Previous Match Results

The results from Match 1 are in, and it’s a landslide. Ink dominated Children of Blood and Bone, getting 90% of votes. Children and Blood and Bone would have had a good chance at beating some of the other covers in the tournament, but it ended up competing against near-perfection, as far as design is concerned. People have also mentioned that IRL there’s foil involved in the Ink cover, which may have swayed that final 10% into voting the other way!

Round 1 – Match 2

Two solid entries for match 2. This might be a tough decision for a lot of people. Let’s find out.

Jackaby has a lot going on, in a good way. Many things to look at, within different levels. It’s one of those covers that somehow manages to show two completely different images, at the same time, without either one of them becoming muddled and losing detail.

The title font is a bit of risk. Going with something hand written usually is in design. It can add a degree of authenticity to a design, and if its someone’s actual handwriting, you could have a literal one-of-kind typeface. The other side of that is legibility. Some handwriting looks so dynamic, but can’t be deciphered by the top experts in the fields of linguists, etymology, and pre-school teachers combined. However, I don’t think very many people would have trouble reading Jackaby, so it’s a risk that paid off, in my opinion. 

Four dead Queens also gives our eyes a lot to take it. A wonderful illustration which immediately starts giving weight to the book’s title as well as some insight into the story. The crowns are all very different, so could this mean Queens from different kingdoms, or just ladies with varied taste? (I haven’t read this book—or Jackaby for that matter) And who can ignore the blood?

The font is unique, but not weird. Too often you see a design using something different for the sake of different. And as we’ve seen many times before, different isn’t automatically good. Only when it’s done right. And this is. Also, the effects on the typeface giving it some depth and the little “ting” as we call it, on the second D, almost makes it look suited for jewellery, fitting in with the overall theme.

Which will you choose? Leave your vote in a comment below.

Note: Between education and career, I have over 15 years of experience in the field of graphic design. While I don’t pretend to know everything about design, and it will always be extremely subjective, I feel like I can speak about it with a modicum of authority (or at the very least, I don’t sound completely clueless.)