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Hi! Aislinn here. Sooo….I need advice on cover art. I was asking a couple of my friends, Scarlett Darkhall and Iliara Mustardtop, to draw one based on a picture I found that I liked. But…I think I want to do something different. Does anyone know anyone who has done cover art? Have you done cover art? (I need a slight bit of help, especially because I want to do NaNoWriMo and it wants a cover for my novel)
ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherliI have nothing. @aislinn-mollisong I probably should find it out myself. But these people have published… @daeus @hope Perhaps they can help you? {Okay I do have tags. 😉 )
IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
@aislinn-mollisong If you want to design your own cover, I think Kate’s the only one who’s done that. You can also get pretty quality covers pretty cheap at fiverr. Ask Hope about that. I know she’s done it. And then there are also pro designers, some of which can be very expensive and some of which are pretty reasonable.
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Ok, thanks @daeus. I did want to do it myself, because *I don’t want to spend money if I don’t need to* but I’m not sure how to go about it. @kate-flournoy? Little help?
ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli@aislinn-mollisong I shall return on the morrow with bucketloads of sage advice. You have my solemn promise. *promises solemnly*
@kate-flournoy I accept that very solemn promise. And will hold you to it. I expect at leats one bucket of sage advice on the morrow.
ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli@aislinn-mollisong okay. *cracks knuckles*
First of all, unless you have Photoshop (which is what I use) I probably won’t be able to give you many technical pointers. But I can give you basic design tips that will help you with the layout/composition of the cover itself.
You will need a program of some sort, and if you don’t already have one, I recommend this free online photo-editing app/thing. I don’t have a ton of experience with this one, but from what I have used it for it’s proven very useful.I assume you’re designing a cover for an ebook. The standard dimensions for an ebook are 2400 pixels tall by 1500 pixels wide. That’s universal. Ebooks are easy. 😛
So you’ll need to start with a blank jpeg file of those dimensions, then add your photo/s in and arrange them how you want.As far as layout/aesthetic appeal goes, most people have at least a sense of artistic, so that shouldn’t be too hard for you to play around with and figure out however you like.
A few basic pointers though.
What you want is a cover that immediately jumps out from the rest; one that ‘pops’, so to speak. The best way to do this is with contrasting colors. Orange and teal, for example (though you have to be subtle with those) or purple and yellow, blue and brown, etc. The contrasts don’t have to be glaring, nor do they have to be equally distributed, but covers whose colors contrast are a lot more immediately noticeable than covers with uniform or similar colors. So keep that in mind as you’re hunting for your images (or drawing them, if you’re that brave ;P).
In regards to simplicity vs complexity, err on the side of simplicity. The most complex and interesting cover in the world can be brushed over in a moment if there’s nothing about it that makes immediate sense to the human eye.
As far as the title goes… just one thing. Don’t choose an illegible font. 😛 A lot of YA fiction covers seem to be going with the really swirly, twisted, impossible letterforms, and frankly, that hurts my brain more than the twirls please my eyes. The title is for reading. It should blend well with the cover and complement it, but ultimately, it’s not the main aesthetic attraction, so don’t overdo it.One last word of advice— the mood of your cover depends on your genre, but no matter what genre you’re writing in, don’t mistake action for dynamics. If your cover could be slapped on any other book of the same genre and still fit, you’re doing it wrong. The cover needs to be unique to your story, containing at least one element of your story’s heart. Don’t try to make it ‘cool’; it will just end up insipid. The best ‘cool’ you can give your cover is a reflection of your story’s inner ‘cool’.
And… that’s it. That I can think of. 😛 Any questions?
@aislinn-mollisong By the way, it’s pretty easy to make ebook covers on Canva. I did that once.
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@Aislinn-Mollisong I have never used Canva, but @Hope has had a very good experience with it, so yes. That could be another option.
WOW! Thanks, @kate-flournoy! I do have some questions…
I wanted to possibly go for something such as a hand with fire coming out of it, with maybe my “Emblem of the Chosen” somewhere. Either that or something combining a leaf and fire. (Since, you know, Leaf-boy and Ember-girl) Is that complatible with your guidelines?
ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherliI tried that Canva website, and played around with it. I got this.
Won’t be the finished product, but I does look pretty cool.ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherlihttps://www.canva.com/design/DACkNk_RzL8/VD1CsbSmOlMFwR0s6XTIkA/edit?category=tACZChfZug8
ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli@Aislinn-mollisong it looks great, but I’ve seen that image floating around and I’m pretty sure it’s not free; did you find the artist and ask for copyright license?
But as far as composition and layout, it looks great. The only thing is you might want to consider a slightly bolder, straighter font. Something more in tune with the fantasy mood.
@kate-flournoy yes, it’s from Pinterest. I’m not actually going to use that, I was just trying out the website and figuring out all the buttons. And yes, going to change the font.
ENTP, Aether-borg Hero with cape obsession and fascination with swords.
https://forums.theaetherli@Aislinn-Mollisong got it. 🙂 You did mention that you weren’t going to use that in the final, but I wanted to make sure. They’re fine to use for fun, but if you’re going to use them commercially in any way… yep. Copyrights. 😉
Awesome! Show it to me when you’re done.
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