Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!
This is my weekly feature
showcasing beautiful covers!
It also provides information,
if available, on their
very talented creators!
if available, on their
very talented creators!
Here's my choice for this week!
Ever The Hunted
(Clash of Kingdoms, Book 1)
Erin Summerill
Hardcover, 400 pages
HMH Books for Young Readers
(Clash of Kingdoms, Book 1)
Erin Summerill
Hardcover, 400 pages
HMH Books for Young Readers
Decemberber 27, 2016
Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
This cover has left me practically speechless.....it is SO very BEAUTIFUL!! It's also elegant, supremely graceful, and also very exquisite! I just can't say enough GREAT things about it!
This cover gives me such a feeling of aesthetic satisfaction, of visual BLISS!! I never thought I would gush like this over a cover that's basically white, as this is not one of my favorite colors. I consider it a VERY boring color, most ot the time. For instance, I totally dislike white walls in houses or apartments. I just think that this color, which is not really a color, is overused. It takes a brilliant artist or designer to really make it visually appealing. In my honest opinion, putting white on a book cover is to practically doom the book to 'Book Siberia'. In other words, the book will be invisible to most potential buyers/readers, and will probably remain so until the cover is changed.
So I was very pleasantly surprised when I first encountered this obviously brilliantly designed cover!! Here's a white cover that will NEVER even visit 'Book Siberia!! Lol. Here'a a cover that truly SHINES. Here's a cover that uses the dreaded white to perfection, making it stand out in the reader's mind.
How did the cover artist(s) accomplish such a difficult visual feat? Well, they didn't just place a field of white all over the cover. Instead, the white areas are full of visual activity. They are filled by a very graceful, dynamic, pattern of repetitive flourishes with a very obvious Art Nouveau influence. Furthermore, these flourishes frame a circle, within which the title is very effectively placed.
The four corners of this beautiful design -- two at the top, and two at the bottom -- very nicely frame the flourishes and fhe circle. Furthermore, I LOVE the placement of the two phrases -- "Ever the outcast", "Ever the brave" at the top of the design. They serve to break up any monotony in the design. They are echoed by the placing of the author's name at the very bottom of the design. The color used for these phrases, as well as for the author's name, also serve as a contrast to the color of the title itself.
So this now brings me to the title. What a GORGEOUS, also very graceful, font was used here! I absolutely LOVE the very elegant curve that encloses the title. I think it has a Celtic influence. Celtic design is breathtakingly beautiful precisely because of its frequent use of circular shapes. If this title has been influenced by it, then that will explain why it feels so visually satisfying to me, as I have for a long time now treasured Celtic design. This design style is also heavily calligraphic, another feature I greatly appreciate. Letters are given beautiful, very ornamental shapes that flow so harmoniously over the page.
The design of the letter "E" in this particular cover is part of what lends the overall design its visual impact. It goes around most of the title, and seems to be embracing the word "Hunted".
The color used for the title is also absolutely beautiful! It's got a metallic sheen to it, which markedly contrasts with the rest of the cover. I especially love the gleam along the tops of the letters in the word "Hunted". This is such a nice touch! The 'shadow effect' that surrounds the entire title really makes it stand out, and goes very well with the overall white. The arrow that drives through the title is visually stunning. Of course, it's a reference to the archery skills of the novel's main character.
After all this enthusing, it was quite a letdown to be unable to find any information about the cover artist(s)...... Try as I might, I could find out nothing at all. The Amazon reading preview is not available for this book, and Google was of no help whatsoever. I even thought of downloading a sample of this novel to my Android phone's Kindle app, in order to see the copyright page. However, since the book will be published in December, no sample is available as yet....
I did find a post mentioning the cover reveal for this novel, on the author's blog, but there was no mention of the cover artist and/or designer. There's a giveaway attached to this post, which is long over, as the post is dated 12/8/15. You can find it HERE.
week's cover?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!
This is great cover and great choice for Shelf candy Saturday.
ReplyDeleteI agree, in theory, the thought of a book cover that primarily consists of white, with some gold sounds terribly dull. It seems like it would be a marketing mistake.
Yet this cover is striking. I agree that the use a little contrasting color as well as visual activity really makes this cover stand out.
It is rare, but when in the hands, the simple and the basic can be portrayed in a brilliant way.
Hey, Brian!
DeleteThanks for the good word!! :) So glad you like this cover, too!!
I have never liked this so-called "color". I never wear it, either, as it tends to get dirty much too quickly. It does have associations with innocence and purity, but unfortunately, it is not visually exciting. In contrast, the color blue is beautiful, soothing, and peaceful, but can also be exciting! (Just look at the template image on my blog, which was designed by merrymoonmary!!)
What makes this cover so striking is the use of those visually active flourishes, as well as the GORGEOUS, metallic-hued title that totally stands out!
I love the way you put it: "It is rare, but when in the hands, the simple and the basic can be portrayed in a brilliant way." I couldn't have said it better myself!
Thanks for the GREAT comment!! :)
It is a lovely cover. So much detail, which I really think works well with the color white. And the use of gold and green lettering was smart. I am sorry you weren't able to find out more about the artist, as I always enjoy seeing what you find about them in your research for these posts.
ReplyDeleteHi, Wendy!
DeleteYes, it DEFINITELY is!! I love all the detail, and the green and gold do work very well with the white.
I'm sorry as well that I couldn't find any details about the cover artist. I think that authors should be more appreciative of the very talented artists who create covers for their books. After all, the cover is what really attracts potential readers to a book! So authors should really mention these artists on their blogs and/or websites.
I'm glad you enjoy the information on cover artists that I include in my SCS posts! It adds an added dimension to them, I think.
Thanks for the lovely comment!! :)