HELP!!!! How do I tell a Publisher that I HATE their cover design?

[burvantill]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz You too! Merry Christmas! Good luck

[NessIllustration]

@jimsz Your approach on this is that basically this is not the illustrator's job or problem, and since they're paid they shouldn't care. I'm impressed by your "all business" approach and can see the advantages. However it also has some big drawbacks. A book is teamwork, and as the art expert of the team I believe it's the illustrator's responsibility to raise red flags about the quality when they see problems. And the graphic design CAN certainly interfere with the art and ruin it. The illustrator will have their name on it, and putting out a cover like this that looks amateur and awful can absolutely be detrimental to their career. There is a bigger picture here beyond just getting paid for the project: it's building a name and reputation for high quality work. In @Nyrryl-Cadiz's case, they did not just add garish text: they resized elements, turned on layers that were not supposed to be in the final illustration, and changed the saturation of everything. It is messing with her work directly and negatively impacting the quality she's putting out. I don't think it's a good career move to put out stuff that looks awful, pocket the money and move on. It lives on forever more on the internet... You don't want people googling your name to see your work and the first thing they see is THAT awful cover from 5 years ago...

[jimsz]

@burvantill

I agree with you that a book is normally a team approach, the artist's name is on it, etc. however, without contract specifics we have no way of knowing who is responsible for what. The artist may indeed have the right to make first changes they may have the right to give approval of typography and graphic design but again they may not have any contractual right to any of this.

Plenty of times and artist will be paid for an illustration that does not work for hire and not have any say and what the publisher or our director does with it once the work is turned in.

The devil is in the details and other than emotional responses there are a few details on what the contract actually states as to the role of the artist and the rights of the artist in this specific case.

If an artist is concerned about what happens to their artwork after it leaves their hands (as we all should be) why would anyone send the native, editable layered file with unused layers/art made available to be used? The artist gave the publisher the means to do what they did and should use this as a painful learning opportunity.

I'm not saying either approach is right or either approach is wrong but too many artists forget that illustration be it books, covers, magazines, etc. is a business. To have complete control of one's work well either require the artist to become such a big name that they call the shots or they move over to fine arts and make art simply for art sake.

[NessIllustration]

@jimsz I think you're focusing a little bit too much on rights and contracts, and not enough on teamwork and honest communication. Most of the time I think the publisher WANTS to know if the graphic designer did a shit job and ruined the cover! They want the book to sell after all, don't they? They may not be legally required to make changes if they don't want to, but the overwhelming majority of the time they want to make the book as good as it can possibly be. That's why it's ALWAYS worth to politely raise issues, there's nothing to lose and everything to gain I'd say maybe 95% of the times I raised an issue, I got my way. As they say, nothing ventured nothing gained!

[jimsz]

@NessIllustration

Agreed to a point but also keep in mind that just because someone can draw does not mean they are a typographer, graphic designer or knows print production. If this is a real publisher they have those people who are as talented as an artist. The artist can push to share their opinion and feedback but doing so can also have them labeled as being difficult to work with. Unless you are a name It still comes down to what the contract says. Assuming the artist knows more about what the publisher can sell or knowing how to stand out on a bookshelf is being a bit disingenuous to the publishing team.

[carrieannebrown]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz almost the exact same thing happened to me too (horrible saturation and type), although I was only commissioned to do the cover art for a series of ebooks. I sent in my own versions with type I thought looked much better but they rejected them. I just ended up taking the money and asking not to be credited, I couldn't think of another way around it. I just used my versions of the covers in my portfolio and didn't work with them again.

[NessIllustration]

@jimsz I think you're only "difficult" if you push after someone's already told you no. Raising an issue for the first time, politely, isn't difficult. Worst that can happen is they tell you "no, we like it the way it is so we won't change it, but thanks though!" So why be so afraid? It's not like they will fire you on the spot just for saying something.

You're assuming that the publishing team will be offended because you're implying you know more than them. Do you get offended when an editor gives you feedback as if they know more about art than you? If not, then why not? Because you're a grown man and a professional? So are they...

This reasoning assumes we need them more than they need us and just makes us too afraid to do anything for fear of losing the job. It's the same reasoning that makes beginners too afraid to negotiate their contracts... No, the publisher won't immediately walk away in outrage and look for someone else just because we dared to ask if it might be possible with their budget to raise the price a smidge.

Would you even want to keep a relationship with and work again with a publisher that butchers your art with horrific graphic design and doesn't care about your concerns? If they honestly get offended at you for raising the issue, LET THEM walk away. You dodged a bullet.

[MirkaH]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz one thing I would check is if they used a CMYK file and posted that online. That will distort the colors, and a small publisher that I worked with didnt notice the garish colors either. It was a matter of asking them to make the image into rgb before posting online, and that problem was solved. So they might not have changed the colors, but posted in the wrong colorspace.

[xin li]

@NessIllustration always wise advice from you.

@jimsz I am a big advocate on speak your mind when working with a team. It is easier to collaborate when you know what other team members are thinking about. It is also for your own mental health. Doing a book is not a short project, if you can not be yourself, and do what you think is best for the project, you are risking burnout. When I get revision notes from editor/AD, if the editor only says "please change X" with no elaboration on why, I would often wrote back and asking "why". I did that with both editors/ADs I am comfortable with and not comfortable with. I think most of people has opinions on things that are not quite work out for them, they might be right that there is an issue, but their solutions are often not the best one.

@Nyrryl-Cadiz with your case, it might be the designer saw an issue with the cover mockup, and she/he wants to fix it. The solution she/he chose was horrible, but maybe the issue she/he saw is still a valid point. You will never know what is the designer is thinking about if you do not engage the dialog.

[NessIllustration]

@xin-li I 100% agree with you on this! In fact I don't often ask the reason for requested changes (I only question it if I think the change is a bad idea) but I think I'll try to adopt your way going forward and ask! You're absolutely right that the solution they propose might not fix the problem they're actually trying to fix. Going back to the root, asking what the real issue is to brainstorm solutions as a team sounds like the ideal work scenario Thanks for that!