Thursday, August 30, 2012

We All Judge a Book By Its....

What kind of book cover draws you in?
I started thinking about this when I saw the cover on Bibliophile by the Sea of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The cover has a cartoonish or art look to it. Not realistic at all, yet I would pick up the book. What artist is this like?

A lot of book covers have people without their heads. I guess the idea is probably to make the reader think: This could be you.
Here's one:

And here's another:

The second cover appeals to me more, maybe because I see action in it.
Sometimes the cover will show a part of someone's head, again, not a clear photo because it could be any reader.
The covers with only words appeal to me too.
Like this one:
 And, of course, I love the Brit  Lit books with cartoonish covers.
When making my own book cover to put on my dream board, I went with a landscape. Too generic? I don't see many covers like this:

What do you think? What kind of book cover draws you in?

6 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I'm not a fan of the headless model trend. I like the cover you created but I think you need to go with a different font.

Diane said...

I like colorful covers for some reason, and actually like the quirky look of the Harold Fry book, although I neglected to mention that in my post.

Not a fan of headless covers, or ones with mostly words. I do like the cover you designed, but like Kathy, I would try different fonts.

Thanks for mentioning my blog in your post - great topic.

Paulita said...

I think a different font is a good idea, and most "landscape-type" book covers have something in the foreground. I'll have to work on that.

I know I'm Crazy said...

I like the landscape covers although I think titles pull me in most.

I've been know to cruise the bookstore picking up random selections only to get home and look at the stack. The titles were actually descriptors of the current state of my life... "What Remains" "Happiness Sold Separately". I just had to hope I would enjoy the books!

Harvee said...

The Summer of France has me wishing to be there!

Anonymous said...

i love your blog! and i love this idea! i never really think about it but we all do judge books by their covers. now that i read just on my nook, i don't really see covers, but i do look at them at stores and whatnot.

i like covers that are more artsy or that are simple. either just the authors name and the title or something where it's like the silhouette of a girl lying on the ground arching her back. i want to see something more :)

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