Podfic Cover Art Meme
Aug. 26th, 2014 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
opalsongHey! I've thought fr a while that there should be a cover art meme/survey thing for podficcers. So I made one when I couldn't find something that would work. I've filled it out below. I hope you enjoy it!
ahahahahaha I made this thing and this is STILL the hardest question!After much deliberation, this is my favourite cover.I really love the colours (black and the neon-y pink/red).I love how simple it is and yet how striking.and I adore the use of space.This is pretty exemplary of most of my cover art, just the best example
I am most proud of this cover because I had to do some colouring and edit it a lot!I began with page from a manga that had a dude being banged in a bathroom (which was what I was looking for because a significant scene in the podfic takes place in the bathroom)… and by the end edited all the bathroom out but whatever.I had to change the colour of Karkat (the main dude there)’s skin; I had to crop most of the picture out to get the proper proportions for what I was looking for; and I had to add the horn (the candy corn coloured thing on his head) and disguise it with more hair.I was really really amazed and proud of how it turned out!
ahahahahahaThis one is so surprising to me.Mostly because I barely remember making it!When I finally found a podfic skin for AO3 I liked and got around to putting it onto all my podfic posts, I came upon a problem: many of my first podfics did not have cover art.So I went on a cover creation spree.I didn’t spend a lot of time creating them, I just generally slapped a picture down added some text and was off.So when I came across this I was very surprised because I remember not spending much time on it and it LOOKS AMAZING.It was a serious contender for the “Favourite Cover”
This has all the average elements for a cover of mine.There is a piece of art (in this case amazing fan art made for the story), text that is all shoved in the corners and out of the way, and as much white space as I can manage to get.The colours are all taken from the art.
Wow!This one doesn’t look like I made it at all!It has WAAAAAY too many elements for me normally.Though, there are still not that many colours involved.This cover also took me much longer than normal to get right.Like, a LOT longer.I have another version that only has the text and the black figures and there was a while where I just was thinking I’d use that instead.I do like it.
I make them very similar. In many cases I merely change the title text and call it a day. These two podfics are from the series Avalanche. In this case, the POVs are very different so I’ve changed the art to focus on the character(s) who are important in that particular story while keeping the general layout and fonts the same (and as similar in size and colour as I can while still looking nice).
I don’t.As I said in the previous answer I barely make different covers for separate podfics within a series.
I have.In this instance I asked for permission to use both of these pieces of fan art.I asked for both because I was not expecting either artist to respond so I figured why not?But then both responded with enthusiastic “yes”s very promptly so I felt that I needed to make covers with both.
Space:
I love how this cover is arranged.It is mostly plain black (or just off black) background with just the hint of a story in the corner.I’m pretty sure that was accidental because the picture I was using couldn’t be scaled up but I kinda love the end result.So much spaaaaaaace.
I’m sure it is obvious to anyone reading this far that I use as few elements as possible.It’s one of the reasons I love this cover.This was the first cover I made for a pod_together challenge and not having to put “written by” and “read by” was an amazing feeling.Two less thing I needed to fit onto this page that I instinctively want to be mostly blank.
It should also be obvious that I love the white space.This was one of the first three covers I ever made and the first one I was ever proud of.It is simple and has lots of solid blank space for the eye to rest on.
Basically anything I put on the page will probably be shoved into the corners or to the edges.Unless an image takes up the whole page and even then I try to keep as much space as possible.
Colours:
Okay, so to be perfectly honest my favourite use of colour is in the cover that is my favourite cover over all and I wanted to show another cover off.I like the contrast here, between the black background and the light gray/white in the pictures.I also like how the light grey of the steps and the white of the ice spray are positioned.I also think the red of the text looks quite striking.
As I was going through my covers I noticed a greater variety of colours than I thought I used.However, I do enjoy a good black background more than any other single colour (and if not actually black then some colour that is close).I also enjoy red text.More than just red, I like contrasting colours, stuff that will stick out (like red on black).(also it is easy to match black backgrounds to pictures that already have black backgrounds, there are less gradients)
As I learned when I went through my cover art, I use way more colours than I thought.However, I hardly ever use them in this combination.These colours are all quite complimentary (they are mostly drawn from the picture itself) but I think they aren’t different enough (they don’t contrast enough) to really look like my work.
