This cover should be appreciated for the emotion and information it conveys with so few elements.
The handwriting conveys a very personal story, (it is). The ragged and worn edges indicate that it takes place in the past, (it does). The overall dark tint gives it a subtle sense of foreboding, (this is accurate). And the young boy with the baseball glove posing like a Ms. America contestant creates a really nice awkward contrast that speaks of the book’s contents, (it’s a coming out memoir.)
I wonder if the photo was provided by the author?
—
, 2007-06-29 02:40:00 -0400
That is a great treatment. Are the ragged edges the trim of the jacket? I can’t tell in the photo.
Actually, it might be even better than that—the title tells the story (coming out), and the image is quite a remarkable combination of apple-pie Americana and—dare I say it?—Tom of Finland homoeroticism. Perhaps just a tinge of that anyway. Really something.
I think the main thing selling this book is the photo. The type is meant to look like it was hand drawn on an old photo with white out or such. Kind of a photo that you would come upon in an old box of photos and say, “Yeah, Jimmi was destined to be gay”. I also like that they did not touch the photo much and just left that old washed out look. My dad has a box of photos like this and there is the occasional one with this whiteout writing on the fronts—never understood why you would deface a photo like that… and then it hit me: So you can scan em, blow em up and make a cover out of it! And a few bucks in the process. There’s a reason for everything.
No one else hates the black border? At first, I thought it was just a bad Amazon scan job but furtherinvestigation shows that it’s not the edges of the cover that are made to look ragged, there’s actually a big, ugly black border around the image.
There’s just too much contrast for my tastes. I find it very distracting, particularly with the white type.
Yeah, but the photo quality, positioning of type and the dark box behind the text on that album y’all posted is not nearly as evocative as this. Main thing is that all in all it’s subtle, but memorable as an image. It asks to be picked up for both the title and image used. That makes it a borderline (note my careful use of words) successful cover. Perhaps this very fact highlights it’s banality. It works. It works for what it needs to and for who it needs. But for crying out load, the more I look at it the more I crave to see another cover posted. This would make a great name for a band: The Mississippi Sissies!
I really didn’t get the “sissy” aspect of the photograph. Sure, the kid is in a contrapposto pose with his hand on his hip, but neither my first impression nor my last impression is that the kid is any more effeminate than any other boy of that age.
I don’t think anyone really thing there is a “great” subtle message here. But the image does say natural, uninhibited, relaxed, unselfconscious etc etc. It makes you wonder who this confident little kid is and what he’s about; Coupled with the title it all works to draw the target audience in… In the end it’s not a smashing cover, but it does the job without falling into the realm of complete shit…
My mom has a bunch of old photo albums, with black paper pages. The pictures are all attached w/black stick-on photo corners, and captioned (under, not on the pix) with a white pen she said came with the album.
All this cover’s missing is the stick-on corners: perfect.
Mississippi Sissy
This cover should be appreciated for the emotion and information it conveys with so few elements.
The handwriting conveys a very personal story, (it is). The ragged and worn edges indicate that it takes place in the past, (it does). The overall dark tint gives it a subtle sense of foreboding, (this is accurate). And the young boy with the baseball glove posing like a Ms. America contestant creates a really nice awkward contrast that speaks of the book’s contents, (it’s a coming out memoir.)
I wonder if the photo was provided by the author?
— , 2007-06-29 02:40:00 -0400
That is a great treatment. Are the ragged edges the trim of the jacket? I can’t tell in the photo.
— , 2007-06-29 02:47:00 -0400
The edges are part of the graphic.
— Ben Pieratt , 2007-06-29 03:14:00 -0400
Actually, it might be even better than that—the title tells the story (coming out), and the image is quite a remarkable combination of apple-pie Americana and—dare I say it?—Tom of Finland homoeroticism. Perhaps just a tinge of that anyway. Really something.
— Martin , 2007-06-29 04:25:00 -0400
Great image. Weak type treatment.
— beauGeste , 2007-06-29 04:41:00 -0400
I think the main thing selling this book is the photo. The type is meant to look like it was hand drawn on an old photo with white out or such. Kind of a photo that you would come upon in an old box of photos and say, “Yeah, Jimmi was destined to be gay”. I also like that they did not touch the photo much and just left that old washed out look. My dad has a box of photos like this and there is the occasional one with this whiteout writing on the fronts—never understood why you would deface a photo like that… and then it hit me: So you can scan em, blow em up and make a cover out of it! And a few bucks in the process. There’s a reason for everything.
— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-06-29 04:54:00 -0400
Rationale for type makes sense but it still looks cast off. Definitely could have been better handled.
— beauGeste , 2007-06-29 05:31:00 -0400
Circa 1995.
— , 2007-06-29 06:06:00 -0400
No one else hates the black border? At first, I thought it was just a bad Amazon scan job but further investigation shows that it’s not the edges of the cover that are made to look ragged, there’s actually a big, ugly black border around the image.
There’s just too much contrast for my tastes. I find it very distracting, particularly with the white type.
— Matthew , 2007-06-29 09:22:00 -0400
matthew – it looks fine in person.
Also, I forgot to mention how fun it is to say “Mississippi Sissy” aloud. I’ve been mumbling it to myself all day.
— Ben Pieratt , 2007-06-29 16:29:00 -0400
Really unremarkable.
Looks like a grandfather and grandson fishing memoir you might pass by in a Cracker Barrel restaurant. no thx.
http://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Shelby-Lynne/dp/B00002MHRD/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/102-1407563-0256959?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1183177074&sr=8-3
— C-Dog , 2007-06-29 17:23:00 -0400
I have to agree with C-Dog that the type treatment works about as well as the type on that album cover.
— beauGeste , 2007-07-02 02:37:00 -0400
Yeah, but the photo quality, positioning of type and the dark box behind the text on that album y’all posted is not nearly as evocative as this. Main thing is that all in all it’s subtle, but memorable as an image. It asks to be picked up for both the title and image used. That makes it a borderline (note my careful use of words) successful cover. Perhaps this very fact highlights it’s banality. It works. It works for what it needs to and for who it needs. But for crying out load, the more I look at it the more I crave to see another cover posted. This would make a great name for a band: The Mississippi Sissies!
— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-07-02 03:13:00 -0400
I really didn’t get the “sissy” aspect of the photograph. Sure, the kid is in a contrapposto pose with his hand on his hip, but neither my first impression nor my last impression is that the kid is any more effeminate than any other boy of that age.
So the “great,” subtle message is lost on me.
— C-Dog , 2007-07-02 16:08:00 -0400
I don’t think anyone really thing there is a “great” subtle message here. But the image does say natural, uninhibited, relaxed, unselfconscious etc etc. It makes you wonder who this confident little kid is and what he’s about; Coupled with the title it all works to draw the target audience in… In the end it’s not a smashing cover, but it does the job without falling into the realm of complete shit…
— Ian B. Shimkoviak , 2007-07-03 01:44:00 -0400
gee, i thought it was about surfing
— , 2007-07-19 09:10:00 -0400
My mom has a bunch of old photo albums, with black paper pages. The pictures are all attached w/black stick-on photo corners, and captioned (under, not on the pix) with a white pen she said came with the album.
All this cover’s missing is the stick-on corners: perfect.
— , 2007-08-16 03:18:00 -0400
bu çocuk nereli abi
— yapay havuz , 2009-12-03 09:12:31 -0500
turkiyem
— garlica , 2010-01-20 07:22:38 -0500
biber hapi
fx15
lida
rent a car
magna rx
penis büyütücü
elektronik sigara
— red pepper , 2010-01-28 06:12:50 -0500