Designed my first book cover

**Yossarian** · 02-17-2010, 07:23 PM

I like the simplicity of the front. If I could change one thing (sorry I know you said you're not really looking for crit) I'd make the text on the back just a little bit smaller to get it further away from the edges.

J_Frye · 02-17-2010, 07:37 PM

yes I like the cover as well but I gotta say it...

" A Collection of Poetry..." fades into the background, font too light...and again this is too close to the edges as well.

holycow77 · 02-17-2010, 08:11 PM

It's in the crit pit, so I'm gonna crit it.

The front looks good, but the text at the bottom looks really cramped. It makes me feel tense. I would have reduced the size of the font and expanded the kerning to maybe 50 or 100 to make it look more natural. And it's not centred.

The back is a bit ugly. The text has that same tension. It would look better a little smaller, so that the leading could be increased a bit.... that would make it easier to ready too. And I personally would have used the same font from the front - The same goes for the text on the spine.

Those brush strokes are hideous and don't relate to anything in else in the design.

adriancg · 02-17-2010, 09:19 PM

Well, the title is using a brush script typeface so the strokes can relate, maybe try making them thinner since they're a bit overpowering.

JaCkinbOx · 02-17-2010, 10:55 PM

The title's centered in my file, but I see what you're talking about. I'll check to see what's up.

It's a 5x7" book, 52 pages. The thing that bugged me is that the spine's only going to be 0.104". I couldn't get anything larger than a 6 or 7pt font to fit, but that's what I'm limited to. Maybe if I capped all the letters, I could get away with a bit bigger, since it's the descenders taking up that extra bit of room.

Roth · 02-18-2010, 10:07 AM

Ask her to write longer poems.

The front's nice but there's a total disconnect with the back. All the nice, clean design has given over to bog standard stodgy type, and an Illy brush swoosh. They just don't look part of the same book. And if i were Nancy i'd want my name a bit more prominent somehow.

Tea · 02-18-2010, 10:19 AM

It's always exciting to see your work put into print. I go back and a couple of my designs still hold strong. A couple, I wish I could put under a rock. You'll only get better.

Roth..I agree on the name, but have you noticed how big some author's names have gotten on the best seller paperbacks? I was floored on how huge they've gotten. Some of them take over half the front cover. To me, that's a bit of an overkill.

Roth · 02-18-2010, 10:31 AM

Small pens syndrome.

Totem-Media · 02-18-2010, 01:02 PM

I like the front picture a lot. Very calm and beautiful. The subtitle on the front is getting lost because it is so light. The swooshes on the back don't fit IMHO with the overall design or the back design.

Paj · 02-18-2010, 04:30 PM

Originally posted by holycow77 View Post

It's in the crit pit, so I'm gonna crit it.

The front looks good, but the text at the bottom looks really cramped. It makes me feel tense. I would have reduced the size of the font and expanded the kerning to maybe 50 or 100 to make it look more natural. And it's not centred.

The back is a bit ugly. The text has that same tension. It would look better a little smaller, so that the leading could be increased a bit.... that would make it easier to ready too. And I personally would have used the same font from the front - The same goes for the text on the spine.

Those brush strokes are hideous and don't relate to anything in else in the design.

^ This.

lowfatgraphics · 02-18-2010, 08:41 PM

Originally posted by holycow77 View Post

It's in the crit pit, so I'm gonna crit it.

The front looks good, but the text at the bottom looks really cramped. It makes me feel tense. I would have reduced the size of the font and expanded the kerning to maybe 50 or 100 to make it look more natural. And it's not centred.

The back is a bit ugly. The text has that same tension. It would look better a little smaller, so that the leading could be increased a bit.... that would make it easier to ready too. And I personally would have used the same font from the front - The same goes for the text on the spine.

Those brush strokes are hideous and don't relate to anything in else in the design.

agreed.

I would also place the authors picture inside the flap or somewhere else except the outside

I do like the overall direction of the cover. Just need to iron out the details.

Designed my first book cover

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