Text:
No joke.This is my favourite use of text.I really love this cover, it brings to mind old textbooks and grad thesis.The text is a typewriter font that I think has enough personality to carry the whole thing.This cover also shows that a cover doesn’t need to be complicated to be great.
I use quite the variety of fonts but I mostly find myself drawn to the ones that look like handwriting. In this cover I use four different fonts and two of them are hand writing.
As seen in this cover (and the previous one) I definitely favour fancy fonts.The fancier the better I think.I want my fonts to be an element on their own and not just fade into the background.I also often have trouble telling the difference between the plainer fonts apart.
Other than the standard black and white I have a tendency to use red for text. I have no explanation for this.I also didn’t realize it until I was going through my covers for this project.
As a general rule I add as little text as I can get away with.This particular cover is one of a (very) few exceptions to the rule.And even in this cover I try to background that text as much as possible.
I include the title, author, podficcer, sometimes the series name (if there is one), and as in this case, the fan artist’s name.
I keep my text to the corners or edges generally.Not always but as a rule that’s where it lives.I definitely keep it out of the way of the art.
I break my text up without compunction.Even in a case like this, where there is more text than just the basic, I have arranged it so that it is separated.I do generally try to keep the “read/written by” and the names in relatively the same spot so that it isn’t confusing.
I definitely do.This is especially true if I have a subtitle like in this one but I will also happily use different fonts for the title vs. the author/podficcer.I don’t use different fonts within a main title though.
Art:
I really love the way this cover turned out looking like the cover of a comic book.I love the integration of art and text in this cover.
I do occasionally take my own pictures (or draw my own) but I’m never as satisfied with them as I am with stuff I find on the internet.I generally only create my own art if I absolutely can’t find what I want or if I have (like this cover) a very specific visual in mind.
I do!I love using fan art!I use both general fan art of the characters and fan art specifically made for the fic I’m podficcing.I do make sure to ask the artists for permission to use their art.(which is sometimes a pain because I find something PERFECT and the artist doesn’t respond but I’ve always found something else that works too).
I do!Official art has the advantage of not requiring permission to use.It is also fairly easy to find.In this cover I used both an official art piece of Mikasa and also the “Dance” text from an official So You Think You Can Dance poster.
I crop art a lot; both because art rarely comes in 500x500 format but also because I want to focus on a certain part of the artwork.In the case of this cover I also added a bunch of animal clip art.
My tendency is to use a single piece of art that depicts a single object (that is somehow relevant to the story).I really enjoy the focus and lack of busy-ness in this sort of cover.
Wrap Up
Not really.I think I’ve used pretty much every cover that I’m even halfway proud of in this thing and talked about all of them.
I don’t have a central place where all my cover art lives.However, you can find it (except for the 2 in for the Avalanche series because those podfics aren’t posted yet) on my AO3 account along with their podfic. http://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalsong If you really want to just look at the covers and don’t mind going through vaguely labelled lists of links and folders you can go here: http://opalsong.parakaproductions.com/Cover%20Art/
Cover art meme!
General- Which is your favourite cover art you’ve made?
ahahahahaha I made this thing and this is STILL the hardest question!After much deliberation, this is my favourite cover.I really love the colours (black and the neon-y pink/red).I love how simple it is and yet how striking.and I adore the use of space.This is pretty exemplary of most of my cover art, just the best example
- Which is the cover you are most proud of?
I am most proud of this cover because I had to do some colouring and edit it a lot!I began with page from a manga that had a dude being banged in a bathroom (which was what I was looking for because a significant scene in the podfic takes place in the bathroom)… and by the end edited all the bathroom out but whatever.I had to change the colour of Karkat (the main dude there)’s skin; I had to crop most of the picture out to get the proper proportions for what I was looking for; and I had to add the horn (the candy corn coloured thing on his head) and disguise it with more hair.I was really really amazed and proud of how it turned out!
