Attention getting cover designs

[seligman]

I want to spruce up the covers on an upcoming reference book. My budget only allows for 1 Pantone color and a UV coating on the covers. My plan is to have a dark blue background with artwork and lettering in white (paper color).

I've done this before with a red background, and it looked really nice. But I can't use red on this project. It has to be blue.

Questions:

-What shade of blue is ideal for attracting attention? Do I want a darker blue to provide higher contrast with the white?

-Does the brightness of the paper make a difference? Should the white lettering, logos, and artwork be as "bright white" as possible?

-UV coating. Glossy or matte finish?

-Fonts, borders, and artwork. Obviously these play a big role, but compared to the other factors, how significant are they?

I realize these are big questions with no simple answer. But I'm curious how you would approach this situation. Thanks.

[mojoprime]

wow. that's basically saying "how should i design this? or design this for me." you might get more mileage out of the forum if you post some samples of what you were thinking, and let everyone help you firm up your ideas.

all of those questions you pose are subjective, depending on the creative brief or project direction, branding and style -- all of which you know, and we have no concept of.

i think you may have to give us more than you have.

[seligman]

I didn't mean it like that.

What I was trying to ask is whether the design aspect (my job) holds equal, greater, or less weight to the specs I choose and the work done by the printers.

I could spend 9 hours working on fonts and artwork, then 1 hour choosing a color, paper type, and coating.
Or, I could split it up and devote 5 hours to each.

Like my budget, my time is finite too. I want to make the most of what I have. What would you do?

[CkretAjint]

Seriously... Do fonts play a big role in your design? *blinks.... blinks some more*

[Riefnu]

I'd just blank stare a image search, find what repeatedly catches the eye, found out WHY it catches the eye, and try an angle off of why it worked.




Google images, finally as large as your memory.

[seligman]

Seriously... Do fonts play a big role in your design? *blinks.... blinks some more*

Hence the reason I asked about color first.

A bad color combination (i.e. yellow ink on white paper) makes font choice irrelevant, wouldn't you agree?

[CkretAjint]

Not entirely... You could be doing piece on the color yellow and perhaps the look you were going for. :)

[seligman]

Not entirely... You could be doing piece on the color yellow and perhaps the look you were going for. :)

I know there are exceptions...the ones I'm talking about are those hard on the eyes. So difficult to see that people won't look unless they have to.

[shmoo]

it's a one colour job yeah? what type of artwork are you thinking of putting on the cover?! and no no no borders!