Cover Art, Posters, and Titles

[Reign]

Hello, everyone! I’ve been kicking around some questions in my noggin, mainly concerning cover art. I tend to draw what I call my cover and I think it looks real neat, and then later, I find that I’m really dissatisfied with it. This may have to do with my perfectionism and unrealistically high expectation of myself. I know there aren’t concrete rules of you have to always do art this way, but I do know that there are better ways to do things. I’m curious, and want to see, how others approach their cover art? What composition makes for a good, eye catching cover? What do you like about cover art? Is it good to have the cover art be more detailed and intricate than the actual art pages? I’ll post two of mine below, one a work in progress, to get the topic going. (One’s a work in progress.) But going along these lines of cover art, I’m also wondering about poster art, and what makes a good aesthetic? Or, I guess, what aesthetic even means in terms of art? And a question also on titles. How do you guys come up with titles for a series? How did you guys come to find the name - what was the process? Thanks in advance!

[elyss]

One of the things I always want cover art to do is tell me what the art will be like in the comic. It can be a bit detailed than the pages within, but not so much that I would do a confused double-take.

I also want it to give an idea of what the genre is. Your cover makes me think I'm about to delve into some high jinks. If it tuned out your story was a dark, horror, drama, I'd be more than a little surprised.

[IndigoShirtProd]

There are many composition rules that you can keep in mind when creating your cover such as the rule of thirds and the golden ratio. You can work with contrast in terms of color, texture and size.

The most important part of your cover is informing the reader about what they're getting into. Having a vague and less detailed cover may work if the story is a mystery, but outside of that, a possible reader may turn your story away.

I like the two cover you have already but, at least for the completed one, there is a flatness to it. The art is good, but you could do more in the background. It's hard to tell what the story is going to be about, though I can make some assumptions. The story is likely a lighthearted comedy about a boy and his hamster. Or maybe guinea pig, you know how confusing that can be. I'm not saying you should redo your cover art, but if you do, I think what you have already have is a good starting place. I don't want to speak on the uncompleted cover, because there's probably going to be more to it than what I can see now.

For posters. . . Oh this is tough one. The funny thing is that I do have some poster art in the works right now but, I'm not completely sure about what I'm making. I don't want to given you any uninformed advice.

Okay, so for the title of my present comic, I made it up in high school and never let go of it. But for another story I'm working on, I got some great advice from an author youtuber: Jenna Moreci (i reccommend getting writing advice from her) When coming up with a title, first start with keywords that are staples of the genre. If that doesn't work, take reoccurring words and symbols from your story, list them and try and make a title from those. Using your main characters as a title name also is a good option.

I'm in the middle of redrawing my first chapter and I'm going to rework the cover too. This is my cover right now.

The new cover will look similar, but the point is to inform a possible reader about what they're getting into.

[joannekwan]

That is a lot to cover so maybe expect multiple posts from me.

First, for covers, remember that typography is an integral component. Words relay the title, the author, etc. SO it needs to be incorporated into the composition just as much as the artwork.

Taking a look at your own cover. I love the dynamic angle! But the words look like an after-thought compared to the awesome rendering of the characters. I did a quick mock-up of a simple change for the word layout in that I left-aligned everything. I also hid just a smidge of the N behind the guy to suggest they're really popping out at you. (in retrospect I might fiddle with the coloring of the words or add some other color outline to them since that yellow is really close to his hair color)

[elyss]

That title video was super helpful! Here's the link if anyone's interested.

[joannekwan]

Also, when it comes to covers and posters, mind your margins! You don't want important info too close to the edge or cut off. Here there is a nice margin already suggested by the bottom of the wheel and foot, the type balances it out by following that suggested margin.

[joannekwan]

I’m curious, and want to see, how others approach their cover art? What composition makes for a good, eye catching cover? What do you like about cover art? Is it good to have the cover art be more detailed and intricate than the actual art pages?

Now for my more general answers! lol

As far as the content for my covers, I try to capture the essence of what's between the pages. But I will definitely dress it up, because people DO judge a book by its cover. I'll generally spend more time on the details, the composition, or make it really stylized. I want it to be something that will grab people's attention.

I also like doting on the specific illustration, since it's something special. Like if all the pages of the body of work is day to day, everyday, the cover is its Christmas (or whatever major day is special to you!)

