I honestly, cannot see a problem with this cover. If I were into this genre, I would pick up this book, based on the cover alone. The subdued, coloring of tones of grays to black, the rugged font of the title, the intensity on the marshalls’faces, the tight composition of the marshalls, and even the author’s last name, all make it clear what the book is about. What’s the problem?
I’m not seeing too much ‘intensity’ in any of their expressions, especially not the marshal on the right, but the real problem with this shadowless composite is that they all have glued-on faces. One of which seems to have been borrowed from Damien Lewis.
Which is a shame, because apart from that, I think you’re right: this would otherwise have been a pretty decent cover.
The biggie is they appear to be cut’n’paste on the background especially at paperback cover size.
This cover does look better at Amazon ad and thumbnail sizes.
Intensity on their faces? They all look utterly vapid, at best. The one guy–bearded guy? If that head isn’t pasted on someone else’s neck, I’ll be very surprised. The woman’s open hand looks as though it’s on backwards, and she’s going to grab bearded guy’s package. Bald guy looks like a youngish version of that dude from Lost/Millennium/etc, and the Damien Hill look-like is just…to me, he looks like he can’t remember if he left the oven on.
If someone would have shot this with 4 people NOT being pasted on (or with optional heads), it probably would have been really good, but…I would not pick up this book. I’m also not wild about mix-n-matching a refined serif with the more-rugged distressed font. I would have gone with a heavier, display-class serif, so the transition isn’t quite so jarring.
The problem is that just about everything’s been very obviously cut and pasted. The people have been pasted into the environment, the men’s faces have been pasted onto the heads (the one on the left looks like Damian Lewis, the middle one looks like the guy who played John Locke in ‘Lost’ and I’m pretty sure the other one could be Eric Cantona.) Heck, even the marshalls’ clothes have been pasted onto the bodies (you can totally see the joins on the female in particular.)
It could’ve been good, but the cut-and-paste has been badly executed, making it look amateurish.
Naaman Brown
7 years ago
Cut’n’paste effects, they just don’t seem to be in the scene.
Bald guy looks like he’s standing on a soapbox or milkcrate.
The MP5s look like .22 rimfire replicas to me (bright bolts are a clue).
On the other hand if it’s a rogue unit, clean-shaven guy’s AK (.223/5.56 judging from the straight mag) is a non-USMS issue weapon and good choice.
I did zoom in to see if the gal’s fingerless gloves were the goth lace type but they are tactical gloves. But I did look for problems and found nits.
I honestly, cannot see a problem with this cover. If I were into this genre, I would pick up this book, based on the cover alone. The subdued, coloring of tones of grays to black, the rugged font of the title, the intensity on the marshalls’faces, the tight composition of the marshalls, and even the author’s last name, all make it clear what the book is about. What’s the problem?
I’m not seeing too much ‘intensity’ in any of their expressions, especially not the marshal on the right, but the real problem with this shadowless composite is that they all have glued-on faces. One of which seems to have been borrowed from Damien Lewis.
Which is a shame, because apart from that, I think you’re right: this would otherwise have been a pretty decent cover.
The biggie is they appear to be cut’n’paste on the background especially at paperback cover size.
This cover does look better at Amazon ad and thumbnail sizes.
Intensity on their faces? They all look utterly vapid, at best. The one guy–bearded guy? If that head isn’t pasted on someone else’s neck, I’ll be very surprised. The woman’s open hand looks as though it’s on backwards, and she’s going to grab bearded guy’s package. Bald guy looks like a youngish version of that dude from Lost/Millennium/etc, and the Damien Hill look-like is just…to me, he looks like he can’t remember if he left the oven on.
If someone would have shot this with 4 people NOT being pasted on (or with optional heads), it probably would have been really good, but…I would not pick up this book. I’m also not wild about mix-n-matching a refined serif with the more-rugged distressed font. I would have gone with a heavier, display-class serif, so the transition isn’t quite so jarring.
The problem is that just about everything’s been very obviously cut and pasted. The people have been pasted into the environment, the men’s faces have been pasted onto the heads (the one on the left looks like Damian Lewis, the middle one looks like the guy who played John Locke in ‘Lost’ and I’m pretty sure the other one could be Eric Cantona.) Heck, even the marshalls’ clothes have been pasted onto the bodies (you can totally see the joins on the female in particular.)
It could’ve been good, but the cut-and-paste has been badly executed, making it look amateurish.
Cut’n’paste effects, they just don’t seem to be in the scene.
Bald guy looks like he’s standing on a soapbox or milkcrate.
The MP5s look like .22 rimfire replicas to me (bright bolts are a clue).
On the other hand if it’s a rogue unit, clean-shaven guy’s AK (.223/5.56 judging from the straight mag) is a non-USMS issue weapon and good choice.
I did zoom in to see if the gal’s fingerless gloves were the goth lace type but they are tactical gloves. But I did look for problems and found nits.