'We'll Never Know' -Lifehouse

This past week has been extremely hectic, and I've felt there's been somewhat of a limit of inspiration for me. Regardless, I feel it is important to share/note a particular graphic design firm out of Nashville, TN that inspires me greatly. It is also a business that I'd love to be able to gain experience with, so therefore I'm going to attempt to apply for an internship with the firm this summer. Wish me luck! The graphic design firm I'm referring to is Anderson Design Group. They've done everything from logos, book covers, posters, brochures, music graphics to website design and more! Looking through their online portfolio inspired me for future ideas and design concepts. I highly recommend checking out their website: Anderson Design Group

On another note, I thought I'd mention a project I've been working on for quite some time. For some crazy, out-of-this-world reason I started writing a novel June of 2009. Before starting on it, I never considered myself a writer; I liked writing enough, but wouldn't in a million years have guessed I'd be trying to complete some 400 page book. I'm getting very close to wrapping up the first draft (and beginning the editing process which I'm not in the least bit looking forward to) and will be designing a cover for it.

To me designing a book cover for my very own book seems a little intimidating. I have no idea why. For me, it should be easier to do the cover being an artist versus actually writing it, right? Well...maybe not. I'm almost too particular, thinking it has to be jusssst right. That's understandable I guess. Anyway, instead of continuing to ramble on, I'll get to my main point. Since I've had trouble coming up with the perfect cover design for my novel, I did what a lot of artists do: draw inspiration from others (which is what the core of this blog is about!). I went to Barnes & Noble, Jospeh Beth, and have looked online (of course) and decided what elements about certain book covers that I liked and what made them stand out in comparison to other book covers. I think it is important to mention that I've only been looking at books under the Teen/Young Adult Fiction section because if my novel is ever published, that's the genre (I believe) it would fall under, and book cover designs should reflect their genre and attract the eye of the audience member who'd be reading it. I'm sure most can agree that book covers in the Adult Science Fiction section of a bookstore don't look similar to the book covers in the Children's section of a bookstore.

So from looking at books in Young Adult Fiction genre, I was able to come up with a few things about book designs that grabbed my attention. The book covers that accomplished that pretty much had a few things in common:
1.) The design was deceptively simple.
2.) A contrasting color scheme with only a few colors.
3.) The book title was large and easily able to read, perhaps in a new/interesting font.

And lastly, I noticed that a lot of the book covers in the Young Adult Fiction section mostly consist of black or dark colors. My theory (and I'd say it's a fairly obvious one) is that this is a result of trends in Teen Fiction right now stemming from books such as Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga. I loved the covers of the Twilight books because they are so simple and beautiful with a limited color palette: black, red, white. But now, it seems that most covers are using the same color palette (well there's a lot of black), and it does make sense to have a dark/mysterious looking cover to reflect the dark/mysterious plot line that is so common/popular amongst Young Adult Fiction. The point I'm trying to make is because of all the darkly colored books in this genre, light colored books jump out. They catch one's eye because of the high contrast level against the other books, like a singular flame in the night.

We all know the saying: "Never judge a book by its cover." Taking that phrase literally, we know we all do it. If I'm browsing through a bookstore in search for my next read, I usually pick up a book that is aesthetically pleasing to me.

Okay, I've talked enough. I'll wrap it up. I brought all this up because I'd love to have others input on what grabs their attention when it comes to books. Is it even the design at all? I have my own thoughts on this topic, but if I am ever blessed with seeing my novel in print, I'd like to feel just as proud of the outside as I am with the inside and I want others to like it as much as I do. So thoughts? Anybody have favorite book cover designs? Let me know! I'll be posting some that I like soon...

BTYS
...Oh! And Happy Valentine's Weekend!