A good portion of the time Illustrators tend to try and use an image from the interior of there book. And I don't blame them after 32 to 40 pages of illustrations, I am sure they are tired of the book and the thought of one more illustration seems daunting. But I think it helps to make the book unique as possible to create an image that stands on it's own.
The first thing I suggest, and this goes for novels as well, is to think of one image or character that summarizes the story simply. I find when there is a scene of action it some times makes the jacket very busy. All of the examples below show single character composition. Basically to introduce the character and tell a little bit about the mood of the story with out giving to much away. They are what some call ICONIC covers. Iconic = simple and brand
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3 comments:
This is a great post, so often we expect someone else to dictate that to us! Thanks
Just found your blog here, a great post. Its tough after doing so many illustrations for the interior and then having to do another piece for the cover but its worth it. Opened up my eyes about iconic covers. Thanks!
Excellent point about how iconic one character or image can be. For picturebooks, I think this is especially true. A parent or child especially can get all the information they need while having less visual information to remember. For graphic novel covers, I do a slightly more 'busy', 'summary scene' because they are usually for a bit older audience and mostly to suggest that the book is full of energy and action.
Great blog! Glad I came across it!
-Andy
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