- Is there a cover that you are surprised by? (Did it turn out way better than you thought? Does it look nothing like your normal style but you stumbled onto it? Does it have a really great story behind it?)
ahahahahahaThis one is so surprising to me.Mostly because I barely remember making it!When I finally found a podfic skin for AO3 I liked and got around to putting it onto all my podfic posts, I came upon a problem: many of my first podfics did not have cover art.So I went on a cover creation spree.I didn’t spend a lot of time creating them, I just generally slapped a picture down added some text and was off.So when I came across this I was very surprised because I remember not spending much time on it and it LOOKS AMAZING.It was a serious contender for the “Favourite Cover”
- Give an example of an average cover art of yours (can totally do one for every main style you do if you want)
This has all the average elements for a cover of mine.There is a piece of art (in this case amazing fan art made for the story), text that is all shoved in the corners and out of the way, and as much white space as I can manage to get.The colours are all taken from the art.
- Give an example of an outlier (something that looks like you didn’t even make it)
Wow!This one doesn’t look like I made it at all!It has WAAAAAY too many elements for me normally.Though, there are still not that many colours involved.This cover also took me much longer than normal to get right.Like, a LOT longer.I have another version that only has the text and the black figures and there was a while where I just was thinking I’d use that instead.I do like it.
- How do you treat podfics in the same series? (do they get similar covers? or does it not matter?)
I make them very similar. In many cases I merely change the title text and call it a day. These two podfics are from the series Avalanche. In this case, the POVs are very different so I’ve changed the art to focus on the character(s) who are important in that particular story while keeping the general layout and fonts the same (and as similar in size and colour as I can while still looking nice).
- Do you ever do different covers for different chapters within a podfic?
I don’t.As I said in the previous answer I barely make different covers for separate podfics within a series.
- have you ever made more than one cover for a podfic? Why?
I have.In this instance I asked for permission to use both of these pieces of fan art.I asked for both because I was not expecting either artist to respond so I figured why not?But then both responded with enthusiastic “yes”s very promptly so I felt that I needed to make covers with both.
Space:
- Give an example of your favourite use of space in one of your covers.
I love how this cover is arranged.It is mostly plain black (or just off black) background with just the hint of a story in the corner.I’m pretty sure that was accidental because the picture I was using couldn’t be scaled up but I kinda love the end result.So much spaaaaaaace.
- Do you use many elements? or few? (elements are things on the page. For example text, pictures, boxes, etc.)
I’m sure it is obvious to anyone reading this far that I use as few elements as possible.It’s one of the reasons I love this cover.This was the first cover I made for a pod_together challenge and not having to put “written by” and “read by” was an amazing feeling.Two less thing I needed to fit onto this page that I instinctively want to be mostly blank.
- How do you use white space (space that is empty. Is there a lot of it? very little? always in one corner?)
It should also be obvious that I love the white space.This was one of the first three covers I ever made and the first one I was ever proud of.It is simple and has lots of solid blank space for the eye to rest on.
- Where do your elements live? (Do you have certain places where things go on the page?)
Basically anything I put on the page will probably be shoved into the corners or to the edges.Unless an image takes up the whole page and even then I try to keep as much space as possible.
Colours:
- Give an example of your favourite use of colour in one of your covers.
Okay, so to be perfectly honest my favourite use of colour is in the cover that is my favourite cover over all and I wanted to show another cover off.I like the contrast here, between the black background and the light gray/white in the pictures.I also like how the light grey of the steps and the white of the ice spray are positioned.I also think the red of the text looks quite striking.
- Are there colours you use a lot? (maybe for certain things?)
As I was going through my covers I noticed a greater variety of colours than I thought I used.However, I do enjoy a good black background more than any other single colour (and if not actually black then some colour that is close).I also enjoy red text.More than just red, I like contrasting colours, stuff that will stick out (like red on black).(also it is easy to match black backgrounds to pictures that already have black backgrounds, there are less gradients)
- Are there colours you never use?
