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Post by ronmiller on Aug 24, 2020 14:57:30 GMT
At the instigation of my old alma mater, the Columbus College of Art and Design, I've set up a blog site specifically dedicated to explaining some of the principles of book cover design and illustration. Here is what it looks like so far: bookcoverbasics.tumblr.com/
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2020 15:57:04 GMT
At the instigation of my old alma mater, the Columbus College of Art and Design, I've set up a blog site specifically dedicated to explaining some of the principles of book cover design and illustration. Here is what it looks like so far: sobova.tumblr.com/Well done Ron, it's excellent! From now on any book cover I make I will always test in grey scale.
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 24, 2020 18:01:47 GMT
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 25, 2020 1:11:31 GMT
I like the first advice. I do that too, but I also have a stock of images I have drawn. I really really doubt I could get my wife to dress up though, even more now that she does not live with me! I am 'forced' to draw such images from scratch. Okay, I am scrolling down, looking and scan reading, and you seem to have begun with what an expert does. Should you not actually start with the basics? So far it seems to be a showcase of your talents. But I still do not get the view colour in greyscale. What relevance is it?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2020 3:16:22 GMT
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 25, 2020 13:22:06 GMT
I like the first advice. I do that too, but I also have a stock of images I have drawn. I really really doubt I could get my wife to dress up though, even more now that she does not live with me! I am 'forced' to draw such images from scratch. Okay, I am scrolling down, looking and scan reading, and you seem to have begun with what an expert does. Should you not actually start with the basics? So far it seems to be a showcase of your talents. But I still do not get the view colour in greyscale. What relevance is it? Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying it! It's fun to do. This blog is going to go on for quite a while. The first dozen posts---up until the most recent ones posted today---really are meant to only lay the foundation for the basic theory or philosophy of book cover design. Specific details on how different covers were created will be coming up over the next couple of weeks. In fact, the first of these should be appearing this week. One thing I cannot do is make someone into a designer who has no talent or ability in that respect. Probably because of the almost infinite number of DIY tutorials available on line, and perhaps an overdeveloped sense of egalitarianism, there is the all-too-widespread idea that all one has to do is follow a set of instructions and, bingo!, you can do what any expert can do. That all you need to do is A and B and C will automatically follow. I can and will provide some explicit explanations about what constitutes good design and explain how to use some digital tools to create art for a book cover...but those are just the mechanics. There is nothing I can do that will make up for a lack of innate ability or design sense. For instance, I am not going to provide anything like templates, something I abhor. Happily, I don't have to depend entirely on my wife for every female character I need to depict (and probably to her relief as well). My files are filled with photos of cooperative friends. And when I don't have anything there or can't find anyone who fills the bill, I can work from scratch. That's where all of those classes I took in life drawing come in handy! If you don't yet grasp the significance of the gray scale test, then I suppose there is not much I can do about that! There will be no exams at the end of this blog, so you can ignore anything you like.
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 25, 2020 17:05:04 GMT
I should probably point out that the blog is not for DIY authors who want to create their own covers, though hopefully such people will benefit from the advice and examples regarding basic layout and design, as well as advice regarding resources and special techniques. There are going to be no step-by-step tutorials. The blog is intended for people who already have skills in art. I am not going to explain how to do a pen and ink drawing, an acrylic painting or a digital rendering. The assumption is going to be that people can already do these things. The blog is about applying those skills to creating effective and attractive book covers.
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 26, 2020 1:19:55 GMT
I like the first advice. I do that too, but I also have a stock of images I have drawn. I really really doubt I could get my wife to dress up though, even more now that she does not live with me! I am 'forced' to draw such images from scratch. Okay, I am scrolling down, looking and scan reading, and you seem to have begun with what an expert does. Should you not actually start with the basics? So far it seems to be a showcase of your talents. But I still do not get the view colour in greyscale. What relevance is it? Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying it! It's fun to do. This blog is going to go on for quite a while. The first dozen posts---up until the most recent ones posted today---really are meant to only lay the foundation for the basic theory or philosophy of book cover design. Specific details on how different covers were created will be coming up over the next couple of weeks. In fact, the first of these should be appearing this week. Should you not start with why a cover is important? Self-published or otherwise? Then point out you are giving advice to those who may wish to design their own covers. Self-publishers I would assume. Then move on to the absolute basics. Your examples are too accomplished for the novice to do.One thing I cannot do is make someone into a designer who has no talent or ability in that respect. That is quite true. You cannot teach artistic ability even though many try to learn it and end up painting like Bob Ross. But you can teach draughtsmanship and how to look at things. A lot of graphic designers who work in the advertising industry have little artistic ability. Probably because of the almost infinite number of DIY tutorials available on line, Good grief yes. Perhaps you should add some links to the good ones within your text? and perhaps an overdeveloped sense of egalitarianism, there is the all-too-widespread idea that all one has to do is follow a set of instructions and, bingo!, you can do what any expert can do. That all you need to do is A and B and C will automatically follow. www.wikihow.com/Draw-Manga draughtsmanship I know a few people who can draw remarkable cartoons of many people, but they have done it by practicing a lot. A sort of muscle memory. I can and will provide some explicit explanations about what constitutes good design and explain how to use some digital tools to create art for a book cover...but those are just the mechanics. Good. There is nothing I can do that will make up for a lack of innate ability or design sense. It will not be easy to get across what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. It can be a matter of opinion. 'Beauty' is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. For instance, I am not going to provide anything like templates, something I abhor. What do you mean by templates? To me that just means the size and ratio of cover I need.Happily, I don't have to depend entirely on my wife for every female character I need to depict (and probably to her relief as well). My files are filled with photos of cooperative friends. And when I don't have anything there or can't find anyone who fills the bill, I can work from scratch. That's where all of those classes I took in life drawing come in handy! Yes, I recall those! "Only paint the light!" If you don't yet grasp the significance of the gray scale test, then I suppose there is not much I can do about that! There will be no exams at the end of this blog, so you can ignore anything you like. It is a fair suggestion from the days when a colour image can end up in something that is black and white, like a newspaper, but what media is black and white nowadays?