As to what's eye-catching, here's an article fast slinging some good design tips for dynamic compositions.
Personally I decide upon the dynamicness of a composition based on the theme of the work. If it's about an edgy character like Reaper from Overwatch, I'll use those slanted angles like no other. (my cover design for The Reaper Zine, front and back)

But if it's a gentle-paced period romance, I'll go with something more subdued and fitting with the time period. (my current cover draft for my webnovel)

[Kittosaurus]

OMG I love the Reaper Zine cover

[joannekwan]

Thank you! I had a lot of fun with it~
I love dissecting book covers and posters as well as designing them of course as a former graphic design major.

[Kittosaurus]

I can see where your knowledge really pays off! I really need to get off my butt and do a proper cover for my comic!!!

[Reign]

@IndigoShirtProd

That’s really cool! I like the cover, and your insight is really helpful! Thank you!

@joannekwan

Yeah, the text wasn’t thought of very much, but you’ve shown me that it’s really something I shouldn’t neglect. The Reaper Zine cover looks REALLY cool! I’ll look into that article and read up on this stuff!

[Shanny8]

I LOVE the art- the only thing that kicks me is the fonts...

[joannekwan]

But going along these lines of cover art, I’m also wondering about poster art, and what makes a good aesthetic? Or, I guess, what aesthetic even means in terms of art? And a question also on titles. How do you guys come up with titles for a series? How did you guys come to find the name - what was the process?

Time to address these q's!

Like you said, posters and cover art generally fall along the same lines, since their primary purpose is the catch peoples' attention. Book covers in essence act like mini-posters.
Here's a great video on the history of book covers!

When it comes to art and design, 'aesthetic' is just another term for 'style' to put it simply.

For titles, I generally want it to say something about the work it names.

Sometimes I'll draw upon a theme or phrase close to the characters and story. Secunda for example means 'the second' in Latin. This touches upon the fact that the main creature is living a second life, and the protagonist has a metaphorical second stage in her own life. And I chose Latin because it's used in the nomenclature for scientifically naming creatures, and the story has a light element of taxidermy, new creature/cryptid, biology goodness.
Other times I leave it fairly basic, naming the work after a location or its quite literal premise, like Sarota Springs or Demon House.

[Shanny8]

I love dissecting book covers and posters as well as designing them of course as a former graphic design major.

Same. Typography/Fonts play a HUGE role in cover design...

[Strontium]

I'll be honest, cover design is not my strong suit XD I did make a cover for my self-pub of the first four chapters of my comic, but I'm really looking forward to getting the advice of those more skilled at cover design than I for my second print XP

As for chapter covers, I take the approach of other comics I grew up reading like Gunnerkrigg Court and have the cover be a smaller image rather than a margin-to-margin illustration. It's less cool looking but it takes way less time to draw them - and I rather focus on the interior of the chapter. Usually these images are representative of some theme of the chapter and not literal. For the second arc of the comic, all of the chapter cover images were based off of photographs taken by myself or my family. (See Ch7 for example.)

The only chapter that doesn't fit this bill is chapter 9 - because I did a "Cold Open" and had the chapter cover be a splash page, six pages into the chapter.

[GabiWolf]

I can’t say I am the most knowledgeable in covers. I just tried to capture the overall tone of the story and I look at other covers for inspiration. Here is my full cover.

I did definitely take more time on the cover than I do on the pages, but because it’s really just going to be reduced to a thumbnail I didn’t think to deeply about it. Maybe if it were to be printed I would do a new cover, something more eye catching like others posted! ( So pretty guys!)
As for the name I just wiped out a thesaurus, lol. Athenaeum is another word for a library or an academic establishment catering more towards literature. Which suits the setting of the story well because everyone works in a magical library that houses nothing but spell books and occult artifacts.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Yea I made It myself. Still need to work on my typography.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Thanks, anything to help

[LT1986]

Thanks for making the forum thread. This gives me a chance to make a comment about cover art. I do not like when the cover art is way better than the actual pages of a web comic. It is a big let down for me to see the cover and start reading to find out that not much work was put into the story art than the cover art.

My web comic is named Warrior's Triumph, because it not only chronicles how different people deal with narcissistic abuse but it will also express types of narcissistic abuse that the main character receives that I don't see talked about a lot.