Covers in Yellow
One I like, one I don’t. Let’s start with the not-so-good.
Heat. I totally see what the designer was going for here, but I don’t think it pulls it off — seems like it doesn’t fit the subject matter as well as it could. I feel a photography-based look would be better here.
This one, American-Born Chinese, is more interesting to me. The illustration “look,” the placement, the different use of a title, all add up to a cover that works well. There might be some squinting involved, as the title’s too small to read at a glance, but I feel that the cover is enough of a draw that people wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to read the title.
Both titles are from Amazon’s “Editors’ 50 Best” book list — which has far too few great covers on it!
Comments:
I think red on black might have improved the upper title. Ans maybe some of those cartoon “heat lines” squiggling out from the word.
You know, I’ve seen Heat in stores, and loved it. A full-bleed image would have just made it disappear amongst the more standard, cookie-cutter covers out there. (Full bleed is getting annoying, as is photo-only. EVERYONE does it.)
I immediately understood what they were trying to do with the melting letters, and loved it. Smart, simple, and says ‘memoir’ rather than ‘cookbook.’ So I have to disagree.
My only concern is with shelf-life, as I’ve done yellow covers in the past and watched the colour fade within months, especially along the edges and spine.
I agree with Ingrid regarding Heat. I love it. And I think that the background color is appropriate, considering the title.