This is one of those jobs that I thought was neat and I never heard back. Yes, some of book cover design is a big waste of time. This was also a photoshop challenge in that the ship wasn’t wrecked in this particular photo. The ocean scape is one of mine, but the derelict ship had to be distorted to fit the space, and then there was the reflection. Lots of work for nothing. So, if you’re an author and […]
This is one of the most challenging covers I’ve ever done, not because of the difficulty, but because the author oversaw every detail. I mocked up more than 20 fonts for the title, all very time consuming, which made it go way over budget. I don’t deal with the money since I sub-contract with Brian Schwartz at ePub Conversions. With all of the hassle, the end result was actually very pleasing.
Hikes in the mountains here in Colorado often afford such shots, although once again this has been composited in Photoshop. The path was the main attraction. This is one of those covers that went quite easily, but it not what I call eye catching. In design, more often than not it’s just satisfying the client.
Here is a case where the author paid good money for a shot of the milky way and was adamant about using it. I prefer my own renditions of the sky, but that’s because I create space art. The foreground image was one of mine. The overall effect is stunning, however I wasn’t fond of the title font, but these aren’t always a choice the designer gets to make.
This was a setting in the everglades. Since I’d never been there I didn’t have any images, but they types of trees were easy enough to find, and then I did some photoshop magic with a favorite sunset. I then used a filter, watercolor I think, and thus I created my scene. Since it wasn’t a wrap around, I just took one of the colors from the sky to create the rest of the jacket.
This is a winter scene I concocted by compositing a frozen lake, some frosty trees, a background, and a wintery sky. The author and his dog were added, and the shadow was painted in. Thus another one of my images being used for a book cover.
I have to admit saints are a big thing with me, but St. Malo’s was a favorite shot of mine while conducting a fieldtrip south of Estes Park, Colorado. It’s always nice when your photography pays off and you can actually put an image to use.
This is one of the images supplied by the author. The colors pop, and the title fits surprisingly well in the layout, like it was meant to be. It’s always nice when that happens.
Because of subject matter, you don’t just automatically get permission to use a product. Manufacturers weigh the consequences. So it was with finding a revolver for the front cover of Donnell Wilson’s Hypocrites In His Midst. The solution, make your own make and model. Is it any wonder that authors that think they might be sued opt for solutions where no one can point a finger. The more you are aware of copyright and liability, the more you see big […]
Sometime you’re lucky enough to do a series. In such cases you already have established a look and a theme, and more often than not, even fonts stay the same. In this series I got to spend my time on artwork, which is always my favorite part. Maybe one of these days I’ll be adding more.