Get Your Strategy On
I just received the initial Killing Cockroaches cover comps. My publisher and I would love your feedback. Take a look at these comps and vote on your favorite. More importantly, please give thoughts and reactions in the comments. Who knows…we may actually listen to your advice.
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27 Responses to “Killing Cockroaches Cover Comps”
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Tony Morgan is a pastor and the Chief Strategic Officer at NewSpring Church where he develops creative solutions for communications, technology and NewSpring Ministries--the church's ministry that equips other church leaders.
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Chad Maag
June 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
A - Probably the strongest, the type choices are great. Nice strong colors. It _does_ come across a bit like the by line should read Comrade Morgan, but a lot of design lately are taking their cues from soviet propaganda design work. This feels the most timeless.
B - This one feels kinda like a Pulp “B” Hardboiled detective film. It _almost_ feels like the designer was trying to give it some Saul Bass flavor, but then gave up.
C - The type on this one is too gimmicky, and will definitely cause it to age the quickest. Type choices can go a long way to making a design timeless, or get stale on the shelf. I would stay away from this one. Also if potential buyers have a low skeeve-out threshold, this would be one to avoid.
Dharkness
June 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I get a Poll not found screen when I try to vote. I like the cross-hair design. The Green goo design is to aggressive and makes me feel agitated.
tony
June 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
dharkness, it should be working now.
tony
Paul Carlson
June 5th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I agree almost 100% with Chad.
I like the first one the best, it’s both simple and interesting at the same time. If it were my design I’d probably experiment some more with color choices, and perhaps some different variations of type placement. But, in my opinion, that one is far superior to the other 2.
bob c
June 5th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
the green goo looks like a youth ministry book to me; the crosshairs like a work of fiction
a is strongest to me - tho I would like to see some different color treatment
Israel
June 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
In descending order:
C. connotes a “it came from beyond” B-movie flair
B. sniper novel? insect sci-fi?Arachnoids 2- The Revenge of the bugs
A. Conveys class and purpose. Appeals to me aesthetically
Jill
June 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
voted, too, but wanted to post here: crosshair! It’s retro-mystery-thriller looking…that mixed with the content would create intrigue. the first suggests the roach is already dead…the second emphasizes how you go about it…???
Rich Kirkpatrick
June 5th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
GOO!!!
Side view of shoe with ooze and a cockroach leg hangin out :)
tom
June 5th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
agree with all thots above…although i like the colors of (a)…shades of your color scheme here. very cool. thanks for the ask!
Rachel
June 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Bobc hit the nail on the head. The third one immediately screams “youth ministry” which isn’t bad if that was your target audience.
I really like the first one. It is classic, something that will age well, but still stands out.
Quite honestly, I probably wouldn’t buy the book if they had the other two covers just because they look gimmicky and I would question the content. I know, we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but the first one gives me more confidence that you know what you’re talking about (even though I knew that before seeing the book cover).
Good luck and can’t wait to read the final product!
Matt Knisely
June 5th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I like the clean version. Focus and Simplicity is key in design and marketing.
My philosophy is simple to keep all marketing services/strategy focused, simple and scalable - you will exceed expectations.
From past experience, most marketing and or branding campaigns fail because they are too complicated. The intended audience doesn’t want complicated. Organizations don’t want complicated.
FOCUS - Peter Drucker once said “The great mystery isn’t that people do things badly, but that they occasionally do a few things well.” Lack of focus wastes resources. Not just financial resources, but critical human resources. Lack of focus also confuses and clutters the market and dilutes your brand. Driving focus through your programs reduces waste and increases speed to market. It’s all about maximizing the revenue created per marketing dollar spent.
SIMPLICITY - While leading General Electric, it was said that Jack Welch would not entertain any business idea unless it could be expressed on one sheet of paper. Advertising gurus believe that if an idea doesn’t fit on a matchbook - then its not a good idea. Why? There are no big ideas - only little ones that become big. Simplicity is the cousin of focus. Complicated programs are hard to articulate, plan, manage, launch and sustain. Simple is good.
http://www.mattknisely.com
Clay
June 5th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I don’t like any of the three. Maybe you should go with the whole “roach motel” motif—-You know, they check in but they don’t check out shtick.
anne jackson
June 5th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
A by 198330983 percent. the font on 2 is starting to be one of the new comic sans. A says, “take me seriously!!!”
