest strength a designer can have is caring enough to do a good job, but never getting too attached to a particular outcome." May I never forget this 🙏 These covers are all gorgeous. I'm going to remember this article next time I start to take a client's revision requests too personally.
My second-favorite killed cover was the one on the top right for the combination of the use of the bird (birds read as hopeful to me) and the script text, which I thought was a nice touch.
My favorite was the bottom right. I love that style of art and always gravitate toward it in galleries, and I think they always *feel* hopeful for reasons I can't always articulate. Maybe because they feel big and open and full of possibility?
I like where you ended up, though. I think the art choice was great (a restored Eden seems to fit the feel of the title) and composition is excellent.
Thank you, Jon!!
I like the chartreuse one (top centre), but lots of compelling options and I do think the final is also really effective!
I think the cover they went with seems to tell the story of the expected content, but I like the heart one and the one above it for possibly different books. Those are the ones that if I saw them in a bookstore, I would pick up to see what they were about.
I actually like the cover you went with. While the other covers are clearly well done, I feel like the cover you went with exemplifies more of what the book is about. It also made me curious to see what the rest of the artwork (what was removed) looks like!