Hello Everyone!
My amazingly talanted graphic designer Ted Ruybal is currently working on creating the cover for my upcoming book Depression Freedom: Ending the Reign of Darkness. This is a very exciting time and I’d love to share the fun!
To view the images of the book cover click on the link below:
Cover Samples for Depression Freedom
A PDF file will open which contains four separate cover possibilities. If you can’t read PDF files, you’ll first need to download the free Adobe PDF reader available at http://get.adobe.com/reader/
Now that you’ve opened the files, which design do you like best? Which features are most striking? What don’t you like? What would you change? At this stage of the design process, we have the flexibility to make the changes we want.
I’m so excited to share these beautiful covers, and I can’t wait to hear your feedback. Leave your comments below or send me an email at Annette@AnnetteColby.com. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
With love,
Annette
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Annette,
I love the last one. The first one is overpowering, the second one is too cheery for a depressed person, the third one is too depressing for a depressed person but the last one is hopeful and eye-catching – just sort of calls to you.
I am soooo excited for you and wish you much joy, love and happiness.
Definitely the last one! Its freeing & inspirational. Gives a sense of hope for sure!
Annette, I definitely like the last one best. I agree exactly with the 1st comment above, and wanted to add that I like the font that the title is written in — it’s sort of child-like and “stress-free.” I also love the flowing, relaxing tail of the butterfly, and you feel drawn into the book with the lovely colors.
Can’t wait til it’s out!
Great covers! I pick #1 as my favorite, but they all work. You have such a powerful title it feels like the art should serve to reinforce that concept.
#1 has that warm yellow hue surrounding the butterfly with vibrating reds looking almost like an aura, but with a dark spot in the middle. It is a striking piece. I also like the font. It has a nice contrast against the background making it easy to read the title and your name.
#3 is rich with primary colors for the surrounding and feels energized (even chaotic) with a cool blue butterfly in the middle. Saying to me “chaos can be found everywhere, come and discover your cool blue side…” Still, it feels a bit dark, so I guess it just depends on what you’re aiming for.
#2 seems to be the reverse of #3. Calm blue surrounding with a colorful, warm, uneven butterfly in the middle. Almost pointing out that ‘darkness’ in each of us?
#4 is the art I like the most (with the small, complicated swirling patterns). Very cool. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Interesting how moving the “Ending the Reign of Darkness” part toward the bottom softens the overall feeling. I agree with the other comments in that this is the most hopeful.
Hi Dr. Annette,
I would have to go with number 4, just the right balance of colors and such. I agree with others’ comments on how each cover would be too “dark” for a depressed person or too “cheery”. I can’t wait until this book comes out, I’ll definitely be using Amazon to preview it!
Love,
Jill
My coworker & I looked at these together and we agree on liking #1 the most, #4 the second-best, with #2 and #3 being not at all.
As stated above by 4P, the second one is too cheery for a depressed person and the third one is too depressing (dark) for a depressed person.
#1: Glowing and illuminous, with an image like real life–a dark “groundscape”, bright and large middle color flow, with a hint of some thing happening in the “sky” suck as clouds. The butterfly seems to be flying through this world…without representing whether it’s flying as a depressed butterfly or someone who’s come out of a reign of darkness.
#4: My coworker liked this one because the colors appealed to her and the art in the butterfly was pretty. I liked this one as a more personal, “friend helping a friend” feel, because of the title in a font that looks like handwriting.
I also liked the art in the butterfly, however, that somehow put me off. Hopefully, I can explain it well enough. Psychiatry and psychology still have the impression on some as negative things, such as twisting our thoughts to suit whatever purpose, a “crazy, mixed up, jumbled mess”, etc. To me this amplifies those attributes and might taint the (likely) helpful messages you’ve put inside. People still judge a book by it’s cover, ya know?
Suzanne´s last blog ..Quote to Reflect Upon (Feb10)
Wow, these are all spectacular! It’s sort of a tie between 1 and 4. In 4, the graphic is very appealing but the subtitle is not prominent enough being at the bottom (and I think that subtitle is very important), and, the font is perhaps just a tad too casual. Cover 1 seems to have the right mix of fonts, sizes, and imagery. But really, I loved them all! Super work, and looking forward to the release!
Cheers,
Miche
Miche – Serenity Hacker´s last blog ..Making Big Changes: Energy and Resistance
Number 4.
Dear 4P, Dana, Katie, TonyC, Jill, Suzanne, Miche, and Reka…
THANK YOU all for sharing your valuable insights and opinions! Your voices were heard!!
Like all beautiful art work, the images evoked varied responses. Most people loved something about all the images, and a very few expressed extreme distaste with each of the possible covers. What’s most important is that the images did elicit interest and strong opinons.
We collected input from friends, family, co-workers, Twitter and Facebook friends, and a few bookstore owners. Overall the results indicated:
#2 seems a bit to cheery for depressed people and #3 seems a bit too dark for depressed people. That left us with an almost even tie for #1 and #4. Those two images are now back in the hands of Ted Ruybal, our awesome graphic designer, who will now make some changes based on your feedback.
Life is filled with so many great choices!! Thanks to all the fantastic input! Hope to post the final version soon.
Peace & Joy,
Annette