(no subject)
I was musing today, as I oft do, about how much I hate Marvel's book cover designs-- especially their digest designs. For a format that is supposed to be new-reader-friendly, the bold red on white "MARVEL" logo often overpowers the title, and rarely meshes with the color scheme of the cover. Their digests also usually have a plain strip of color going along the spine edge of the cover which seems to serve no other purpose than to have another place to write "MARVEL" on, and has a tendency to make the cover image look cropped, which is not aesthetically pleasing. I looked longingly at my manga collection, whose popularity inspired the digest form to begin with, and wonder why Marvel couldn't take a few lessons from them.
Next thing I know, I've burned away 3 hours on Photoshop, and have produced (roughly) what my ideal Runaways digest would look like:
I know it looks really busy all laid out like that, so let me take you through the bookstore steps.
FIRST: I see the spine facing out from the bookshelf.
Clean, crisp. A large, friendly 1 in the middle lets me know I can just pick up this book and start there. The title, in a very readable font so I know what I'm getting. A company logo that matches the color scheme and is small enough that it doesn't feel like a sign for a club I don't belong to. And is that a cute goth chick? Sweet! Let's pull this off the shelf and see what else this book has for me!
SECOND:
HOLY CRAP IS THAT A DINOSAUR BEHIND THOSE KIDS? Aside from that, another large, friendly 1, and a breakdown of what jobs the names on the spine did, which prepares me to build loyalty to one or both of those names-- if I like this book, maybe I'll buy more from them. I am vaguely aware of the publisher's name in the upper right corner; subconsciously I begin to associate that name with something that appeals to me. Ok, but what's this all about (besides cute goth chicks and dinosaurs)??
THIRD: Flip it over.
That girl wearing an adorable hat! And this summary is in such a familiar typeface-- and black on white too, like I'm used to reading. This story sounds pretty cool! A clever quote by one of the characters-- I chuckle at the reference. And there are the creators' names again! That's the third time I've seen them-- I doubt I'll ever forget those names. And hey, the publisher's website-- that's the third time I've seen their name too. And at that price! How can I turn this down?
And that is how I would sell Western comics to new readers, or at the very least, design better covers for Marvel. (I'd love to try a DC title-- any proposals? One that could really use the facelift?)
Next thing I know, I've burned away 3 hours on Photoshop, and have produced (roughly) what my ideal Runaways digest would look like:
I know it looks really busy all laid out like that, so let me take you through the bookstore steps.
FIRST: I see the spine facing out from the bookshelf.
Clean, crisp. A large, friendly 1 in the middle lets me know I can just pick up this book and start there. The title, in a very readable font so I know what I'm getting. A company logo that matches the color scheme and is small enough that it doesn't feel like a sign for a club I don't belong to. And is that a cute goth chick? Sweet! Let's pull this off the shelf and see what else this book has for me!
SECOND:
HOLY CRAP IS THAT A DINOSAUR BEHIND THOSE KIDS? Aside from that, another large, friendly 1, and a breakdown of what jobs the names on the spine did, which prepares me to build loyalty to one or both of those names-- if I like this book, maybe I'll buy more from them. I am vaguely aware of the publisher's name in the upper right corner; subconsciously I begin to associate that name with something that appeals to me. Ok, but what's this all about (besides cute goth chicks and dinosaurs)??
THIRD: Flip it over.
That girl wearing an adorable hat! And this summary is in such a familiar typeface-- and black on white too, like I'm used to reading. This story sounds pretty cool! A clever quote by one of the characters-- I chuckle at the reference. And there are the creators' names again! That's the third time I've seen them-- I doubt I'll ever forget those names. And hey, the publisher's website-- that's the third time I've seen their name too. And at that price! How can I turn this down?
And that is how I would sell Western comics to new readers, or at the very least, design better covers for Marvel. (I'd love to try a DC title-- any proposals? One that could really use the facelift?)