Big Chris
June 5th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Clean design is the best. Goo looks like a Judy Blum book cover. Plus the Goo font looks like you are trying to rip off Andy Stanley.
Big Chris
SeanPDesign
June 5th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
B. is the direction to go, how ever if it was up to me I would use a different font. I do like the retro horror font, but I think going with a more clean retro type font will cause it to stand out more. Remember, this is going to be on shelves with other books, so its going to be competing with the book covers. People do judge books by their cover. You have a great title, it needs to be seen from across a room and not only grab the attention, but kick them in the gut as well. You want people to buy your book, thats why you are publishing it. You need to give them a reason to read it, before the look on the back to see what its about.
I think version B. is great on its own, but its definitely lacking something. Fonts, better use of negative space, Colors. Of course you can critique any design. This however is a good design, and your best one out of the 3 choices IMHO.
Katie G
June 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I pretty much agree…my first gut reactions were:
1. Hmm…I might be interested in checking that out.
2. Is that a novel I had to read for English class?
3. Comic book/magazine-like…oh, that a shoe…eew.
Joshua Blankenship
June 5th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I stand by my need to see a burly dude in a homemade cockroach costume on a clean white background with tasteful typography. If your publisher likes to actually sell books, they’ll follow suit.
Chris Roberts
June 5th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I like A, but I agree with Jill about the crosshair and the roach still being alive. B & C look a little too children’s book-ish. The colors, font choice, and overall look of A are really good. Thanks for asking!
Keith Tackel
June 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I like “A” the best. I like the clean look, it draws me in more than the other two. The others remind me of old school, low budget horror movie logos. Hmm, “B” could maybe pass as a 1970’s Raid or Black Flag insect killing commercial. If you go that route you can do an insert for $2 off bug spray. :) Just a thought.
Tony Chimento
June 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
What? You are gonna show a cover of killing cockroaches but you aren’t gonna show a cowboy boot? Missed opportunity.
Amber Cox
June 5th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I like the Crosshair Design one the best. The first one looks too corporate, the last one is a little goofy and I think that thumb looks weird.
Hooray for #2!!
Shawn Wood
June 5th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Tony, I voted for #1 but I don’t think that any of them are “you” yet…I don’t see your brand on them…I was facing this with 200 Poms as well and had my publisher hire a designer friend of mine who nailed it…Joshua to the rescue perhaps??
So looking forward to reading this man!
Thanks for letting us give our opinions…at least we feel powerful :)
Shawn Wood
http://www.200pomegranates.com
tony
June 5th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
shawn, you said: “i don’t see your brand on them.” what do you think my brand is and how do you think it needs to be reflected on this cover?
tony
SeanPDesign
June 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
The more I read the more I am confident in option B. just change the type. I am not sure you need to reflect your branding too much, although I am not sure you are branded quite yet…
Maybe the font can tie in the branding, but I’d just use the other areas like the back cover, and the inside flaps to reflect your branding.
Option B. is getting people talking WAY more then option A. Sure maybe they are more comfortable with option A. but because of that comfort and conformity that option A. is makes it safe, its a cover that can easily be glanced over amongst other covers, it easily gets lost in the see of religious books, and the self help religion. B. on the other hand is like wha???? whats this?? It will stand out in a crowd of “christian comfort” literature. Its striking, maybe it strikes someone as odd, or out of palce, but the key is that its striking them and causing them to question, talk, and look.
B all the way, so says the SeanP :-P
If you want a cool cockroach illustration to go with your sweet Option B. design hit me up, I’m the man when it comes to drawing the bugs!!!!
mark artrip
June 5th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
i think the results of the poll speak for themselves and so do all the other comments but the clean one is more professional. i think you could go for a more cartoon/pop art cover but not the two that are shown. they make me want to not take you serious as an author. you would need ones that capture respect and the cartoon vibe.
charles
June 6th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
# 1 is simple, clean and intelligent and works for me!
Shawn Wood
June 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Tony, To me you are one of the voices of the design revolution and the art in the church movement. At Granger you personified that through building wiredchurches and your creative out ppouring of a weekend service. Obviously you are simple. And I mean that in the good way…so to be your brand is clean, creative and simple but not conventional. Now at Newspring you guys are a definitive voice for the church that goes for it with design and look and feel. All of this is You’re blog is a great example. It’s different than the conventional “church guy” blog. I also think that the title is very dialed into your brand…I just think the cover “a” is 70% there…of course I am on a Vicodin Vacation right now due to oral surgery so that could explain all of this :)