Help Choose an Ebook Cover for this Website

I agree with the poster who said none of them quite work. The line drawing of the eye seems not quite right; the light through the lens may come closest to "working" for me; the images flying into the camera does seem more like video. I like the idea of having a photo or photos on the cover, but can see why limiting the photo to one "genre" such as landscaping might not work. I think also the subtitle is a bit off-putting - it seems jargony and technical, and at odds with the main title "understanding photography." I can't tell if this is a book for beginning or advanced photographers, or if it is about taking photos or processing them.

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Originally Posted by Zhollat

I love the simplicity of the fourth one with the photographer standing... 'Simplicity sells'

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Totally agree

All great.. I really like #2 but I think #3 would hold the greatest appeal reaching a wider audience...ie; less intimidating more welcome cover

The title is much more important to me than the picture on the cover. I never renounced buying a book because I did not like the cover. The title is good (Understanding photography, and this is precisely what the tutorials are good at committing).

This is obviously the first volume of a series. I would rather think of a general concept for the whole series or work on the covers for all volumes of the series, since the editor seems to have dispatched the entries of the tutorials in several volumes.

I agree with the argument of simplicity. So much that I think the cover could be black and white, as in the following example:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41hRCQvhdeL.jpg

Most of the proposals in the original have something trivial to me, insisting on pictures, cameras and persons taking pictures. In this sense, I prefer also the 'spirit' of the black and white example above, where you have people chatting, resting, or incidentaly taking a picture of a scene that I, as a spectator, can enjoy, too.

I recommend to elaborate further proposals, which appeal to the feelings of the eventual buyer (picture 4 does for some... I also like the avatar of Jeff S in this thread as another example) rather than to the kitchen tools.


I wish you much success withe the publication. I learned a lot withh the CiC tutorials.

Reto

I vote to forth, too.
It's inspirational cover design.

Number 2 (#64) & number 4 (#197).... incorporate the two images..... Changing font size, etc.

What stands out on the bookshelf....

The white background /eye stands out but as others have said reminds me of Corel.

No.2 very much tells me it is a photography book but a number of these designs smack of Kelby books.

So overall I would favour 2, but it is not eye catching enough.

Lots of these designs very 'samey'.

A new designer required?

Would not use 3rd image on this page: Image looks too processed. 4th Image is good - but too much white for a cover page. 1st, 3rd and 6th images are no noisy (too much detail). For me it is a toss-up between the 2nd image and the last image with the black printing - and I lean toward the second image for its simplicity - it catches the eye quicker.

My choice is the EYE. The image grabs you. The color contrast is vivid. The color pixels at the top identify the essence of digital photography.

I like the fourth picture, because it is simple but meaningfully and it will make the reader thinking more.:)

what if I have an idea for a cover? May not have enough time to shoot it myself.

I prefer the first one, I believe it represents what the book will be all about.

My first 3 would be: 6, 7 and 72in that order. This because I feel that the site contains so much good information that cannot be found elsewhere. There are plenty of books containing lots of quality photos but I think that the technical information should be stressed more and as the site contains this I think that a bookfront that underlines this would be important when a beginner has to choose between the myriad of books available.

Again thank you to the contributors that make this site so good and trustworthy - plus free of contributions from persons that just like to see their name printed.

Git

I like the second one... all colors going into the lens..

As it is obvious no cover convey the understanding meaning

These are all great but my first choice would be #2 as for me it portrays the essence of what photography is really about - light passing through a lens to be focused on the sensor / film.

From an aesthetic point, however, my second choice would be #4 - I picture myself as the photographer in a beautiful environment :D

If I were to purchase this book by the cover alone, I would be drawn to the 2nd to last book, the cover with the tree photo and camera, lenses, flash, filters, etc. The subtitle, 'Core Concepts and Techniques with Digital Image Capture' involves everything in the photo. Sure the cover with the eye is neat and the one of the photographer in the landscape is nice, but for one; the eye is only one aspect of getting a great shot and personally, I don't like the shot of the photographer on the rock because I have a mobile disability and I can't go hiking or climbing to get those amazing views so this cover would instantly turn me off from making a purchase. My second choice would be the one with the photos coming out of the camera, but it's a far second.

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Originally Posted by McQ

Rank the Entries Here


http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry01.jpg

I like this one the best. It works to tie digital and film photography together as well as being visually compelling. Someone suggested simplifying it with only two film strips. Not sure I agree, but I would have to see an example of this to decide. Worth trying. I assume the imprint "shutterstock" across it is not part of the final image to be used.

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry02.jpg

Very nice, but a bit too generic.

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry03.jpg

Too busy.

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry04.jpg

Beautiful landscape, with a photographer to emphasize the point. But too specific to represent all/different types of photography.

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry05.jpg

Beautiful image, but the eye alone is insufficient to describe the concept of the ebook. Now if the eye were included behind the camera in the first example, that might be interesting.

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry06.jpg

Too dark, too much emphasis on equipment rather than on the photographer's creativity. And again, the one image focuses on only a single photographic genre.

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry07.jpg

The image is good, but only represents landscape photography. The digital pattern at the bottom is a good idea, but very busy. What if some digital squares were included on the edges of the film squares in the first example as well as the arrows? Not sure it would work, but it would be interesting to see.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by McQ

Over the next year, this site will be releasing an eBook containing a selection of the online tutorials, but formatted for print and likely with some extras. I am hosting a contest to design the cover on another site, and have honestly been overwhelmed by the quantity of entries. Thus far, there have been around 250 design submissions in just a couple days!

I'd really like to get as many people's perspectives as possible. If you have a moment, it would be great to see your comments and relative rankings for the eight diverse but competitive entries in the link below:

Rank the Entries Here

Feel free to be open, but also try to see these through the eyes of the typical reader. For example, if you think none of them are a good fit, then please say so! The contest is still open, so also feel free to suggest other cover concepts, images or styles and I will bring it up with the designers.

The first phase of design selection ends in less than 24 hours...

Many thanks,
Sean

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Several examples also pasted below:

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry01.jpg

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry02.jpg

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry03.jpg

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry04.jpg

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry05.jpg

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry06.jpg

http://cdn.cambridgeincolour.com/ima...k1-entry07.jpg

Note: above designs are all currently still property of the corresponding designer and cannot be used without their prior agreement.

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I like sample #2. It is clean, straight forward, and conveys what the volume is all about.