Tuesday 2 August 2011

a cover comparison: Wither & Fever.

Last week, Lauren DeStefano released the cover of Fever, the sequel to her debut Wither:

Now, a book designer needs to create stunning covers and interiors, but they also need to ensure that the jackets (including spines) seem continuous from book to book within a series. Lizzy Bromley achieved the "stunning" part of the job, but to me, the continuousness is lost. Sure, the geometric shapes are still there, and the font's still the same. But:
  • the lighting is totally different. Whereas Fever's lighting comes from the background, Wither's lighting is from behind the camera, facing the dark blue setting.
  • the models look almost entirely different. As far as I know, it's the same girl, but what with the hairstyle change and pink tinge on Fever, the look has very much deviated.
  • does the girl on Fever's cover look like she's running away?! I could accept a passive position on Wither because for most of the novel Rhine doesn't do anything. But for a runaway to be slumped on the floor? *is baffled*
There you have it: my not-too-pleased opinions. See, it's a gorgeous cover by itself, but compared with Wither, it doesn't match at all IMO. What do you think?