We asked our social media followers to vote for the best book cover of 2022 while we were on vacation. After a particularly close battle, many favorites won the hearts of book lovers.
Out of 32 beautiful cover designs, the semi-finalists are:
Botanical Valley Written by Ross White, cover design by Ross White vs. burning butch Written by R/B Mertz, cover design by Robert Bieselin
Anatomy: Love Story By Dana Schwartz, cover design by Kerri Resnick, Zach Meyer vs. Olga dreams and dies By Xochitl Gonzalez, cover design by Lauren Peters-Collaer
From the final four, it was narrowed down to two cloud favorites.
Electric Lit’s 2022 Book Cover Tournament Winners: Anatomy: Love Story Written by Dana Schwartz, cover design by Kerri Resnick, art by Zach Meyer.
Electric Lit: Tell us about the design process for the book cover and what you wanted to convey through the artwork.
Kelly Resnick: design anatomy It was challenging, but incredibly rewarding.While reading the manuscript, we realized that striking images that seemed too specific or insipid were needed to convey both the historical and medical aspects of the book. I had a very strong title, so I started with many concepts using only type. anatomy But nothing felt quite right (or readable). I also tried several options to portray the main character, Hazel, as the sole focus, but it looked normal and off the mark.
The editor mentioned the idea of an optical illusion. I had never designed an illusion before and had no idea how to approach it. After hours a lot Through trial and error, the idea of the dress turning into a heart popped into my head. I remember it popping into my head as I lay in bed.
From there, the process was pretty seamless. I already knew and admired Zach Meyer’s amazingly detailed illustrations. I had been waiting for a project that might suit him, so I knew he was the perfect artist for such a complex concept.
Zach Meyer: Kerri Resnick approached me with a rough photo collage of the concept. Now that the heart concept was complete, I had to redraw it in my own style to match the book and the character Hazel.
I put a red wig on my wife and tried to shoot from above. It was such a unique angle that I had to shoot my own reference. Once that was done, I started making the heart shape in Photoshop using a photo of the fabric and a digital painting of him. This was very challenging and required a lot of sketching and tweaking to get it right. After this was completed, I drew a picture with graphite and charcoal, scanned it and colored it in photoshop. Ultimately she had two variant covers, one of which he went to Barnes and Noble as a special edition red cover.
EL: Were there any funny starting mistakes?
ZM: One false start I had was misunderstanding the briefs and initially making the hearts feel more fleshy and heart-like rather than forming into the dress.Kerri Resnick They provided good guidance through this process. The cover went from looking like a real human heart to feeling like part of Hazel’s dress.
EL: What is your favorite book cover for 2022/2023?
KR: one of my favorite Mame By Jessica George. This cover was designed by Olga Grlic. I think it’s very impressive and beautiful. Stops me every time I see it.
ZM: my favorite cover star eater By Kirsten Hall. The artwork is done by Sam Weber and is all in oil paint.
