What’s New and How-To~by Joanne Jaytanie

If you’re looking for a fun story, interested in hearing some new music, or admire a piece of art, Originality by Design is your next must-read. Stop by and see what’s new. We have a wide variety of guest bloggers with a multitude of subjects. And, we’re introducing a brand new page titled, REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS. 

Are you excited to see what there is inside the pages of Originality by Design (OBD), but a bit bewildered?

No worries. I’m here to give you a quick rundown. You’ll become an expert in no time.

When you enter the OBD site, the newest blog post will be the first thing you see (like this one). To the right of this blog post is a list of PAGES. If you click on the HOME page, you’ll see the description of Originality by Design. And as you scroll down, the next block is once again, the newest post. Under that post is a list of the ten most viewed blog posts. 

The next tab under HOME in PAGES is MEMBERS. There you will find an introduction to each of our members along with a link to their PERSONAL PAGE. Each member’s page can also be reached by clicking on their name in PAGES. Along with the MEMBERS, we have our REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS and the list of GUEST BLOGGERS – by year. You can also CONTACT US if you have suggestions, comments, or are interested in joining us as a guest blogger.

Have you found a person you’d like to read more from but can’t locate their posts?

If they are a MEMBER, when you click on their name in the PAGES, their personal page will come up. There you can read all their posts to your heart’s content. You can also find links to their other sites, such as Facebook, Pinterest, and their website. Each member’s page is tailored to their choices.

If you’re looking for a specific GUEST BLOGGER, REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR, even a MEMBER, and you don’t want to scroll through pages and pages, let me tell you a little trick. Scroll up to the very top of the blog. On the top left side, above the Originality by Design banner, you’ll see a “B” next to that is a white box. Just type in the name you are looking for and hit enter. Everything relating to that person will appear. 

Those are the basics. So feel free to pursue OBD whenever the mood strikes. There’s always something new to read, a thought to ponder, or a laugh to be had.

Enjoy!  
Joanne

An Extra Special Cover Design ~ by Linda Boulanger

Last month, I talked a bit about the process that goes into making a book cover fit the story and the personality of the author, an idea provided by one of my author group members. Chris also asked if I had a favorite and why it was my favorite. That has to be one of the hardest questions I am ever asked. Honestly, I love each cover I design. As much as the books are the author’s baby and a part of them, I feel the same way about the covers, so it’s much like choosing a favorite child when they are all different and special in their own way. It’s nearly impossible!

There is one cover, however, that changed a lot of things for me. It’s Julia Mills’ For the Love of Her Dragon. I can’t really tell you what happened. If you read my last blog post, you might remember me mentioning that I have to have inspiration for my designs. This cover was no exception, but for whatever reason, during the design process for For the Love of Her Dragon, something just clicked and I knew it was special. It felt magical, I was excited about it, and I knew this cover was going places.

It did, winning me an official RONE for the Best Paranormal Cover in 2015.

I’ve had my share of award-winning covers, and have also had other covers as finalists in the RONE Awards, but this one earned my first Winner’s Badge and a beautiful cut-glass trophy. Better than that, I felt this cover helped to raise my confidence level and to increase my skills as a designer. It’s one that I can look at still after almost four years and feel that same giddiness I felt the day I designed it.

Making a cover design fit the book AND the author... ~by Linda Boulanger

For this blog post, once again I went to my author group to see what they might be interested in. The majority of them know me as a cover designer as well, so I wasn’t surprised when Chris asked about that. She wanted to know how I come up with my cover designs for different authors and their books, and how I mesh the story line with the book and also the author’s personality or preferences.

The basics of cover design are pretty much the same each and every time.

The process consists of:

1. Gathering information about the story

2. Searching for images that might work (often the longest part of the process)

3. Designing the cover

One thing that I feel makes me different as a designer is that I am what I consider an inspired designer… meaning I have to be inspired to create the piece, just like I do with writing or any other form of artwork. Some designers have their formula and can sit down … 1, 2, 3 … and they have their cover. It’s still work and can be just as time-consuming. I just can’t do it that way, even if I wish sometimes I could.

My process starts by gathering information about the story. I have a questionnaire that I will send an author, though oftentimes I just ask the questions via email. I like having a more informal working relationship because, to me, it’s the best way I know to really dig down and find out what the author wants to see in his or her book cover. That lack of formality also lets me get to know the author and what he/she wants. It creates a friendly atmosphere so that he/she feels comfortable telling me they don’t like something or that they love something, and when they say they love it, I know they really do and we have a cover that is headed in the right direction.

I get a lot of my inspiration from searching through images. I don’t see an image as a whole, but as bits and pieces. It’s kind of like working a puzzle… my mind is constantly taking these bits and trying them this way and that to see how they fit into the creation of a whole new image. Only each piece also has to fit with the information I have gleaned about the story. I think this is what Chris was asking about. How do I gather the information that I use to pull those tiny pieces of the puzzle out to create something that fits together, fits the story, AND fits the author?

 

The answer goes back to that initial email I send back that is filled with … QUESTIONS. Lots and lots of questions. I ask about the book’s characters: hair color and length, eye color, build… anything you can think of about a character, I want to know. I ask about the genre, and also the overall tone of the book. I also want to know if there are any particular scenes that stand out in an author’s mind that would make a reader feel connected. I ask for the blurb, and on occasion (but not often because I am super busy and not a fast reader), I will actually read the book to get a better feel for what the cover needs to convey.

I don’t usually have to read the book. Talking it out (preferably via email so that I have a written copy to look back through for details) is usually all I need and I often start to get a basic cover idea from that very first email. I’ve even conceived a couple of covers in dreams that have ended up being spot on. I love that and say it’s magic. My favorite thing is when an author tells me it’s like I could see the picture they had in their mind.

So, I guess the answer to how I get my cover designs to fit the book AND the author is that every cover I create is inspired by the information I get from each author. Talking a lot with the author, getting a feel for his/her likes and dislikes, and even their personality, or at the least, the tone of the book so that I can grab those bits and pieces of images to put back together in just the right way, is how I make the covers unique for each and every author I work with.

Next month I will continue with the part of Chris’ question where she wanted to know if I had a favorite cover and why. That, along with who is my favorite author, has to be one of the toughest questions I ever have to answer, but you can find out May 5^th, right here on Originality by Design.