If you have dipped your feet into the movie poster or book cover industry, like me, you will know that one of the most underrated aspects of the poster and the cover industry is typography. The typography you use can make or break an image. Most digital artists, think of it as an afterthought but I guarantee you it is one of the most vital pieces of the puzzle to publisher or distributor.
Dean Samed, the CEO of Neostock is a notorious name in the book cover world. He has created covers for Clive Barker and Stephen King! Working in genre staples such as high fantasy, action, Cyberpunk, and horror, Samed now shares his expert knowledge with the world.
In this video, Samed walks us through in real-time how to create a title using typography techniques that he has used in his works.
He touches on important issues like visual research is king. That to be good at typography you need to develop your visual awareness. This is something I completely agree with and teach in my workshops. The best tool for visual awareness is mood boards, so be sure to try to apply that into your work whenever possible. it can help you pick out themes and trends that you can use to your benefit.
We have all heard of the rule of thirds. If you haven't, give me a thousand press-ups right now! But seriously, even though the rules of thirds is in my opinion not a very good way to compose your images. It is a great way to compose your type. And Samed shows how to do this using the crop tool and ruler guides.
Finally, we get into the nitty-gritty and learn how to add effects to typography using the styles menu. A favorite of cover artists is Bevel and Emboss. And we get to learn this as well as how to adjust it to our preference.
Along with adding taglines and advice on how to conform with genre tropes but also staying original I believe this to be one of the best free videos I have come across on typography. So if you are just getting into cover work, or you would like to add another string to your bow be sure to check out this guide.
Thanks for posting this. I spent ages coming up with cover design for my book. I think it works but a real professional would make it sing. I'm waiting to see what the publisher does with it.
One thing that vexes me is finding the right font. I wrote a little program that displays every font on my computer, which helps. Then hunting through font web sites to find what you want is near impossible because there are so many and often you have to install them to really know what they look like.
I'd love to hear any tips on this.
Hi Rod, I wish I knew an easier way. I also spend ages browsing through font websites. Maybe there is the seed of a gap in the market that needs filling there software-wise haha.
This is what my little program looks like. It'd be good to make something like this that does the same for web sites (plus showing the source).
And this is my book cover. Still needs a few touches I think, but I'd love suggestions.
Hold on.. try https://fonts.google.com/
I like it.....I would love to see it with a more dramatic font type to compare
I use a little program called 'Font Viewer' you can key in a few words of the text you want to view, set the font size you want to view it at, and will display those words for you in every font on your system. As a graphic designer I find it comes in very handy for finding a good font for a headline or similar. It's a free download and I've been using it for years
http://fontviewer.net
Thanks. Sounds like a more snazzy version of my program
Thank you :)