Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Top Ten Book Cover Trends (or just elements of covers) I Like/Dislike. My favorite covers are pretty similar at least in terms of design elements, and that is that most of them feature a great picture (photograph or realistic illustration) that takes up the entire cover, and there’s awesome font over it. That may sound like a lot of book covers, but I’m very particular about what pictures I like, what fonts I like, and some include other elements like weird graphics that I don’t really love. Here are some that really stand out to me (in no particular order)…
Just a gorgeous picture with perfectly minimalist font.
I love just how dramatic the font and the picture feel together, especially with her holding onto the R and with the font being sideways.
3. For Darkness Shows the Stars/Across a Star-Swept Sea
Stars + dresses + scrolling script = beautiful!
I tend to prefer photographs or realistic pictures of people over illustrations, but The Grisha trilogy art is just beautiful!
The font is nice, but the real stars of these covers are the dresses!
6. Splintered
The bugs and the plants being so close to her face bothers me some, but overall still a gorgeous cover!
This cover is so stinking cute!
This is a bit of cheat because the picture if overlaid by a graphic that the font is on, but still, it’s too pretty not to include!
9. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
So much font cuteness!
10. The Noble Groom
I almost bought this book for its cover, but I learned that I could get it from the library so I refrained. The swirls on the font though! Love it!
What are some of your favorite covers with the great picture + great font combo?
P.S. For anyone who’s interested, I did decide to start a Tumblr! *nervous* Check it out if you so desire!
The cover of These Broken Stars is so stunning. I’ve always liked it, but I remember seeing it in person for the first time and being completely drawn to it. The digital version doesn’t do it justice with how beautiful it is on the shelf.
The Shadow & Bone covers are favorites of mine! I really wish I had been more into the series just because the covers are so lovely.
I just recently got the second and third Grisha books in the mail and I might have petted them…
Some stunning examples here! I’ve read most of them too!
I haven’t read them all yet, but I plan to read most of the ones that I haven’t yet!
When I saw your question I was like, “ooo fun! Let me go to my goodreads and find some good covers to talk about.” 20 books later I feel like I need to create a list on goodreads for them all 🙂
I like girls in pretty dresses, but I like when it has a unique spin, like For Darkness Shows the Stars of Hereafter (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9256414-hereafter). I also think it has to look good photoshopped, something that makes the cover brighter and sharper and the editing is seamless. I don’t like being able to see the edges of photoshop.
I definitely agree about the Photoshopping! And about the girls in dresses… It needs to stand out in some way, because it’s done a lot!
I like how thin the font for These Broken Stars and The Winner’s Curse is – they’re so simple but really elegant at the same time. I think my favorite has to be the Grisha trilogy though – especially since I didn’t realize all the little details and how they relate to the story until after I read the book 🙂
I agree about the fonts you mentioned being both simple and elegant!
The Winner’s Curse cover is pretty awesome! Very cool shot from above, and her actually interacting with the font by holding the ‘R’ is a neat creative detail.
I love the shot from above too!
I love all your cover choices! These Broken Stars is gorgeous because, hello? SPACE. And Lilac’s dress is beautiful and I want it. *weeps* I like The Winner’s Curse cover, too, but for some reason her dress looks like a pool of pink vomit. O_O Don’t ask my brain why. I don’t know either. Though maybe it’s ’cause it looks a little glossy and lumpy? Okay, let’s just move on… My favorites are definitely the Grisha series covers, though. I just love the font used and the background — especially that phoenix! Sighhhh. <3
The covers for Kierra Cass' series are really pretty too, but the amount of mixed reviews they've been getting kind of put me off. Not sure if I should give them a go now. :/ Anyway, great picks, Amy!
I haven’t read all these books, so I’m not necessarily endorsing all of them, I just find them pretty! I did read and enjoy The Selection but I heard The Elite was frustrating, so I’ve been waiting to hear about The One. Surprisingly, despite the fact that it’s been out for a while, I still haven’t heard much about it. But if I ever get around to reading those two, of course I’ll review them on here!
While I like half of the covers you feature here, I have to say I personally don’t like photographic images on covers. I don’t know, I just always assume they’re going to be “real” books like contemporaries or romances so it puts me off. Splintered probably the closest to a photograph cover that I would really drool over, just because it still look cartoonish in a way to me. But typography? Ah yes, that can make a huge difference! That’s the only reason I love the cover for The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight! 😛
Oh, and I’m off to follow you on Tumblr 😀
Yay new Tumblr follower! 🙂 I know not everyone loves photo covers, but for some reason I do so long as I like the actual photo. I guess it feels more real to me. But if it’s clearly a stock photo I am not a fan of that!