Oh c’mon. I dare you to say something bad about this.
It’s a bit obvious, MAYBE, but that’s about the extent of the trash-talking you can reasonably justify.
—
, 2008-07-14 10:28:00 -0400
the type is all set very nicely, but i think you could talk about the relevance of the border and that shade of salmon. I suppose it was chosen because it is a red and therefore eye-catching yet a bit off and perhaps more sensitive feeling.
wouldn’t the cover feel lonelier without the grey and black border? just drifting off… I love how quiet it all is.
—
, 2008-07-14 10:42:00 -0400
Daring a bunch of semi-anonymous critics to say bad things…err, no comment! This is a great cover, and have I mentioned I love this site? Thx.
I actually have to agree about the border. It actually contradicts what the type and the dot are trying to do by closing everything into a group. But yes, otherwise very nice.
—
, 2008-07-14 12:15:00 -0400
I suspect leaving out the border would result in a less complete feeling to this design. having it there does not bother me at all.
the placement of the dot on the other hand at first bothered me. yes, it’s the point of the design and yes, it does make sense, I wished it wouldn’t but it still does.
I would lose both heavy borders, and the red tint box. Or try something like no borders just the red tint box bleed off the left and run over until it aligns vertically with the floating dot of the ‘i’ —anything to work with the composition rather than against it. The title type is a nice idea but everything is competing against it, thus ruining it for me. Also, I think the italics on “and the” and “for” in the subtitle are unnecessary and a bit of an eyesore as is.
I like. I don’t have a beef with the border because it works well with the salmon bar and the inset border. The only uncomfortable bit is with the spacing of the subtitle and the author line of text. They seem jagged and unbalanced. A nice sans serif font spaced in equal measure would contrast appropriately with the serif title, methinks.
Best case senerio might be a cover with only the title and the trick with the “I” and nothing more.
I agree with the italics. Seems a bit unnecessary and overused (haphazardly even, the “for” pushes it over the edge I think).
The concept overall is great though. Love it! Otherwise I agree with a lot of other comments. Too much border and while a color bar is fine, I don’t dig that color all that much.
—
, 2008-07-17 07:10:00 -0400
The pinkish bar thing wrecks an otherwise awesome direction.
Drifting away from the norm has the potential to be infinity more lonely than simply being left behind… it’s more alienating at any rate. Being left implies non-action whereas non-conformity implies an acting difference and higher level of isolation.
I think it’s all great! I also think it could go with or without the border. Without would give it a sense of endless space, but the border also defines an actual area and emphasizes/ stresses the departure of the dot from the i. Great cover!
—
, 2008-08-15 02:54:00 -0400
I agree with Jonathan that the border is fine – it shows more distinctly that there is nothing/no-one else in that area. It creates a wall between the dot and any interaction with anything/anyone else.
—
, 2008-08-15 17:22:00 -0400
Lovely cover, but I totally agree with the previous comments about the border - it sort of takes away the from the emptiness of the space between the dot the title. Still, I think it's great.
—
, 2009-01-07 12:59:09 -0500
I think the black border will help the book on the shelf, but the white border is just annoying, should be yellowish like the book. Also remove the grey line, this does not have function and is a modern ornament.
The salmon bar should just go, really you don't need it, its so obvious.
If it still has to be on there I would make the black border less high and put it underneath it, so they are separated. I like the color, it fits with the type and the yellowish background. Yes it does look dated. But I love it!
—
, 2009-01-13 17:45:23 -0500
Covers is dedicated to the appreciation of brilliant book cover design. Covers is a Fwis project.
Loneliness
Oh c’mon. I dare you to say something bad about this.
It’s a bit obvious, MAYBE, but that’s about the extent of the trash-talking you can reasonably justify.
— , 2008-07-14 10:28:00 -0400
the type is all set very nicely, but i think you could talk about the relevance of the border and that shade of salmon. I suppose it was chosen because it is a red and therefore eye-catching yet a bit off and perhaps more sensitive feeling.
wouldn’t the cover feel lonelier without the grey and black border? just drifting off… I love how quiet it all is.
— , 2008-07-14 10:42:00 -0400
Daring a bunch of semi-anonymous critics to say bad things…err, no comment! This is a great cover, and have I mentioned I love this site? Thx.
— , 2008-07-14 11:17:00 -0400
sweet.
— Luke Tonge , 2008-07-14 11:24:00 -0400
[Applause.]
— , 2008-07-14 11:39:00 -0400
I actually have to agree about the border. It actually contradicts what the type and the dot are trying to do by closing everything into a group. But yes, otherwise very nice.
— , 2008-07-14 12:15:00 -0400
I suspect leaving out the border would result in a less complete feeling to this design. having it there does not bother me at all.
the placement of the dot on the other hand at first bothered me. yes, it’s the point of the design and yes, it does make sense, I wished it wouldn’t but it still does.
