Oh man, the Beka Cooper books. I love that series but I’d blocked the covers out of my memory.

They’re ugly, but I actually kind of like them. Very unique art style.

I can’t even parse those covers, they’re so weird looking. Why are they neon green???

I love trash romance (my only flaw) but I would never be upset if I thought I was reading romance and it turned out to be a hidden feminist gem.

The default cover design for uncreative designers seems to be “cheesy romance novels”, based on the comments I’m seeing here. The actual genre does not appear to matter to them.

I just went to look that up, and it’s now on my reading list. The nyt article is cracking me up - apparently Garmus actually got hatemail by readers who were expecting a romance novel.

It’s so bad, i’m actually laughing. I can’t imagine NOT wanting to read the books i’m designing covers for. That’s half the fun!

One of my great pet peeves as a child was when the book I was reading had the movie cover, because then you just knew in the center of the book was a bunch of spoiler filled glossy screencaps from the movie. Also, those were always the ugliest covers.

I honestly believe covers should be like a vibe synopsis, if that makes sense. The summary on the back tells you what the book is about, but you should be able to look at a cover and identify the zeitgeist of the book.

It looks like a screencap from one of those sims 4 movies that teenagers love to make.

I just looked it up and if you told me the publisher accidentally sent the designer the wrong summary, I would believe you. That’s hilarious. It absolutely looks like a trashy novel about a cheating wife.

A lot of classic fantasy covers are so beautiful and detailed, but then you read the book and they have nothing to do with the actual content. It’s a little funny.

After looking at the covers, all I can tell you is that these books involve spaceships. Possibly even space battles.

If it’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s bad even if it WAS for a romance novel.

The covers for that series vary wildly in quality, wow.

The hand cover looks like a library card. I don’t know how else to describe it.

I love A Court of Silver Flames, so thanks for mentioning that one. Now I know which edition to get when I buy a physical copy.

I haven’t read the Kate Daniels series, but you weren’t kidding. I guess you could order a hardcover of each version and switch the dust jackets??

He was awful, which tracks because that professor was a similar kind of awful and they were friends. We did a book cover design project for that class and she complimented someone for not making the black people she drew too dark skinned. (Yep, she got reported by a lot of people.)

Lmao, that would mess me up so bad. I would never find anything on my bookshelves. but it’s hilarious imagining the really trashy stuff bound so elegantly.

Since you don’t like most stuff, is there a book cover design you DO like that isn’t just a plain cover? I find leather bound with pressed foil or engraved designs can be really elegant. I love that look for historical nonfiction.

The bubblegum one is also a concept, but i’d love to see it published. The lollipop one is by Jennifer Heuer, and I have to agree that it’s a fantastic one.

I’ll have to read this! The cover on the wikipedia page is so ugly. I’m not seeing much that’s better in google images.

“I want pure colors, melting clouds, accurately drawn details, a sunburst above a receding road with the light reflected in furrows and ruts, after rain. And no girls.” His description of the cover he wanted was so eloquent. I really wish someone had done that.

I think my favorite existing cover was the one with a man’s shoe stepping in discarded bubblegum, by Yuko Shimizu. It gave me instant insight into the book’s themes.

Just went to look at both of those. The marbled look on the new Shadow and Bone designs are really pleasing, though I kind of like both of the designs. I agree on The Inexplicable Logic on My Life - i think maybe orange would have suited it better.

It drives me nuts. I love fantasy and romance novels and I can’t tell you how many feminist works are hidden behind poorly done photoshops of sexy women. Most authors don’t get a say in the cover design, unfortunately.

My illustration class in college visited a man who did book covers for fantasy works and it was just awful. He said he refused to read any part of the book (it would get in the way of his “creativity”), only begrudgingly read the summary they sent him, and never asked questions about things like the appearance of the protagonist, the setting, or anything else. He was super proud of this and told us that he did what he wanted and they just had to deal with it.

Unsurprisingly, all of his work was, while highly technically accomplished, extremely bland and lacked anything unique about the books he was painting for. It was basically generic fantasy background, generic fantasy man, or generic fantasy woman.

I feel exactly the same. Its fucked up my navigation. Guess i finally have to remove my pop socket and mount the phone on the dashboard, lol