The author says:
Here’s a resubmit of my cover for Quality DNA, a genetic engineering sci-fi novel. I made a bunch of little changes that were recommended and believe it’s made the cover much stronger.
[original submission and comments here]
Nathan says:
What a difference those little tweaks make! The color overlay no longer distracts from the face, and allows the eyes to really pop.
My only suggestion would be to brighten the circuit pattern background, at least at the edges of the image, leaving a dark aura around the model.
Other comments?
Yes very good, the small color switches and clearing up the water layer around the eyes have done wonders.
Something to be careful of if you do brighten the circuits is not to brighten them too much. The title contrasts very well with the background at present and that makes the words pop. Lightening the background will necessarily reduce contrast and the circuits will add noise around the text. Go too far this direction and the words will not pop anymore. Also, I don’t think the water pattern extends beyond the edges of her face. This is good, but if the circuitry is bright enough its regular lines may clash with the smooth pattern of the droplets in a way that poses no problem in the current version. Balance by trial and error I think would be the key.
Mechanically, you can do a shadow patch filter on a layer over a brighter version of the background to achieve a localized shadow around her contour. I would center it roughly behind the bridge of her nose. Alternately, if you want such a shadow to more closely follow the contours of her head you could apply a 3d drop shadow to the head’s layer, using an x offset of zero and a y offset of some negative number to center the shadow above her body’s contours. In either case you’ll need to play with the shadow’s transparency and radius.
Best of luck.
Looks great! I agree that brightening the circuits just a little bit (and maybe tinting them blue or green) would be an improvement, but it really looks good the way it is.
Ditto. Vastly improved, good job! 🙂
Much, much better!
I will have to second Nathan’s suggestion about the circuit pattern: I didn’t even know it was there until he mentioned it. But do keep any brightening subtle.
While I think they look cool, I have some qualms about the water drops. What, exactly, is their purpose or significance? If the character is looking through a window, why do the drops not extend past the face? If the drops are on the face, why do they not follow its contours?
Maybe we just cannot see the droplets against a dark background? To me the water effect looks good – also, it seems to signify someone who is shut out and is peering in: hard to make an invisible glass barrier visible otherwise. And, again to me, I am not sure of others, that idea adds a dash of drama to the face that is otherwise just a good looking someone with intense eyes and a lot of eyeshadow.
I’m with Hitch on the font issue, (going back to the original discussion) but then, I usually am with Hitch with regards fonts. But I second, (third, fourth?) the motion. Far, far better. I also agree with Ron. I didn’t notice the circuit pattern either.
So, that’s my big contribution. I agree. 🙂