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 26, 2020 11:53:03 GMT
Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying it! It's fun to do. This blog is going to go on for quite a while. The first dozen posts---up until the most recent ones posted today---really are meant to only lay the foundation for the basic theory or philosophy of book cover design. Specific details on how different covers were created will be coming up over the next couple of weeks. In fact, the first of these should be appearing this week. Should you not start with why a cover is important? Self-published or otherwise? Then point out you are giving advice to those who may wish to design their own covers. Self-publishers I would assume. Then move on to the absolute basics. Your examples are too accomplished for the novice to do.
RM: As I suggested before, the blog is not meant to be a tutorial. All of the examples I have posted so far illustrate principles and approaches, they are not intended to teach people painting, drawing or Photoshop techniques. The blog reader should already be accomplished in that regard. The blog is about how to apply those abilities to book cover design. Second: the blog is not aimed at self-publishers who want to create their own covers---though hopefully such people may learn something from it. It is meant for artists and designers---and especially art students in particular---who may be interested in book cover design. And the site is not meant to convince people as to why a cover is important: the assumption is that anyone visiting the blog already realizes that. One thing I cannot do is make someone into a designer who has no talent or ability in that respect. That is quite true. You cannot teach artistic ability even though many try to learn it and end up painting like Bob Ross. But you can teach draughtsmanship and how to look at things. A lot of graphic designers who work in the advertising industry have little artistic ability.
RM This underscores what I just said above: the blog is not meant to teach basic skills in drawing, painting or Photoshop. It is meant for people who already have some experience. And I have no idea what you mean when you refer to graphic designers who "have little artistic ability." Graphic design is an art. I assume you mean drawing and painting skills?
In any event, as the blog points out, any medium at all is legitimate. Book covers can be and have been accomplished in everything from pencil, watercolor and oils to pen and ink, cut paper and linoleum block. It would be pointless and misleading to suggest that any one medium would be universally preferable, and utterly impractical to try to provide introductory courses in every applicable technique. Probably because of the almost infinite number of DIY tutorials available on line, Good grief yes. Perhaps you should add some links to the good ones within your text?
RM If I knew of any that were worthwhile or appropriate. and perhaps an overdeveloped sense of egalitarianism, there is the all-too-widespread idea that all one has to do is follow a set of instructions and, bingo!, you can do what any expert can do. That all you need to do is A and B and C will automatically follow. www.wikihow.com/Draw-Manga draughtsmanship I know a few people who can draw remarkable cartoons of many people, but they have done it by practicing a lot. A sort of muscle memory.
RM: All of the people who mimic the manga style are practicing exactly the sort of art-by-following-patterns that I was objecting to. I can and will provide some explicit explanations about what constitutes good design and explain how to use some digital tools to create art for a book cover...but those are just the mechanics. Good. There is nothing I can do that will make up for a lack of innate ability or design sense. It will not be easy to get across what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. It can be a matter of opinion. 'Beauty' is in the eye of the beholder, as they say.
RM That's an argument usually put forward by people with little ability or knowledge of art in order to make their opinion sound equal to that of an experienced, informed one. For instance, I am not going to provide anything like templates, something I abhor. What do you mean by templates? To me that just means the size and ratio of cover I need.
RM Sites such as Canva provide such things. The results show up on LousyBookCovers.com all the time.Happily, I don't have to depend entirely on my wife for every female character I need to depict (and probably to her relief as well). My files are filled with photos of cooperative friends. And when I don't have anything there or can't find anyone who fills the bill, I can work from scratch. That's where all of those classes I took in life drawing come in handy! Yes, I recall those! "Only paint the light!"
