a critique site for book lovers, hosted by author Jude Hardin
Friday, November 25, 2011
Bizarre Life of Sydney Sedrick by Mandi Casey
What's the genre? What is it you like or don't like about this cover? Does it make you want to know more about the book? Does it make you want to BUY the book? Discuss.
Is there something wrong with her body? Like her legs are disconnected? Or is that me? Too hard to read the font as well. Also the eye thingie in the sky doesn't stand out enough imo. I assume paranormal, but I don't find this cover appealing.
J.R. I see where you are coming from with her legs. It doesn't bother me that much, but it's a combination of the pose, camera angle and the Photoshop work on the image.
The signiature font for Sydney is too hard to read and just doesn't work.
It's not the eyes that bug me that the tree backround. There are just too many brances and it breaks things up too much, including the eyes. I would suggest finding another tree background that is less busy and using that instead.
Yes, I have no objection to the eyes per se. You're probably right that it's really the tree that beaks it up too much. It just doesn't show enough to have impact.
I'd try to fix the thing with the legs at the same time. I don't think that position is physically possible.
Interesting cover. I love the colors and the concept, but the execution is off. The model appears shortened vertically. The perspective is out of kilter and her legs are disproportionately wider, as if the angle of the camera is peering up to make her bottom half larger than her top half. Odd.
The script font is hard to read. I don't have a problem with the cat eyes and kind of like the effect of them fading into the trees.
I don't have a problem with the background and eyes; kind of like it. But she is... weird looking. It almost looks like her legs are on backwards.
I think all the typefaces need work. the author name blends into the background, and the red script is really difficult to read and SO different from the part of the title above it that it could almost be mistaken for another author name. Maybe set the entire title in a different (clearer) script typeface?
The genre looks paranormal romance. The cover wouldn’t put me off but it could be improved.
The woman looks odd. I think because her dark dress and shoes are lost in the dark background, it puts too much emphasis on her flesh, especially her legs. She would be better in different coloured clothes.
I like the lurking beastie in the sky. However, the moon obscures it and makes the top-left area look too busy. I would say get rid of the moon, except that’s a pretty effective (though unoriginal) way of suggesting the genre. Definitely I would mask the beastie layer differently so it doesn’t appear in FRONT of the tree. Maybe that’s just me, as my eye scans the art from left to right the beast in the sky looks like an effective visual metaphor for the lurking, sinister, watching beastie. But then I see the layer in front of the tree and it just emphasises that this is a photo-munged book cover.
Is there something wrong with her body? Like her legs are disconnected? Or is that me? Too hard to read the font as well. Also the eye thingie in the sky doesn't stand out enough imo. I assume paranormal, but I don't find this cover appealing.
ReplyDeletegenre - The cover screams of paranormal-werecat.
ReplyDeleteJ.R. I see where you are coming from with her legs. It doesn't bother me that much, but it's a combination of the pose, camera angle and the Photoshop work on the image.
The signiature font for Sydney is too hard to read and just doesn't work.
It's not the eyes that bug me that the tree backround. There are just too many brances and it breaks things up too much, including the eyes. I would suggest finding another tree background that is less busy and using that instead.
Yes, I have no objection to the eyes per se. You're probably right that it's really the tree that beaks it up too much. It just doesn't show enough to have impact.
ReplyDeleteI'd try to fix the thing with the legs at the same time. I don't think that position is physically possible.
Interesting cover. I love the colors and the concept, but the execution is off. The model appears shortened vertically. The perspective is out of kilter and her legs are disproportionately wider, as if the angle of the camera is peering up to make her bottom half larger than her top half. Odd.
ReplyDeleteThe script font is hard to read. I don't have a problem with the cat eyes and kind of like the effect of them fading into the trees.
I don't have a problem with the background and eyes; kind of like it. But she is... weird looking. It almost looks like her legs are on backwards.
ReplyDeleteI think all the typefaces need work. the author name blends into the background, and the red script is really difficult to read and SO different from the part of the title above it that it could almost be mistaken for another author name. Maybe set the entire title in a different (clearer) script typeface?
The genre looks paranormal romance. The cover wouldn’t put me off but it could be improved.
ReplyDeleteThe woman looks odd. I think because her dark dress and shoes are lost in the dark background, it puts too much emphasis on her flesh, especially her legs. She would be better in different coloured clothes.
I like the lurking beastie in the sky. However, the moon obscures it and makes the top-left area look too busy. I would say get rid of the moon, except that’s a pretty effective (though unoriginal) way of suggesting the genre. Definitely I would mask the beastie layer differently so it doesn’t appear in FRONT of the tree. Maybe that’s just me, as my eye scans the art from left to right the beast in the sky looks like an effective visual metaphor for the lurking, sinister, watching beastie. But then I see the layer in front of the tree and it just emphasises that this is a photo-munged book cover.