Saturday, April 7, 2012

Shelf Candy Saturday #14: Embrace, by Jessica Shirvington





This wonderful book meme/blog hop
is hosted by

Stephanie @






The purpose of this feature is to display
a beautiful book cover,
with information, if available,
about the cover illustrator,
photographer, and/or designer.



For all the participation rules,
just click




Here's my pick for this week!


 


Hardcover, 367 pages
Sourcebooks Fire
March 6th, 2012
Genres: YA Paranormal Romance,
Urban Fantasy




Why do I love this cover?

I think that the design concept is a stroke of genius!  The 'wings' sprouting from the girl's back are made of smoke!   They look wispy and ethereal, as well as absolutely magical!  Since I have yet to read this book, I'm speculating that the girl is either an 'undercover angel', or she doesn't know yet that she's an angel.  Interestingly, there are a few feathers fluttering around...  These feathers are gray with black tips, which leads me to wonder whether she's a fallen angel.  Also, the girl seems to be lost in thought, pulled into herself, since her back is to the viewer.  Could she be pondering her destiny, perhaps, or her difficult mission on this planet?  These little details are great hooks that will entice a reader to open the cover and start reading, in order to find some answers!  I know I'm one of them!

The background color is very beautiful.   I've always loved shades of purple.  Here we have lilac that lightens even more as it moves toward the center and right of the cover.   The radiance around the girl lends an otherworldly air of mystery to the entire design.  Appropriately, the name of the female protagonist is Violet Eden.

I love what the artist did with the title -- the font is a classic, Roman-looking one, but it's softened by the wisps of smoke around the letters, which carry the theme of the smoky wings into the title.  I do wish, though, that the title had not been so 'strategically' placed... This is the only little quibble I have with an otherwise gorgeous cover!  


The cover photograph is the work of

From the Photographer's Website


Patrick Fleischman was born and grew up in the Bronx*.  Later he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he worked as a Combat Correspondent for the Camp Lejeune Globe newspaper.  Upon his honorable discharge from the Marines, he moved on and began attending the School of Visual Arts.  

(* "The Bronx" is the name given to a neighborhood in the city of New York.  This is for my international readers.)

(The above account is obviously incomplete, so I researched further, and found more information on this website: http://www.modelmayhem.com/2175809 )


The cover design is by

From the Artist's Website

Award-winning art director with extensive experience in conceptualization, branding, and design with an emphasis on project direction and photo shoot production for high-profile companies and institutions such as MoMA, FIT, HarperCollins, and Scholastic.  Professional strengths include project leadership and vision.  



While researching, I also found
 the cover shoot video, which features
Fleischman and Uva.
Enjoy!!




 






So what do you think 
of this cover?
What beautiful cover(s) 
are you featuring this week?





18 comments:

  1. I love this cover! I've seen it around and I really liked the idea of the wings being made out of smoke. It's a very unique concept. I also like the purple background because I love purple. I've been wondering who created the cover so this was interesting. I really liked the video :).
    My Shelf Candy Saturday

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, this cover is TOTALLY unique! Wings made from smoke? I've never seen anything like it before! And I'm with you -- I think purple is a beautiful color, although my absolute favorite is, of course, blue. glad you liked the video!

      Thanks for commenting!! : )

      Delete
  2. This cover definitely is eye catching. Great choice for shelf candy!

    My Shelf Candy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, when I first saw the book, I put it in my TBR pile at once! This is an unforgettable cover!

      Thanks for commenting!! : )

      Delete
  3. This cover is beautiful. I love the purple and the wings that maybe aren't really wings.... its stunning. And the title is gorgeous too.
    I really enjoyed reading the bio on the photographer - he must have lived a very interesting life and experienced a lot which would make his eye for design very unique.
    Great choice this week, I will for sure be checking this book out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, this is DEFINITELY a stunning cover!! The combination of design elements is just perfect!!

      I'm so glad you enjoyed reading the photographer's bio. He's obviously very talented! The book designer is, too. They worked together beautifully as a team, I think!

      Thanks for the great comment!! : )

      Delete
  4. I love the cover. The smoke wings and the smokiness around the lettering are what really make this stand out. And the video is fantastic. Thanks for including that. The more Shelf Candies I do, the more I love learning new things about the art of making a book cover.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, this is a GORGEOUS cover! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it!! And of course the smoke wings and the smoky lettering are totally original -- there's NOTHING even close out there!

      I'm SO glad you enjoyed the video!! You're welcome for it! I was delighted to discover it, since, I, like you, am getting more and more interested in the whole process behind a great book cover.

      Thanks for your wonderful comment!! : )

      Delete
  5. My comment just got erased! Sorry...Love the cover and especially love the inclusion of the video. And the smoke wings are what make me look at this cover every time I see it! Nice pick!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, that's too bad....but maybe what happened was that, since I have comment moderation, your comment simply went into my comment moderation folder, waiting for me to approve it.

      Well, no worries! Now I have TWO great comments from you!! Thanks for caring enough to post again!! : )

      Delete
  6. I love all the extra pieces of information in your post. Model Mayhem is a great site. There are a lot of cover models listed there.
    The cover is terrific! It takes some serious creativity to come up with wings made from smoke. Amazing.
    I enjoy watching cover shoots, so this was awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed all the extras!! I decided to do more digging into Fleischman's background because the bio on his website sure looked incomplete. Maybe there was a glitch when he uploaded the information. Well, I discovered Model Mayhem in the process, so that's good! (Everything happens for a reason, as they say.)

      This is one of the most original covers I've seen yet. The concept of the smoky wings is brilliant!

      I agree about the cover shoots. I'll try to incorporate more such videos in future Shelf Candy posts. You're very welcome for the video!

      Thanks for such a terrific comment!! : )

      Delete
  7. I so love this cover, the photo art, the colors, the font. It's so eye grabbing. thanks for sharing. my scs http://jennreneeread.blogspot.com/2012/04/shelf-candy-saturday-8-dead-is-by.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it certainly IS an eye-catching cover! Glad you like it!!

      Thanks for commenting!! : )

      Delete
  8. I really like this cover as well. It's very eye catching and that is what had me purchasing this book. Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here!! I had my eye on the book for quite some time. Then, as soon as it was released, I ordered it from Amazon. I hope to read it pretty soon! Enjoy your copy!

      Happy Easter to you, too, and thanks for the comment!!

      Delete
  9. Hi, this is Patrick the photographer from the shoot. I'm primarily a fine-art photographer with a focus on formalist abstraction of architecture. It was a great shoot, and everyone worked hard that day. I've done a lot of commercial work and this was a good opportunity to keep up. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. my email is patrick@otherpixel.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Patrick! You and Andrea do excellent work, and I was happy to feature this gorgeous cover! Thanks for the visit and the comment!

      Delete

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