RM I remember hearing that, too!If you don't yet grasp the significance of the gray scale test, then I suppose there is not much I can do about that! There will be no exams at the end of this blog, so you can ignore anything you like. It is a fair suggestion from the days when a colour image can end up in something that is black and white, like a newspaper, but what media is black and white nowadays?RM You have repeated that argument before, which misses the entire point being made. The test is meant to help fine-tune readability, as the examples in the blog show. Read the post again. It's similar to an artist holding a painting or drawing upside down or looking at it in a mirror to emphasize problems in composition.
In any event, anyone is welcome to post their attempts at cover design to the blog. In fact, I will be presenting specific problems as a challenge. All of these will be open to critique and suggestions. You are most welcome to participate!
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Post by And Kevin 2024 on Aug 27, 2020 0:38:10 GMT
RM You have repeated that argument before, Indeed, and my opinion still holds. which misses the entire point being made. Not at all, you miss mine. If it is fully readable in colour then that's it. Nowadays it's hardly going to viewed in black and white anywhere. The test is meant to help fine-tune readability, as the examples in the blog show. As I said above, if it's clear in colour then it's okay. I don't see why you don't get that point. Read the post again. It's similar to an artist holding a painting or drawing upside down or looking at it in a mirror to emphasize problems in composition. No it's not, but who on earth does that? I have seen many documentaries about artists, and none do that. The last one I watched was the astonishing Drew Struzan, and he never did that, or viewed his works in B&W. (At the end of that he had retired because the studios said they no longer needed him. "Poster art is not required now, and anyway we have Photoshop and have no need to pay you at least 20 grand." Shame).In any event, anyone is welcome to post their attempts at cover design to the blog. In fact, I will be presenting specific problems as a challenge. All of these will be open to critique and suggestions. You are most welcome to participate! I wonder why horrible book cover site, or whatever it is called, never also show a cover in B&W for comments? But this is interesting >> bookriot.com/8-good-books-with-horrible-covers/
And while we are at it, some titles
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Post by BlueAndGold on Aug 27, 2020 1:10:51 GMT
Blue&Gold tends to place B&W images of the covers of other offerings in the back pages of our books for the benefit of those who may desire to find similar products of interest. It is desirable that they look good in B&W.
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 27, 2020 13:55:20 GMT
RM You have repeated that argument before, Indeed, and my opinion still holds.
RM Well, no one is compelling you to apply the test. There's not going to be an exam at the end of the blog.Read the post again. It's similar to an artist holding a painting or drawing upside down or looking at it in a mirror to emphasize problems in composition. No it's not, but who on earth does that? I have seen many documentaries about artists, and none do that. The last one I watched was the astonishing Drew Struzan, and he never did that, or viewed his works in B&W. (At the end of that he had retired because the studios said they no longer needed him. "Poster art is not required now, and anyway we have Photoshop and have no need to pay you at least 20 grand." Shame).
RM Well, by golly. You haven't seen any artists doing those sorts of things in TV documentaries so it must not be so. Well, I can assure you, from my 50 years of experience in the visual arts, that tests like these are done all the time. What thegolly technique of inverting a drawing or painting does is allow you to see your art more objectively. Problems in composition become much more apparent. Sometimes artists would look at their art through special lenses that inverted the image (handy when it was inconvenient to physically turn a painting over). I have known others who will look at their work in a mirror. Certainly not all artists do these things (I don't do it with every picture I do), but it's a very common, very useful tool and one worth drawing attention to. www.finearttips.com/2012/12/struggling-with-your-painting-turn-it-upside-down/ In any event, anyone is welcome to post their attempts at cover design to the blog. In fact, I will be presenting specific problems as a challenge. All of these will be open to critique and suggestions. You are most welcome to participate! I wonder why horrible book cover site, or whatever it is called, never also show a cover in B&W for comments?
RM Gee, given that you said that you've had some of your own covers appear on the site it does kind of surprise me that you don't recall it's name. In any case, numerous B&W covers have shown up on (take a note now) lousybookcovers.com For instance, this one appeared just a few weeks ago lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/exo-500x708.jpg and one that was virtually B&W appeared just yesterday.
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 27, 2020 13:57:58 GMT
Blue&Gold tends to place B&W images of the covers of other offerings in the back pages of our books for the benefit of those who may desire to find similar products of interest. It is desirable that they look good in B&W. That's true. And there are any number of newspapers who accompany reviews with B&W images of covers. But the point of testing a cover by converting it to gray scale goes beyond seeing how well it might look in print. It's also a way to test it's effectiveness as a color image (ironically enough). Here is the blog entry that discusses that bookcoverbasics.tumblr.com/post/627270525417373696/an-important-consideration-so-far-as-readability
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 27, 2020 14:07:35 GMT
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Post by ronmiller on Aug 27, 2020 16:12:29 GMT
Current posts to the blog have talked about colorizing black and white images, (free) image resources and the first of a series of posts about typography on book covers.
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