Tag Archives: cover art

March 11, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Nairobi Bloodstar

This is a cover for Melange Books. In my first proof, I gave this more of a historical movie poster look, but upon learning the book had a bit more of an action-thriller bent, I put more of a focus on the train wreck explosion than the scenery and characters. Still, I added texturing to give the cover the historical feeling, and I played with the coloring (we wanted the red highlights for the ruby). After playing with positioning of the title and the hands with the ruby, this is the final result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-old-stained-paper-texture-beige-image39122645

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-savanna-landscape-africa-amboseli-kenya-image29222114

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-black-hands-pills-two-african-holding-pain-image37001611

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-ruby-polished-slice-image9155467

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-giant-explosion-image11628125

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-train-crash-accident-image43972160

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, book covers, Carole Hall, cover art, explosions on book covers, historical novel, Melange Books, Nairobi Bloodstar, photographic illustration, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, texturing

March 4, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – The French Couple

A cover for Melange Books. For this one, they already had the main art they wanted on the cover, but they wanted the title redone and a few adjustments made in regards to the overall effects. For this one, I mostly played with adding color to the dark halo around the model’s head, and played with the placement and color of the text so that it felt like part of the cover. This is the result:

The publisher provided the image to be used on the cover.

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Tagged as adding text to covers, book cover, book cover design, cover art, creating a book cover, Melange Books, Nic Penrake, SBibb, Stephanie Flint, The French Couple

February 25, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Howling Mountain Blues

This is a cover for Barking Rain Press.

For this cover, the third in the Crime Fighting Bluesmen series, we decided to model it after a Blues poster. For that, I stuck with more illustrated effects and textures, and stuck with a limited color scale, rather than the photo-realism I typically go for. I also played with juxtaposition, placing the monkey on top of the harmonica. In order to get the illustrated effect (which came from photos), I masked out the unnecessary portions of the photos, then used the threshold adjustment tool in Photoshop CS6, linked by a clipping mask to the photo, to make it black and white, then copied those layers and deleted out the extra color. I used the magic wand, without contiguous selected so I could make sure I could get all the excess black “paint” out.

This is the result:

Stock images from Shutterstock:

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-143096134/stock-photo-man-sitting-on-stool-in-dark-room-playing-guitar.html?src=YXC4bJk9QY4AHuec3KmbMw-1-45
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-105812573/stock-photo-m-carbine-isolated-on-a-white-background.html?src=1XhlIKJOIrcMv9LG0tUqiA-1-57
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-128205749/stock-photo-harmonica-isolated-on-white-background.html?src=FkpC4FBCUaA1D1HeIEzIAg-1-1
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-150340748/stock-photo-black-howler-monkey.html?src=FeKPz55ibOJQ8jx5X6aLmg-1-32
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-41437732/stock-photo-the-painted-jungle.html?src=id&ws=1
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-99005135/stock-vector-vector-of-ancient-american-ornaments-on-white.html?src=id&ws=1
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-125309489/stock-photo-yellow-plastic-guitar-plectrum-isolated-on-white.html?src=DJCaLEQMiXkeNAk2HzB1nw-1-26&ws=1

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as Barking Rain Press, blues poster, book cover design, cover art, Crimes Fighting Bluesmen, Howling Mountain Blues, photographic illustration, photoshop CS6, Ricky Bush, SBibb, Stephanie Flint, threshold adjustment layer

December 17, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Fairy Christmas, Darling

For this cover (Melange Books), I started with a similar concept to the final image here, but different models. To create the characters described on the art form, I originally did quite a bit of piecing various stock images together. But since the publisher wanted to try to stick with stock images they’d already purchased, I took a look through the available options. Turned out we had one that worked quite well, and only used one stock piece instead of… five? I think? There were several.

Sometimes it’s better to go simple.

For the rest of the cover, I worked on blending everything to have a wintery romance feel, and used Christmas textures to add to the feel of the cover and enhance the title. I kept the back and front covers to a similar color scheme, but I changed the position of the texture images to create the back cover.

This is the result:

SBibb - Fairy Christmas Darling Book Cover

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-barn-farm-yard-wind-mill-other-buildings-image33905325
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-little-cute-girl-butterfly-wings-adorable-girls-under-blossoming-apple-tree-image40844285
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-magic-wand-image23000346
2380782 – No longer on Dreamstime?
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-gallic-rooster-5-years-old-image14539620
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-simple-rustic-christmas-trees-snow-two-cut-out-wood-standing-front-wooden-wall-falling-snowflakes-festive-image34089609
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-red-christmas-lights-abstract-background-made-material-image32919894

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, Christine Arness, Christmas book cover, cover art, Dreamstime, Fairy Christmas Darling, Melange Books, photoshop blending, romance novels, SBibb, Stephanie Flint, stock images

November 12, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – The Doors

This is a cover for Melange Books.

For this one, I used texture overlay (the mosaic around the edge), as well as scene creation to create the desired stormy atmosphere and remove some of the birds from the original haunted house stock photo. I added in the girl, then at the author’s request, gave her longer hair. There are benefits to finding pictures where the hair is similar in color and goes roughly the desired direction you want it to go.

My original proof for this cover was too dark and gray, looking more like a horror novel than paranormal, so I lightened it a bit with the various blue and green tones to give it the sea/ocean-side feel, while still keeping the stormy atmosphere.

For this blog post, I’ve also included what I did for the back of the book. I usually keep these fairly simple, and in this case, I took part of the stock image that wasn’t used on the front cover to complete the back. That way the atmosphere remained consistent, while offering something a little different to look at. I used the same texture overlays and adjustment modes to keep the covers consistent, and included the publisher’s logo and barcode information on the back. I also include a separate layer with the author name and book title, that way the publisher can adjust for the spine as needed. I also flipped the back cover image so the white clouds act as a line, leading the eye back to the spine, and so that the dark blue mosaic would act as a frame.

