Advice and opinions on a cover painting

[michaudmarc]

I'm getting ready to print up some hard copies of my comic and have two similar cover designs with different text options and wanted to see what people here thought of each and which might be better and why. The look of the painting is quite different from the interiors of my comic which are in black and white, ARC29 I hope this isn't too jarring.

[phen]

I really dig how the bolder colours and compacted font in the second one pops. It's a little muddy in the first one but that could be my monitor! At a glance, I can't quite read "assumption" in the first mock-up but the eye flow just works very well with the brighter hues and "fatter" text. I prefer the text to jump out at me and that hue of green does wonderful things with the red blobs floating about. Great colours!

That being said, the first certainly blends and integrates the title ground with the foreground so it could work perhaps if you prefer a more subtle appeal. Hope you get more input, this looks great regardless!

[shazzbaa]

As far as the image, I definitely prefer the tilt & zoom on the first one!

I feel like the zoom-out on the second image doesn't actually add anything -- even though there's background there, it has the feeling of leaving a LOT of dead space on the edges. Plus, the extra space makes it much more obvious that the character is dead centre of the composition, which always sort of flattens a composition a little bit and makes it feel less dynamic.
The tilt on the first image makes it look more like a guy who's been thrown backwards and less like a guy who might be levitating in place (the zoom also helps with this by cutting off the shape of the shadow -- the guy's pose is really dynamic, but the shadow looks way more straight and relaxed when you can see the full pose.)

I know a lot less about graphic design, so I don't have as much reasoning for that one -- I like the bigger logo of the first better, but I agree that the bright colours of the second stand out more and are easier to read!

[michaudmarc]

Thanks for the comments. I agree with what both of you have to say, actually. The brighter colors as well as the zoom and tilt of the second. I think it's the typeface I prefer in the first, so maybe brighter colors would improve the visibility? I'll have to play with it, maybe add an outline to the top example's text as well...

[YoungAdventurer]

I prefer the second one, it seems to have more depth and the text stands out more.

[greenraptorstudios]

The second one, the shades are better and it looks less flat. Also the camera point is farther away so you can get a better shot of the background.

[michaudmarc]

This is great! I love getting contrasting advice and then trying to form an opinion that will please as many as possible. In the end, I'm going with the closer zoom-in shot to have a better view of the main subject, and title/lettering closer to the second version, especially the greens, which do make the red blobs "pop" more. Thanks all!