Typeface II, the sequel

I like to look for fonts for book covers. It is half finding what is imagined and half imagining the look of the fonts found. Be sure to buy the licence, if you're using someone else's font. You wouldn't take kindly to them using your book without buying it, right?

 

To the right is a book cover that was proposed. The book was/is set in India and the author is Indian. When I saw the font, I knew it was the one to use. I did the ink drawing of the tree. I don't know if it will show very well in this picture.

In the end the book was published by another publisher, so this cover isn't on the copy of the book you can buy on Amazon. 

 

The book cover above is for a story set in England and the author is English. It is the best selling book for Cactus Rain Publishing.

Very clearly, the font for the title is not Old English. It doesn't look like lace. However, I liked the look of the way the letters were drawn in contrast to the ink/line drawing. Notice the linen paper look beneath the yellow wash? Rich.

It is a beautiful pen and ink drawing. There are sites where art and the license to use it can be purchased.

As I look at these covers I notice that unwittingly, I've developed a signature for my cover designs. Made me smile at the realization of it. Can you see it?

This cover above is the latest addition to Cactus Rain Publishing.

 

It is set in Kiev by a Ukrainian author. The book  debutes on June 1, 2014.

 

For this cover, I wanted a font/typeface that gave the impression that it was Russian. None of the fonts that I tested gave the look I wanted for the cover. (Most of the font sites I use allow a space to type in the text and see how it will look.)

The drawing was done by the author's friend, artist Laura Mitchell.

Come to www.CactusRainPublishing.com and check out these books!

The Evolution continues

Your comments from yesterday were helpful. I played around a bit (mostly with fonts - I have hundreds of them, most I've acquired slowly over the past 10 years).

We aren't finished yet. At any time could scrap the whole thing and start over.

The differences in this one from yesterday (scroll down to the previous post) is the front cover and spine font. Plus the gentleman on the left has been lightend to mirror the man on the right, thus leaving the Doc in the center, darkest.

On this one, I took the background and played with it. The original file was rather small, so there is only a certain amount of enlarging before it gets grainy (pixelated). I totally forgot to deal with the distracting fence post, but that is easily fixed. I lost contrast on the synopsis text and no, can't do the text in more than one color. I removed the boxes from behind the guys. Actually, I simply moved those layers below the background so they are out of sight. The background is full, no translusing. Yes, I think I did make up that word.

I could make each word in the title a single layer and change font sizes with the articles a smaller size. Might do later. No time tonight.

The font is Bernard MT Condensed in case you want to goggle it. Hmmm, let me see if I can make a screen shot of that enlarged for you. BRB

(The red line running through the middle is the spine area, so this isn't what it would look like at all.)

Okay - now that I've looked at it 'big,' I'm not loving it.
Right, well comment and let's see where we go from here.

Book Cover Evolution

Glyn wanted to run this by everyone for comments. You saw the cover synopsis the other day. Here is the book cover that goes with it.

Glyn sent a photo of the snow last winter, then the three men (and some others). So this is what we have at the beginning.

I thought the men needed an anchor, something so they weren't just pasted on top of the background, and also so they didn't get lost in it. So I put them on black boxes.

It was still too monochromic so I translused the background by 50% and changed the boxes to burgandy color. Looks more real with the spine text and the ISBN box, doesn't it?

Here is the synopsis as it stand now:

Doctor Peter Latymer, full of innocence and hope, arrives at his new position on a council estate in Leicester. He quickly becomes the local miracle worker. Without a grasp of the complexities of life, he sets out to right injustices that he doesn't fully understand and unravels the delicate balance between nobility and poor, and the struggling economy still reliant on rationing and the black market in post WWII England.

And Glyn's Bio:

GLYN POPE lived on a large council estate in Leicester, England. He studied theology at Nene University. Glyn and his wife and daughter moved to France where he pursues a full time writing career.

This isn't close to finished, but there is your sneek peek.

Or there is this...please watch.

Comments?