Previous Match Results

Our most recent match saw Red Rising take the win over Opposite of Always, snagging two thirds of the votes. And I know what you’re thinking. No, I didn’t vote. I wanted to, but I felt like I was too close to it to make an objective decision. Fortunately, others didn’t have that problem. However, Red Rising will have to take on Pride in the next round… yikes.

Round 1 – Match 7

A Curse So Dark and Lonely has depth. Those thorns and branches seem to go on forever. Looking at it, I find myself trying to look deeper, actually moving my head around for a better angle, hoping  to see something more. 

The text plays nicely with the foliage as well, branches threading through and between letters. Anyone who’s been following this contest knows I’m a big fan of the text and elements playing together. 

Color scheme and aesthetic are both on point as well. It’s night time. I’m lost. I’ve stumbled into something that has massive thorn bushes as far as the eye can see and I have no way of getting out. I’m stuck and feeling hopeless. Very well done.

Nevernight is a completely different animal. When it was nominated, the UK version was specified, so that’s what we’re looking at here today.

On the surface, the imagery is already effective, but then we look deeper. Other images emerge from the feathers and now we’re seeing people and things from the story. Once having read the story you could even go back and see actual events blatantly taking place (though anyone who hasn’t read wont make sense or spoiler from them.)

If the design itself doesn’t speak to you personally, there have been reports on the internet of copies of this book selling for insane amounts of money. The cover certainly isn’t the only reason for that, but I’m sure it contributes. 

Which will you choose? Leave your vote in a comment below. Share this post with family and friends and let’s see how many votes we can pull in this week!

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.)