or should you?

 Book covers are meant to capture the “essence” of a book and also attract someone to read it. It is an advertisement.  It should represent the book and part of the story it tells.  It should also be creative!  The possibilities are endless!

 Overused Movie Poster Designs Overused Movie Poster Designs  Design your cover online using designschool.canva.com designschool.canva.com

 For your short story that you have written you must design your own book cover!  It should include: The title and author (your name) A font that represents your story Colors that represent your story Images that represent your story

Visual Elements

Alignment, shape, rule of thirds, proximity, directionals, figure-ground contrast, consistency The main focal point of the cover is the title of the book since the text is yellow and the majority of the background is black. The yellow moon encourages the eye to travel to the right. The yellow stars and the “light” inside the house keep the eye traveling in a circle. The compliment of yellow gives the elements a sense of relationship to each other. The title is placed in the upper left corner at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal thirds. There is good figure-ground contrast with the yellow contrasting well with the black. The house is positioned nicely at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical 1/3 dividing lines.

Weight of Elements asymmetrical (informal). Symmetrical (formal), random (imbalance) There is a nice informal balance to the images on the cover. There are a lot of elements but they complement each other very well. I especially like how the stars surround the title.

Are they complementary? Consistent? Highly saturated? Children prefer warm (red, pink, yellow, orange) or bright and combinations of intense The yellow moon and stars against the black background tells the reader that this book must be about night. The color draws the eye to tiny flowers (or fireflies?) located at the bottom right corner of the cover. This makes the reader a little intrigued and curios to open the book. With this being a children’s book, I think using the warm color (yellow) is attractive and appropriate.

Make sure obstacles don’t impede interpretation of message. Does it capture/hold attention? All obstacles on this cover assist the reader in interpreting what the story is about. The color contrast is great. The color and elements capture a child’s attention.

Is it consistent with the intended message? The title font is more decorative and softer than the font used for the author and illustrator’s name. It is a soft, peaceful font indicative of nighttime and bedtime. It is not too large or bold.

Is it too large? Too small? The text is appropriately sized. Making the author and illustrator names a smaller font size draws attention to the title.

Does it appear even? Vertical spacing between lines s/b slightly less than the height of the lower case letters The text appears evenly spaced. I’m not sure I like the author and illustrator name so close to the title. But, considering the images on the cover, there is really no better place for them.

Text should contrast with the background. There is an excellent contrast with the white (author & illustrator’s names) and yellow (title) text positioned against the black (night) background.

Capitals should only be used where normally required. Best legibility = lower case I like how the author & illustrator’s names are in capital letters and are a different font type and smaller size than the font of the title. This causes a great separation. I also like how the title uses the appropriate lower-case letters. This is more attractive and easily readable for children.

Should grab attention. Should be unexpected (abrupt infusion of color, dramatic change in size, etc.) I love the yellow contrast of the moon, stars and light inside the house against the black background. This is a great choice of color. The book is about night so these colors are appropriate.

Three-dimensional objects and materials. Invites involvement, involves sense of touch. There are no three-dimensional features to this book.

Does it ask questions? Is a response needed? Can materials be manipulated? This book can be held by little hands. The large pages are easy for children to turn. The illustrations tell the story. This book can be “read” by all ages of children.

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