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-man-walking-field-towards-haunted-house-scary-dark-atmosphere-image35050105
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-dark-storm-clouds-image2046209
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-calgary-beach-mull-scotland-bay-located-north-west-framed-low-hills-broad-area-machair-grassy-meadow-image42890362
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-beautiful-teenage-girl-outdoors-portrait-jeans-wear-looking-away-image36670484
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-broken-green-wall-tiles-image19929346
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-sad-girl-image22656428

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as Alice J. Black, book cover design, cover art, designing a back cover, designing a book cover, horror, Melange Books, paranormal, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, the Doors, ya, young adult

October 29, 2014 · 8:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Mira’s Hope

This is the cover for the sequel to Mira’s View, from Melange Books.

For this cover, I wanted to keep the same style as the first, with the prominent characters and soft background, as well as the text placement. I added in the snow (see the link at the bottom of this post for the tutorial I referenced) to bring everything together and add extra “oomph.” We experimented with a couple different backgrounds before choosing this one. I also included a second character who plays a large role in the story, and considered bringing in a third character, except that I worried the cover would look busy. I was able to use the same models (Yes, plural. Body and head were different, so as to fit the character description) for the female character, though I did use different stock images of them to help keep the covers varied. It’s the benefit to using Dreamtime’s “Other Stock Images With This Model” link when searching for suitable images. We also included a logline, provided by the author, to help create interest in the story. This is the result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-elf-image37703101
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-portrait-young-beautiful-woman-long-flowin-image24770171
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-old-rusted-broadsword-image24282162

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-snow-winter-wood-image13044892

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-man-long-hair-sword-down-holding-to-his-serious-expression-his-face-image36385946
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-attractive-young-man-long-hair-image23350511

Useful snow tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0-4p_65vxQ

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as cover art, designing book covers, Dreamstime, Erin Elliott, including logline on book cover, Melange Books, Mira's Hope, Mira's View, Other Stock Images With This Model, photographic illustration, SBibb, SBibb's, sequel book covers, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, stock images, wrap-around book cover, wraparound cover, YA covers

October 15, 2014 · 8:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Murder In the Cards

A cover for Melange Books, the sequel to Murder in her Dreams.

For this cover I kept to the same, dreamlike colors and textures as the previous book, only this time with symbolism from the second. I kept the same text placement and fonts (and border style), so series/brand recognition can be easily recognized. I also worked to have a central focus on the cover, while blending the various images so they would seamlessly morph from one image to the next.

This is the end result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-old-grunge-creased-paper-texture-perfect-retro-vintage-background-image30556007
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-teen-witch-tarot-card-image8216840
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-cobra-2-image14695145
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-man-running-work-out-image23320007
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-grunge-background-old-style-rusty-image35967692

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work

Tagged as book cover design, cover art, Dreamstime, Melange Books, Murder In Her, Murder In the Cards, Nell DuVall, photographic illustration, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint

September 17, 2014 · 8:14 pm

Behind the Scenes – Bluffing Is Murder

This is a cover for Barking Rain Press.

For this one, the publisher wanted to keep the style used on the previous cover in this series. So we stuck to the same cover model, though we did use different pictures of the same model to create this image, since she looked a bit too happy for this cover in most of her summery images. Though I didn’t use the same font, I tried to keep it close. Other than that, I worked to blend the various elements of the cover to create the scene for this mystery novel.

Stock images from Shutterstock:

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=204693931
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=33978022
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=92073581
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=204693934
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=202591288

All other images (textures) are my own.

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work

Tagged as A Lauren Rousseau Mystery, Barking Rain Press, Bluffing Is Murder, cover art, cover design, murder mystery, mystery novel, photographic illustration, photomanipulation, SBibb, scene creation, shutterstock, Stephanie Flint, Tace Baker

July 9, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Red Sun Over Panama

This is a cover for Melange Books.

The novel is an espionage/mystery novel with a historical setting, and based on the art form, I pictured a setting or rising sun over the ocean with the WWII Japanese flag behind it. I had a few questions based on what I’d read on the form, though, so I sent an email to the author before creating anything to clarify a few points in the story. I’d thought about having some sort of era based aircraft in the background, but I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate to the story. Turns out there weren’t any references strong enough to warrant having it on the cover. However, in corresponding with the author, he mentioned an idea for the cover that sounded very similar to what I had in mind. So I went ahead and created a proof based on a combination of both those ideas, and in the end, this is the result.

In the case of the flag, I used the stock image for the basis, then extended the suns rays so that they would bleed off the edge of the cover. Another thing I found that may be useful to keep in mind is that deep reds don’t seem to want to translate well from sRGB to CMYK for the print version. As a result, I found that curves adjustments and color balance adjustments can be rather useful in trying to match the CMYK print version of the cover to the RGB ebook version.

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-islands-scenic-ocean-image7860079

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-sunset-image14014412

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-kamikaze-image8000487
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-grunge-folded-paper-texture-image5110364

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, CMYK print conversion, cover art, designing a book cover, espionage novel, H. Paul Doucette, historical novel, Melange Books, mystery novel, Red Sun Over Panama, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint

June 18, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Emma and the Cutting Horse

This is a cover for Melange Books.

For this cover, the author had already received permission to use a silhouette image from the National Cutting Horse Association, so I used that as my starting point before creating the rest of the cover. In this case, I put more emphasis on the title and surroundings (while I initially had a stable in the background, I switched the image to an arena per the suggestion of the author). Since the book was meant for younger readers, I looked for a font that had a more kids-y feel while still relating to the story.

This is the end result: