Why the different subtitles? The US subtitle seems much more direct, while the UK subtitle is a breath of stale air. What is the “esc” key intended to convey, when the point is that there would be no escape?
There’s not a short answer; subtitles and cover art are over-constrained and the choices have many stakeholders (and authors rarely have final say over artwork). The differences reflect different input from different publishing-houses in different territories, who hopefully have decent intuitions about their markets.
Are you American? Because as a British person I would say that the first version looks a lot better to me, and certainly fits the standards for British non-fiction books better.
Though I do agree that the subtitle isn’t quite optimal.
I’m also not a graphic designer. But I agree that both designs give me the ick. I think it’s something about how lazy they both look. They give early 2000s self help book.
To be clear, I’m quite excited for this book, and have preordered! I am just surprised by the covers.
Huh, I’m also British and I thought the first version looked like a placeholder, as in “no one’s uploaded an actual cover yet so the system auto generates one”. The only thing making me think not-that was that the esc key is mildly relevant. I bought the second one partly because I was a lot more confident I was actually buying a real book.
I guess part of what’s going on here is it’s the same grey as the background (or very close?), so looks transparent. But even without that I think I’d have had a similar reaction.
Why the different subtitles? The US subtitle seems much more direct, while the UK subtitle is a breath of stale air. What is the “esc” key intended to convey, when the point is that there would be no escape?
There’s not a short answer; subtitles and cover art are over-constrained and the choices have many stakeholders (and authors rarely have final say over artwork). The differences reflect different input from different publishing-houses in different territories, who hopefully have decent intuitions about their markets.
Are you American? Because as a British person I would say that the first version looks a lot better to me, and certainly fits the standards for British non-fiction books better.
Though I do agree that the subtitle isn’t quite optimal.
I am British. I’m not much impressed by either graphic design, but I’m not a graphic designer and can’t articulate why.
I’m also not a graphic designer. But I agree that both designs give me the ick. I think it’s something about how lazy they both look. They give early 2000s self help book.
To be clear, I’m quite excited for this book, and have preordered! I am just surprised by the covers.
I think the main problem is that the second cover looks really rushed.
Huh, I’m also British and I thought the first version looked like a placeholder, as in “no one’s uploaded an actual cover yet so the system auto generates one”. The only thing making me think not-that was that the esc key is mildly relevant. I bought the second one partly because I was a lot more confident I was actually buying a real book.
I guess part of what’s going on here is it’s the same grey as the background (or very close?), so looks transparent. But even without that I think I’d have had a similar reaction.
I had the same reaction to the first version