This is the Book Cover my Publisher sent me on Flickr

Amit Gupta says:

Tara, that title rules.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

kastner says:

The title is changed?
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

It's not bad, Tara. I'll say though, with my book just going to print, I had to throw fits to get a "less bad" cover. ;) Even dummied it up myself to give them an idea of what I wanted. Not exactly sure how they come up with 'em.

In reference to the bright green and then bright orange background they tried to put on ours to start -- they claim it must be bright to get people's attention on the shelf. But heck, if EVERYTHING'S bright, maybe the non-bright ones win. Too much competiton for the eye otherwise. ;) Good luck!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Alsymer says:

Hmm, might be worth opening it up to the great audience, much like Coversourcing, and see what you get. It's not a BAD cover, just not as engaging as one might hope.

Best of luck, Tara!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

@MSG says:

were they keeping colors/design simple on purpose?

i feel like whuffie should be orange or pink but not purple
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

miss_rogue says:

@stef_sull Yeah. Crazy. I figure if I find an awesome design to present to them, I'll be able to nudge it....especially if it comes from the community I discuss in the book. :)

@alsymer Great idea! I agree. Thanks!

@kaster Yep. The publisher says and I do.

@doomedsnowballs Because of this cover? Yikes. It must REALLY suck then!

@Amit_Gupta Thanks! I quite like it.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

erica_g says:

The serif font for "whuffie" is just wrong. I think the yellow could be pretty cool, actually, but the purple and the serif in contrast just aren't quite there.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

oceanic says:

Great title, but maybe the artwork could be somehow more reminiscent of the namesake book?

e.g.
flickr.com/photos/alvy/3779147/
flickr.com/photos/toscani/1379068913/

"whuffie" sounds like a more "orange and green" thing to me, at least that was how I imagined it (if that's possible) when I read "Down and Out..."
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Evan Hamilton says:

Doesn't look like a book I'd pick up unless recommended. While I'm sure most of your sales will be generated by word of mouth and your own considerable whuffie, I think you need to have a cover that will appeal to someone quickly glancing at covers in a bookstore. Yellow and purple is not this. :)
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

hillary h says:

"Maxing Social Capital" or "Maximizing"??
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Christine ™ says:

The title cracks me up! I agree though ... the cover just needs something more, more, more ... oh, I don't know! Something!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

paulisakson says:

Trying to help you out:

paulisakson.typepad.com/planning/2008/02/book -cover-desi....

Hope you get something good submitted! :-)
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

tyleremerson says:

TH, have you asked Cory for his thoughts? Maybe he has some colors, visuals, visual concepts, pictorial mark, symbol, etc. in mind for whuffie. Re: visual concept, something to serve as the equiv for whuffie as Friedman's The World Is Flat cover with flat-Earth overlaid on a penny.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

tyleremerson says:

Just saw this:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Whuffie.gif
...well that's not that great.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

ericabiz says:

Hmm..."maxing"...is that a word? :(

I recommend doing what Tim Ferriss did.... put your subtitle up on Google AdWords for relevant search terms and see what people click the most on. All you would need on the backend is a simple webpage that collects email addresses so you can email 'em when the book gets released.

As it stands now, I think there has to be something better out there. I'm not as concerned by the design as by the wording.

-Erica
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

marcusnelson says:

I echo @ericabiz completely! The subtitle, while descriptive, may get lost in translation - The "maxing" is a tricky word at first glance. The strengths may be "social capital" and "online communities."

The Yellow / Purple combo may stand out well on a bookstore shelf, I get that - but it's borderline obnoxious.

I also think the Font is wrong on Whuffie - It's just a dated "look."

