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When it looks like someone’s about to hand you something, you tend to pay attention. Unless it’s a roll of Necco Wafers or a copy of the recent Peyton Manning picture book, both of which are so offensive they’re easy to ignore.
Two recent covers use this attention-grabbing device, and in doing so appear to be cut from the same cloth. Let’s take a look at the first cover:
Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler.
The twin:
The Zippy Fix (Calvin Coconut #2) by Graham Salisbury.
Side by side:
A match?
Looking to set an ominous mood? Look no further than the iron gate. I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure that it’s a scientific fact that anything written in wrought iron is 10x more spooky than if it were written on paper. Take a look:
See what I mean? Okay, bad example. Three recent books covers seem to understand this phenomenon much better than I:
School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari.
Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck by Dale E. Basye.
But there is another…
Ruined: A Ghost Story by Paula Morris.
Side by side:
The similarities are hard to deny. Confirmed Cover Controversy. I feel like there’s more of these. Any to add?
(Top Image: ‘“You’ll Never Walk Alone”, Shankly Gates, Anfield,+Liverpool‘
www.flickr.com/photos/56951432@N00/76672246)
Few things can build anticipation like a curling wave. Where’s it going? What’s going to happen? Hokusai captured the mood perfectly in his iconic The Great Wave off Kanagawa (above). A trio of recent children’s book covers understand this and in doing so give off a distinctive separated-at-birth vibe. Let’s have a look:
Necks out for Adventure! by Timothy Basil Ering.
Number two:
Alistair and Kip’s Great Adventure by John Segal.
And to complete the trio:
Missing the Boat by Wayne Chinsang and Justin Shady.
Side by side by side:
Characters atop big waves, the nontraditional lettering – it’s a match folks. Hokusai would be proud.
As far as I know, it began in ’07.
A close up of sock-covered feet.
Pretty memorable cover, right? I would say so. That opinion must have been pretty wide spread, because the socks bandwagon got crowded quickly.
Numerous times, I thought the trend had run its course. I wouldn’t see a sock-covered book for a few months and assume that I wouldn’t see one for a long time.
But they kept popping up.
I really thought ‘09 would mark the end, but based on the following evidence, I see this trend continuing well into 2010.
Friend Me by Cathy Hopkins.
But that’s not all…
The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne.
Where will the collection stop?
(Thanks to A Fuse #8 Production for the cover tip)
Scene: A doctor’s office, early in the morning.
Doctor: Good to see you! How have you been feeling?
Cover Designer: I’ve been a bit stressed lately, Doc. I want to put some foliage on this cover, but it seems kinda played. You know, leaves, flowers – I don’t know if they’re going to stand out. I’ve been wracking my brain about it.
Doctor: Let me give you some advice. Whenever I can’t figure out a diagnosis, you know what I do?
Cover Designer: What?
Doctor: I x-ray it.
Cover Designer: Doc, I think you’ve solved my problem.
The Everafter by Amy Huntley.
If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? by M. E. Kerr
Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner.
Side by side by side:
Okay, so maybe they didn’t x-ray the plants on these covers (although I do think that the flowers on the Everafter cover saw the inside of a radiologists office), but they certainly give off a similar vibe.
Do I see a negative-image cover trend taking hold?
(Top Image: ‘Roentgen IV control panel‘
www.flickr.com/photos/16339684@N00/2361897135)
While I’ve heard that optometrists approve of staring off into the distance to support long-term ocular health, I don’t think that’s what the characters on these covers are shooting for. I’d call it more of a “What does my future hold?” sort of look. Recently I featured two bizarro covers that were the same, yet very different:
Well, I see we’ve got a third cover to complete the analogous cover triangle:
We Were Here by Matt De La Pena.
Notice how none of these characters have glasses? I don’t think it’s coincidence, folks.
Now usually in these posts, I put up a couple books that look alike, we all laugh (oh, wait, that was just me?), and move on.
Today is different. I’m not sure if two covers have ever been as similar, yet so different.
You may be familiar with the first cover:
Animal Families.
I like this book. Kids like this book. I’m not sure what to think about it’s evil twin.
This just in…
It happened again.
Standing for Socks by Elissa Brent Weissman.
It shall be added to the ever-growing gallery of sock-related covers.
As always, I vow to keep you updated with any new sock-related cover art developments.
In terms of cover trends, could unoccupied dresses be to ‘09 what socks were to ‘07-’08? It appears that this may be a situation to monitor. I wrote a couple weeks back about two personless dress-related covers that caught my eye:
And today I’m flipping through the Feiwel and Friends Fall catalog and what do I see? Take a look:
More dress sans human. This trend may have some staying power. Rest assured, I will bring more updates as they come to light.
Clothes and accessories say a lot about a book cover. How many times have you seen a book where a character on the cover is wearing glasses like this:
or shoes like this:
or a haircut like this:
or a combination of all three and thought, “Ooh. That one ain’t gonna get many second looks.”?
I find this pretty often. So what can you put on a book cover that won’t seem laughably out of date in a couple years? Apparently a dress is the way to go. Oh, and to eliminate the threat of bad hair or ugly shoes bringing the whole operation down, let’s just go ahead and remove the humans. Just the dress. Two such covers recently popped up, let’s take a look, starting with this:
Lucky by Rachel Vail.
Now, the twin:
The Goodbye Time by Celeste Conway.
Side by side:
The title font and author name placement even match up pretty closely.
Coincidence or controversy?
