Boring cover art

[Peroni]

I love that piece of 'furniture' - it's kept at the BM.

A chariot as a toilet - "Strains with reins"!

[Epictetus]

Perhaps designing a cover should be completely automated?

They’ve created an algorithm that translates a book’s data (including its author, genre, subject, and original publication date) into design parameters. The data dictate the placement of type, the coördinates of shapes, and the dominant colors. Each book is unique but relates to the others, so that what sits on your shelf is a visual continuum. “Every iteration of the system is the master design and not a variation of a fixed master template,” the designers explain.


The series includes a mix of classic and contemporary texts covering ten disciplines within art and philosophy. Because students are the primary readership, the objective was to make a sturdy and affordable product. But Carvalho and Bernau had another goal as well: they wanted to improve upon the typographic and material quality of the standard paperback, to fight the misconception “that better design and slightly better production must cost much more than bad design, careless production or cheap materials.” Automating the cover design was a means of balancing production costs...

[mcbishop]

But Carvalho and Bernau had another goal as well: they wanted to improve upon the typographic and material quality of the standard paperback, to fight the misconception “that better design and slightly better production must cost much more than bad design, careless production or cheap materials.” Automating the cover design was a means of balancing production costs...

What's that strange sound? Why, it's Jan Tschichold revolving in his grave! Trust me, computers can make good – possibly even great – covers, but never brilliant ones. Sometimes, tweaking the kerning on a heading defies all machine-codeable rules. And the very best covers are always the simplest; ask Jan.

Mike Bishop

[Sempronius]

We need Boris Vallejo inspired cover art.


....or a comic book type cover for "Adventures of Sgt. Silva"

[ZYPeng]

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[Andrew Brozyna]

Roman history book cover talk? Brilliant. I'm a book cover designer who works with a variety of university and trade publishers. I specialize in nonfiction, and do a lot of military history (I designed the cover for Bishop and Coulston's Roman Military Equipment, 2nd Ed.). I've also noticed that way too many books use the exact same image over and over. (Incidentally, I have read that the "Barbarian fighting a Roman legionary" frieze is thought to be a 19th century sculpture made to look ancient) I always make an effort to find an uncommon image, but sometimes it's out of your control. The budget or schedule might not allow for anything but the easily found stock photo.

I'm endlessly impressed with Pen and Sword's book covers. I love the way their in-house designer Jon Wilkinson blends, layers, and colors photos. The cover of Eager for Glory is a good example. http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Eager-for...?page=home
Setting a small sword, medal, or unit insignia with the type is a nice touch. I tried to emulate his style for these two Afghanistan war covers: http://www.qbookshop.com/dynamic/images/...340066.jpg and http://www.qbookshop.com/dynamic/images/...341117.jpg

Here are some more of my book covers: http://www.ajbdesign.com/

[Vincula]

mixing two images top and bottom seems to be popular

[mcbishop]

mixing two images top and bottom seems to be popular

As is tinting black and white images, as Amberley have done here (good book, by the way):



Done well, it looks good.

Mike Bishop

[Andrew Brozyna]

This is getting a off the topic of Roman book covers, but here's a site with a nice collection of colorized photos: http://www.shorpy.com/colorized-photos
I should learn how to do this.

[Epictetus]

This isn't a history book, but here is an example of a fabulous cover. I can't remember when I've liked the look of a book more than this. It's the new Penguin for Orwell's 1984. I already have two copies of this book, but am considering buying this one just for the cover.



Of course, each book is individual, and each cover should reflect that.

[Vindex]

Isn't this WWII (and post) austerity printing? I have several Penguins in this guise.

[Epictetus]

Yes, I think the overall design is retro, more or less. But I love the "censored" title and author. Here's an article about the design of this, and some other, Orwell books:
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/...id-pearson

[Roberto Romani]

Ah, the "Roman soldier against a barbarian" image strikes back! Here is the cover of the latest issue of "Storica" magazine. Feb. 2013.

[Michael Kerr]

Hi, I found another couple of books with the cover of the Roman and the Barbarian

[attachment=6303]bookcover.jpg[/attachment]


[attachment=6306]0500274959.jpg[/attachment]


Regards
Michael Kerr

[Agricola]

I wish some history books would have some original artwork comissioned for the book's cover, but that would probably be too expensive when you have plenty of Classical sculptures to borrow images from.