— chrispc , 2008-07-14 13:43:00 -0400
I would lose both heavy borders, and the red tint box. Or try something like no borders just the red tint box bleed off the left and run over until it aligns vertically with the floating dot of the ‘i’ —anything to work with the composition rather than against it. The title type is a nice idea but everything is competing against it, thus ruining it for me. Also, I think the italics on “and the” and “for” in the subtitle are unnecessary and a bit of an eyesore as is.
— Not Ian , 2008-07-14 16:39:00 -0400
I like. I don’t have a beef with the border because it works well with the salmon bar and the inset border. The only uncomfortable bit is with the spacing of the subtitle and the author line of text. They seem jagged and unbalanced. A nice sans serif font spaced in equal measure would contrast appropriately with the serif title, methinks.
Best case senerio might be a cover with only the title and the trick with the “I” and nothing more.
— C-Dog , 2008-07-14 20:21:00 -0400
lovely concept
the salmon bar looks like a lame marketing suggestion- pity- would have been almost perfect otherwise
— , 2008-07-14 21:40:00 -0400
The runaway dot is beautiful. Love it to pieces.
Not a fan of that salmon colour though. I think a more definitive shade of red would have worked better.
— Suzie , 2008-07-15 04:30:00 -0400
nice. boring, but nice…
— Ian Shimkoviak , 2008-07-15 05:18:00 -0400
lonel i ness
— , 2008-07-15 06:20:00 -0400
hey, if it works, why not.
I like the bar of color, but agree about the choice of colors is kind of sickly. Maybe it’s more appealing in person.
— Ryan Scheife , 2008-07-15 09:05:00 -0400
i like the cover. good concept but it seems creator did not go all the way pursuing the concept. black dot is good but fontsize of lonliness too big.
— , 2008-07-15 20:29:00 -0400
Gorgeous. Simple. I like.
The only thing; I’m not sure about the italics, think a sans-serif in the border would be better.
Still.
It’s gorgeous.
— boblet , 2008-07-17 01:46:00 -0400
I think the border might distract from the dot in the i too much. Otherwise, great job!
— david , 2008-07-17 02:57:00 -0400
I agree with the italics. Seems a bit unnecessary and overused (haphazardly even, the “for” pushes it over the edge I think).
The concept overall is great though. Love it! Otherwise I agree with a lot of other comments. Too much border and while a color bar is fine, I don’t dig that color all that much.
— , 2008-07-17 07:10:00 -0400
The pinkish bar thing wrecks an otherwise awesome direction.
Thanks, Sales! Are you happy now?
— Christian in NYC , 2008-07-17 10:55:00 -0400
The dot should be lower, beneath the word “loneliness”, so it looks like it was left behind or dropped instead of just drifting off.
The salmon color is ugly.
The black bars make it look less lonely.
Other than that, perfect!
— , 2008-07-17 14:23:00 -0400
Drifting off instead of being left might be a good thing.
I find that a little hard to judge, since I haven’t read the book.
— boblet , 2008-07-18 11:09:00 -0400
Drifting away from the norm has the potential to be infinity more lonely than simply being left behind… it’s more alienating at any rate. Being left implies non-action whereas non-conformity implies an acting difference and higher level of isolation.
— C-Dog , 2008-07-20 11:18:00 -0400
Agreed. The dot is where it should be.
— boblet , 2008-07-21 07:59:00 -0400
Design by Peter Mendelsund?
— Arthur , 2008-08-07 10:08:00 -0400
no way. that’ll be a major departure…
— Ian Shimkoviak , 2008-08-07 10:32:00 -0400
I think it’s all great! I also think it could go with or without the border. Without would give it a sense of endless space, but the border also defines an actual area and emphasizes/ stresses the departure of the dot from the i. Great cover!
— , 2008-08-15 02:54:00 -0400
I agree with Jonathan that the border is fine – it shows more distinctly that there is nothing/no-one else in that area. It creates a wall between the dot and any interaction with anything/anyone else.
— , 2008-08-15 17:22:00 -0400
Lovely cover, but I totally agree with the previous comments about the border - it sort of takes away the from the emptiness of the space between the dot the title. Still, I think it's great.
— , 2009-01-07 12:59:09 -0500
I think the black border will help the book on the shelf, but the white border is just annoying, should be yellowish like the book. Also remove the grey line, this does not have function and is a modern ornament.
The salmon bar should just go, really you don't need it, its so obvious.
If it still has to be on there I would make the black border less high and put it underneath it, so they are separated. I like the color, it fits with the type and the yellowish background. Yes it does look dated. But I love it!
— , 2009-01-13 17:45:23 -0500