May I take a crack at it?
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

toddoneill says:

I think I would flip the tag line.
"Five keys to maxing out social capital and winning social communities."
But that's me.
See you next week in Austin.
Todd
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

fstutzman says:

Congrats Tara!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

miss_rogue says:

@marcusnelson Please Do!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

splorp says:

I agree with @marcusnelson (and others) regarding the serif face. Frankly, the sans face (Bank Gothic) used for the subtitle and secondary text is dated as well. Almost too much typographic contrast. If you can nail the “Whuffie” face (most likely a bold, modern sans), that will be half the battle … then a subtly classic serif typeface for the remaining text would slide right in.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

jeffreyk says:

tell them to spell five, not use "5". Otherwise, it can look like "The S keys..."
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

jeffreyk says:

"Whuffie is the ephemeral, reputation-based currency of Cory Doctorow's sci-fi novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom"

is this right?
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Aimka says:

Love the new title. And why not put a call for a better cover up as a challenge at pixish.com?
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

eschipul says:

Great title!

From a design perspective, in the world or RC Airplanes, yellow is the most highly visible at a distance in the sky. Orange is second.

So by going with yellow you will literally have the MOST visible book. Not a bad choice for marketing if the goal is to get them to at least read the margins. Not aesthetic perhaps, but likely profitable.
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

damn gina says:

It's actually not as bad as i was imagining when you said "purple on yellow." however, it's still purple on yellow, and that's unacceptable.

Also, I've gotta agree with those who suggest "Five" instead of "The 5" for the tag line - it does kinda look like the "S Keys."

I still think you should write a sequel called "The Whoopee Factor."

*Regarding font, have you had input from Veerle? I bet she could solve all of your sans serif needs...
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Shazz Mack says:

Hey Tara,
yay! a book.
A few suggestions:
- the "5 keys" subhead type is sans serif, all caps, and centred ... tough on legibility as others have pointed out above
- form needs to suggest function: the social/ranking aspect of your thesis is not inferred from the design - what could be a better creative brief than: "convey the concept of social capital" (!) Gotta have a lovely graphic that makes the reader 'feel' what it is.
- this touchgraph might give you some ideas: www.touchgraph.com/WikinomicsTouchGraph.png
- NYTimes has a book cover blog:
nytimesbooks.blogspot.com/
- the Pentagram blog has some good book cover designs:
blog.pentagram.com/book-design/
- and more inspiration here: covers.fwis.com/

Can you tell I've been looking at cover design lately? ;D
good luck!
Shazz
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

dalellarson says:

One thing I know about covers is that a good publisher should know more about what makes them sell than most of the rest of us do. Same goes for titles. That said, they still make mistakes. For some reason, the Crown bestseller that comes first to mind is "Four Hour Work Week" which has a cover I like.

I don't get the title, and I feel like a doof for not knowing what Wuffie is.
I guess that's what the good PR folks at Crown are there to help you fix.

When I Googled it, the first definition is ugly -- see the Urban Dictionary. This usually only happens with off-color words, otherwise Wikipedia is more likely to be in the top ten with an entry.

Other goofy hits in the top ten such as a picture of a furry posted by "Half Beast." Is the idea that you can "own" this word and end up with a highly searchable title at the same time you're making the rest of media and public aware of what Wuffie is?
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Cesar and Angela says:

Hey Tara I just put something together nothing really fancy. Maybe you might like it so please check it out.

www.flickr.com/photos/cesarhcjr/2297062474/
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

ashley_dryden says:

I am horrible about choosing a book by it's cover; I don't know that by skimming the covers of books at Barnes and Noble that I would pick it up. It needs to bring the inviting energy that an unconference does - unstuffy and more MissRogue-esque :D
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

jellyfish24 says:

Alrighty, try this on for size ;-)

www.flickr.com/photos/32933439@N00/2301722132 /sizes/o/
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

Rachel M. Murray says:

How about something less business and more artsy? Just came across this artist who does custom covers - don't know if your publisher will like it, but she does some evocative work...
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

hillary h says:

@dalellarson - i think you're problem is the spelling... you left out the H. it's "Whuffie" not "Wuffie".
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

In The Crowd says:

I had no idea what a whuffie was before I googled it, and on the first attempt I tried "whuffle" and got very confused. I don't think I'd buy a book whose title I didn't understand.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

{ theinfonaut } says:

That design is actually pretty solid. It's fun looking, not corporate, and the title will be easy to read on a shelf. The yellow and purple is rough though. A trip to the book store will probably confirm that it will stand out with the current colors (blue seems to be particularly popular right now). I'd love to see someone put together something very similar but with some patterning (more than just the lines of stars) and different color variations...
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

{ theinfonaut } says:

Yum, inspiration: www.flickr.com/photos/joekral/232215920/in/se t-7215759426...
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

ilovecupcakes says:

I like the yellow and the subtite.

