What makes a good cover?

[unicornfield]

What do you think makes a good cover for a novel or comic? Do you have any covers you particularly like? Why do you like them?

[DeformedSunflower]

Maybe something that reflects the main plot and art style the story, nothing too crowded or distracting, nor is it too bare and bland.

[joe_galindez]

For me, a good cover clearly communicates the genre, the tone, and the main character's appearance. Budget willing I prefer to include more of the main cast as way to make them clear in the reader's mind.

[VibrantFox]

I usually start with things mentioned in this article as a point of reference and then see where I can build.

Judging A Series By Its Thumbnail – Tapas App – Medium

While some think that having a bright colorful icon is the only way to go you can still keep things eye catching in black and white. So long as it reflect what a potential reader may be getting into. Who are the main characters, what's the feel of the story; all those key elements that immediately give you a sense of what the comic/novel is about.

In brief, the points that @joe_galindez brings up

[PervertOldMan]

Boobs ! Abs !
Good art and coloring aside those are probaly the reason why I clicked to most of the thumbnails.

[comixbubbles]

I think a good cover is something that reflects the book's tone and story while being able to catch the reader's eye.
I like mine because I think it reflects what should be on the cover and I like it. I still think its far from perfect though.

and strange mirror is pretty good

Strange Mirror | Tapas

Strange mirror is pretty good. It's eye catcing and definetly reflects a certain tone

[cleo_san]

A professional illustrator once gave me the advice that a good cover should sum up the contents of the book in one image =)

Remember | Tapas

Well, I'm still far away from that.

The best covers I have ever seen are from @shazzbaa: Each of the Runewriters covers tells its own story <3

Source: http://shazzbaa.com/storeDetail.php?p=18

Go check out the corresponding website, the art is gorgeous and I learned so much by just looking at the pages! @_@

http://runewriters.com/

(Edit: Shazzbaa, if you're not ok with the image posted here, please let me know, I'll delete it immediately, okay? )