The Cover Design Process for The Trial of Bells and Blood

The cover for The Trial of Bells and Blood was… shall we say… a trial.

I had already rendered it twice, but I still wasn’t quite happy with it.

Ignoring the section where the title goes, this is the first version I did:

I liked the gist of it, but the camera angle made Haven look like he was towering over Alia, Alia looked miffed that she had to be in the picture rather than skeptical about the whole situation, and the guy on trial seems more worried about Alia than Hahven.

And Hahven is looking… somewhere behind the giant rock?

Eh… I didn’t get my angles right.

Take two!

Okay… better…

Now everyone’s actually looking where they’re supposed to, and they’re the correct heights.

Alia has her sword and, while still looking a little posed for the camera, at least she now appears to be part of the scene. She has her head cocked skeptically and sword partially drawn. Hahven actually looks to be about his right height, and the guy on trial seems to be looking the right direction. Hahven is the real threat.

My concern was that they all still looked a little too stiff, and the previous covers have all had the figures much larger.

I debated switching to a new image entirely. But skip ahead about a month, and I made adjustments per newsletter reader feedback, re-rendered the image, then touched it up in Photoshop.

Drumroll please…

I gave Hahven a sword to threaten the man with, and Alia seems less skeptical and more judgy.

Without being a spoiler, Alia’s restraint is the only reason this guy hasn’t gotten shish-kebabbed by Hahven. I really enjoy the dynamic between Hahven and Alia, as well as how Hahven has to struggle with his chesnathé horn’s constant calls for judgement.

(The scene on the cover is one such moment).

What do you think? Did the final version do better?

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Learn how Hahven got his horn and where Alia got her restraint…

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Happy reading and writing!