Not really digging the purple font.

Whuffle kinda makes me think of waffling about making a decision and snuffleupagus. Oh, I just realized is says, Whuffie, but my eye changed it to Wuffle. I almost need to see some kind of image or icon to help me associate Whuffie with something.

Mixed feelings about the sunlight image. Feels a little spiritual/Eckhart Tolle: www.eckharttolle.com, unless that is the feel of the book.

Very exciting! Congratulations
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

shipley_josh says:

flickr.com/photos/25232331@N04/2379459741/

Also...a book cover idea. Enjoy.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

shipley_josh says:

flickr.com/photos/25232331@N04/2379459667/
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

lauren.lee57 says:

And yet another one.... hope you find one you like :)

www.flickr.com/photos/25221494@N07/2379467151 /

The top one would be a white thicker cover with the word Wuffie cut out so that the second page (the bottom one) provides the color.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

brieehat says:

www.flickr.com/photos/25232289@N04/2379488277 /
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

chocolatecinderella1 says:

www.flickr.com/photos/25234679@N03/2379492557 /
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

lilmisspetrie says:

I made one too! I hope you enjoy all these book covers from our design class! :) I hope you find one that is exactly what you are looking for!

www.flickr.com/photos/25233347@N04/2380373296 /
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

emilybrock5 says:

www.flickr.com/photos/25257863@N06/?saved=1
I tried to focused on connections. Hope you like it!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Mario Paz says:

Here you have another option...I hope you enjoy it!...
flickr.com/photos/25305576@N08/2381059455/
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

tommy strong says:

The whuffie factor interesting and yet fun to read on here is my option for your new cover
flickr.com/photos/25225306@N03/2379619381/
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

miss_rogue says:

WOW! These are all awesome! I'm sending them forward to my publisher!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Gav Green says:

are you still looking for another cover design?
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

miss_rogue says:

@Gav Yes! I want to send as many as I can to my publisher. I think my publicist will also try to get some press about this...which will hopefully make all of the talented artists here famous! :)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

mirror_Tsui says:

Another one for The whuffie factor cover
mirror.bequiet69.net/cover-whuffie.gif
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

miss_rogue says:

@mirror_Tsui Cool! Your original illustration?
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

mirror_Tsui says:

Yes, Tara. This is my drawing, and I hope you like it.
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

cindyli says:

If you click on the image on my flickr stream it will show the notes of what I was thinking.

Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

ncbeets says:

yeah cindyli!!
i love the above blue & red cover - it rocks!
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

LilianMahoukou says:

Cindyli did a great job! This new book cover is more visual and the colors used (light blue & bold red) are more dynamic.

Without reading the title and by being really focused on the images, I think people first impression will be definitely positive.

It gives a clear illustration of what we're going to get in the book !

Best luck

Lilian
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

Great Ape Design says:

Here's my idea of what the cover should be:

www.flickr.com/photos/donaldson/2416502749/

I was trying to capture that "Web 2.0" feel, but use as little iconography as possible...

Although I have to say, if you don't go with mine, cindyli's is AMAZING...
Posted 19 months ago. ( permalink )

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This is the Book Cover my Publisher sent me

Comments

Amit Gupta says:

kastner says:

Stef Sull says:

Alsymer says:

@MSG says:

miss_rogue says:

erica_g says:

oceanic says:

Evan Hamilton says:

hillary h says:

Christine ™ says:

paulisakson says:

tyleremerson says:

tyleremerson says:

ericabiz says:

marcusnelson says:

toddoneill says:

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Aimka says:

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damn gina says:

Shazz Mack says:

dalellarson says:

Cesar and Angela says:

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Rachel M. Murray says:

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In The Crowd says:

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