Previous Match Results

Match 3 was a close one, which was nice to see after two complete blowouts. Hot Dog Girl managed to knock off The Hate U Give. I would all that an upset as far as book popularity goes, but I’m glad to see that we’re all voting based on the quality of the cover design and not based on feelings on the book as a whole!

Round 1 – Match 4

Today’s match will see the highly decorative going up against rock-solid design and photography.

Ruta Sepetys’ Salt to the Sea is a chilling cover to look at. From the imagery to color scheme, the message is pretty clear: ‘abandon hope, all who enter here.’ Without knowing anything about the book itself, we know there’s a storm brewing and we’re in the middle of a large body of water with nothing but a few life preservers around us. Is rescue coming? Is something else coming? I could look at this cover all day.

The Gilded Wolves, by Roshani Chokshi, is quite the opposite. It gives me more of a feeling of hope and growth, but maybe with a bit of exclusion mixed in. Again, if we’re looking at the cover alone without knowing anything about the book, we aren’t told much. We’re on the other side of what might be the front gate to wealthy property? Gilded Wolves may be a reference to rich people who are also cruel, who might live at the very property we’ve been shut out of. It sure is pretty, though. 

I like that the title has been made part of the image. If not for the difference in color, it looks like it could be part of the metalwork, and notice the way a leaf has come forward to obscure just a portion of the letter V.

This might be another tough one, but I’ve been wrong before.

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.)