Cover Cafe is pleased to feature a new graphic artist and also one of our newest committee members, Amanda Kelsey. Amanda has an interesting bio and a definite flair for graphic design. She has created some beautiful and distinctive covers for ebooks and we are fortunate to have her expertise involved with the Cover Cafe annual contest. The only down side for Amanda is that she cannot vote on ballots featuring her cover creations.

Q: What is your educational background and how did you become an illustrator for both print and ebooks? Which format is your favorite?

I have a bachelors degree in, believe it or not, theater arts. And actually I never studied graphic design or even had the idea to go into the field until much later. I have always been a creative person. Painting has been a hobby of mine since I was very young and I studied many forms of art throughout high school and college but always for the fun of it, never for a career choice, until about two years ago.

I became involved in a small online writers group and through that I was educated about the electronic publishing industry. I began seeing ebook covers that inspired me and soon I met other artists. Not long after I tried designing a few test covers and found a new challenge. I love being a cover artist and I’m always reading books and tutorials to become better.

I didn’t start off applying for print work but sort of fell into it through chance. I really can’t say one or the other is my favorite. I do like the challenge of creating a print cover only because I haven’t had the opportunity to do many of them so far. But all my ebook designs are made to print specs so there is not much difference, to me, in the design process.

Q: How did you break into the business and who gave you your first break? What are the challenges of breaking into the illustration field in the current publishing market?

My first job was for Aspen Mountain Press as a cover artist, which I hold to this day. I was hired by Celia Kyle the art director. She gave me my first chance just from seeing a few sample designs and has continued to steer work my way. Thanks Celia!

There are so many talented artists working in the electronic publishing industry it is difficult to stand out and get your name recognized. I’ve been building a brand since I started but it is definitely a challenge. Things are always changing and growing and as an artist you must change and grow too or be left behind.

Q: What was the first ecover and/or print cover you had published? What process did you use to design the cover(s)?

My first ebook cover was released by Aspen Mountain Press entitled Private Intentions by Emma Pearce. I can’t tell you how excited I was the first time I saw it on the website.

The process is basically the same for all the electronic publishers I work for. First, I’m given a form questionnaire that the author filled out. It will contain information about the novel. I like to read the blurb and a basic summary of the novel as well as descriptions of the main characters. Usually, there are a number of other details included as well which help inspire me.

Next I will do a photo search on stock photo sites. At this point, for me, it’s like brainstorming. I gather any and all comp (free with watermarks) images that I find inspiring or that fit the descriptions well. This can take from several hours to several days. Once I have enough comp images to play with I open Adobe Photoshop and start working things out. My process is very fluid and organic. I usually have a general idea of where I’d like to take the design but nothing is solid until I get the images together and start working on it, like a puzzle.

Q: What is your all time favorite cover from your portfolio?

That is a very tough question. I imagine it is like asking a mother which child is her favorite or an author which of her books she likes the best. Still, I will try my best. I used basically the same process for all of them. A really well written and detailed Cover Art Form is the starting point.

I love Kate of Kratos by Robert Appleton. Not only is it the very first cover I did for Eternal Press but it is also fits the story perfectly—in my opinion.

I also love Invisible by Kimber Chin because I believe it has a great composition and portrays the right mood, plus I’ve gotten some great comments about it.

And Jen by Nick Dienst is a favorite of mine because it’s different and interesting.

Q: What is the cover you wish you could redo or at least change something and what would you change?

Of course, as I grow as an artist and learn different skills I always go back to my early designs and see how I could have done it better. No specific cover sticks out to me as needing to be changed though.

Q: What criteria do you use when designing erotica print wraps and covers? Do you have certain lines you do not cross? How do you handle the situation of designing an erotica cover that isn't so explicit that it costs the author sales? Do you find that designing erotica ebook covers is easier, with fewer restrictions than designing print erotica covers?

The most important thing, for me, in designing erotic book covers is that it must still be tasteful, no matter how much skin shows. Of course the general rule is no “parts” should be visible. Sometimes it is better to imply sexuality and sensuality than to show it outright.

I’m always aware while designing that any cover has the possibility of going to print so my designs are generally appropriate for both.

Q: What trends do you see emerging in the coming years?

I’ve been seeing a trend in electronic publishing (romance mostly) towards illustrated covers as well as beautiful photo manipulation and/or collages that resemble works of art instead of a traditional cover layout. I’m very excited by both trends.

A special THANK YOU to Amanda for taking us into her world of graphic art design. You can find more of Amanda's work on her website. Razzle Dazzle Design

I wanted to create something with depth and texture, something that really highlighted the setting “Hell”. After reading the Cover Art Information Form I went online and spent a few hours collecting numerous images from stock websites that I felt would work well for the cover. I didn’t have a complete picture in my head yet. I just had a vague idea of the direction I wanted to go along with descriptions of the characters, storyline, and settings.

Hotter Than Hell is the first book in a planned series so I also had to keep in mind that the books that follow would have to have very similar designs. Once I finished my image search I selected the couple I wanted to try working with first.

The comp images always have watermarks and they are very low quality but that’s okay for now because all I need to do is create the basic design to show the author and art director. The first step is to cut the couple away from the background.

For this image I decided just to do it by hand using layer masks and the paint brush tool. The pink is just so you can see that the couple has been cut away. Next, I opened a new file, thumbnail size, with a transparent background and copied the cut-out couple onto it.

Now, I didn’t want the cover to be black and white so I changed the hue of the couple to something matching the background I had picked out.

When that was done I opened the background and copied that into the thumbnail size document.

Next, I added texture to give the whole piece depth. I found a wonderful dried dirt texture and added that over everything with a fade made so that it was more visible at the bottom.

After that came fire, because Hell has lots and lots of fire right?

Once I had all the images situated where I wanted them I made small adjustments, adding shadows and highlights, changing the overall contrast and brightness, and other little things. Lastly, I added the text.

When everything was ready I sent the mockup to the author and my art director for their approval. They both liked the rough draft so I finalized with only a few adjustments.

Linnae Crady () - October, 2009

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