Book Covers - Fly Solo: The 50 Best Places On Earth For a Girl t

Occasionally I art direct the New York Times op-ed page, which puts me in contact with some of the best and most respected illustrators in the world. More and more, I am envious of the illustrator, who can create perfect visions directly from their own mind’s eye, and aren’t constrained to type and the ‘perfect photo’.

In this gleeful illustration, the mood is conveyed perfectly – often I hear from women travelers who lament the difficulties of traveling alone (Sometimes they end up not even going!) I think the cover design conveys the intrepid adventurism of the book’s contents, is crafted perfectly to fit its type and tagline, and is entirely fresh on the bookshelf. I shall recommend it!

My only dislike is that the layout is a tad crammed – and the ‘TangoDiva’ tagline seems like a pretty strange place to do some cross-promotion!

— , 2008-09-14 14:10:00 -0400

I am completely confounded. This just doesn’t measure up on any level. Do you really think this cover is “crafted perfectly”?

As for this cover… I have to say it feels stitched together more by PhotoShop than a labor of love on a piece of paper. I think illustration has great potential in cover design… the operative to describe this one is potential.

well, talking about the illustration. it looks good kinda reminds of grandma stamps..yet the plane is perspectively inaccurate. and ohh.. the gradient color of the text.. its killing me..

Love the illustration and the secondary titles/call outs that are made to look like passport stamps. That said, I do feel that the background is cluttered, and competes with the important information on the cover. The clouds are a little fussy.

A bit confused here. The concept is trite, there’s no sense of hierarchy whatsoever, and the style of illustration makes it seem like a Young Adult graphic novel entry reader.

This is one of the least “perfect” covers ever posted on this blog, and yet you used the word twice to describe it!

What has me confounded is that you didn’t just post it for comments but put your imprimatur on it by saying it is “crafted perfectly”. On the ‘Superdove’ post you did it again when you stated “One of those cases where if you were to describe it to someone, they’d never believe it was a decent cover, let alone a great one.”

To be fair to Chris, the Superdove cover was posted by Ben Pieratt. Different editor.

Wow, I used the word ‘perfect’ three times. How annoying – this is why I shouldn’t be allowed to post so late into the night.

That said, I think ‘perfection’ in a book cover means it does its job and convinces me to pick it up, makes a connection to the contents, and shows some level of creativity on the part of the publisher & designer. I challenge you to find a flaw with its appeal to its target audience, and to find another one like it on the shelf.

Kinda feels like a children’s book. This is a great illustrative style for kid’s books. The “subtitle” looks plopped int here and not planned adding to the business of an already busy composition. The typography is very fun and compliments the illustration…

i’m a girl and i travel solo so i guess im the target. i don’t think i would pick it up. the cover may appeal to tangodiva.com audience but not to most of the women travelers i know.

I guess this qualifies as a travel book, and as such it will definitely stand out amongst all the other similar titles with their inevitable Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, etc., etc., photo-montage covers.

looking at the girl.. she looks wealthy, an aristocat maybe. well posed and well dressed and an expression profoundly only by a mannered and well educated woman. wealth as a superficial resemblance. thus, maybe not your typical rugged traveller.

Dear heaven! Fortunately, you only occasionally art direct the NY Times Op-Ed or I’m canceling my subscription! This is just poor taste, lad. (appropriate for a children’s book, yes)

I personally like the cover overall, but I’m a sucker for illustration. I think it would stand out on a Travel shelf, next to all the Time Out Books and Frommers with their solid colored borders and single photograph on the cover.

I think the title could stand out better. It gets lost in the clutter for me. I’d like to see it brighter and overlapping the illustration, rather than behind it.

a fun attempt at a genre that is so flat so often, as mentioned by others. kind of a busy layout, but i think that’s the point- this is for independent motivated women. and considering the audience this is blissfully free of the canned crap that covers chick-lit and related markets. at least she’s not holding a damned martini glass!
nice work.

Fear not you bickering scoundrels, I’ll post something that will calm your sensitive nerves here in a bit.

To me, it looks like 4 different designers collaborating on a single cover.
Title / Illustration / Subtitle / Author Creds
Completely different styles.
Is this a future trend?

Maybe the problem is that a book like exists, and therefore requires an equal amount of bad taste to produce a cover in order to sell it.

I am a solo female traveller too, and there is very little on this cover I’d like to be assosiated with. It looks like tremendous FUN, surely, but if I sat on a train, I would hide the cover..

i think it’s all just a little bit too much of one style, i wish they has done something maybe more striking and contrasting with the type at the moment everything’s on one level for me.