As I learned when I went through my cover art, I use way more colours than I thought.However, I hardly ever use them in this combination.These colours are all quite complimentary (they are mostly drawn from the picture itself) but I think they aren’t different enough (they don’t contrast enough) to really look like my work.
Text:
- Give an example of your favourite use of text in one of your covers.
No joke.This is my favourite use of text.I really love this cover, it brings to mind old textbooks and grad thesis.The text is a typewriter font that I think has enough personality to carry the whole thing.This cover also shows that a cover doesn’t need to be complicated to be great.
- Which fonts do you use the most?
I use quite the variety of fonts but I mostly find myself drawn to the ones that look like handwriting. In this cover I use four different fonts and two of them are hand writing.
- Do you favor fancy or plain fonts?
As seen in this cover (and the previous one) I definitely favour fancy fonts.The fancier the better I think.I want my fonts to be an element on their own and not just fade into the background.I also often have trouble telling the difference between the plainer fonts apart.
- Do you have any trends in what colours you use for fonts?
Other than the standard black and white I have a tendency to use red for text. I have no explanation for this.I also didn’t realize it until I was going through my covers for this project.
- Do you only include the required meta data? or do you add other texts as well?
As a general rule I add as little text as I can get away with.This particular cover is one of a (very) few exceptions to the rule.And even in this cover I try to background that text as much as possible.
- What parts of the meta data do you include? (title, series, warnings)
I include the title, author, podficcer, sometimes the series name (if there is one), and as in this case, the fan artist’s name.
- Where is the text often placed (top, bottom, to the right, etc?)?
I keep my text to the corners or edges generally.Not always but as a rule that’s where it lives.I definitely keep it out of the way of the art.
- Do you keep all the text together or separate?
I break my text up without compunction.Even in a case like this, where there is more text than just the basic, I have arranged it so that it is separated.I do generally try to keep the “read/written by” and the names in relatively the same spot so that it isn’t confusing.
- In a single cover art, do you use the same font or multiple fonts?
I definitely do.This is especially true if I have a subtitle like in this one but I will also happily use different fonts for the title vs. the author/podficcer.I don’t use different fonts within a main title though.
Art:
- Give an example of your favourite use of art in one of your covers.
I really love the way this cover turned out looking like the cover of a comic book.I love the integration of art and text in this cover.
- Do you make your own? (draw, take photos)
I do occasionally take my own pictures (or draw my own) but I’m never as satisfied with them as I am with stuff I find on the internet.I generally only create my own art if I absolutely can’t find what I want or if I have (like this cover) a very specific visual in mind.
- Do you use fan art?
I do!I love using fan art!I use both general fan art of the characters and fan art specifically made for the fic I’m podficcing.I do make sure to ask the artists for permission to use their art.(which is sometimes a pain because I find something PERFECT and the artist doesn’t respond but I’ve always found something else that works too).
- Do you use official art?
I do!Official art has the advantage of not requiring permission to use.It is also fairly easy to find.In this cover I used both an official art piece of Mikasa and also the “Dance” text from an official So You Think You Can Dance poster.
- Do you modify the art you use? or do you use it as is? (modifying can be as simple as cropping or something very complex)
I crop art a lot; both because art rarely comes in 500x500 format but also because I want to focus on a certain part of the artwork.In the case of this cover I also added a bunch of animal clip art.
- Is there a trend for type of art you use? (landscape photos, fan art of characters, clip art of relevant image, none?)
My tendency is to use a single piece of art that depicts a single object (that is somehow relevant to the story).I really enjoy the focus and lack of busy-ness in this sort of cover.
Wrap Up
- Any interesting stories about your cover art that you didn’t have a chance to tell?
Not really.I think I’ve used pretty much every cover that I’m even halfway proud of in this thing and talked about all of them.
- Finally, where can we find your cover art?
I don’t have a central place where all my cover art lives.However, you can find it (except for the 2 in for the Avalanche series because those podfics aren’t posted yet) on my AO3 account along with their podfic. http://archiveofourown.org/users/Opalsong If you really want to just look at the covers and don’t mind going through vaguely labelled lists of links and folders you can go here: http://opalsong.parakaproductions.com/Cover%20Art/