The Smashing Book: Vote For The Book Cover Now!
The Smashing Book project is now entering its next phase. Based upon your tremendous feedback, we have finalized the concept and the outline for the book. In fact, the topics have been selected and our writers have already started to brainstorm the ideas for their chapters in the book. The one thing that still remains to be discussed is how the book will actually look like.
And since the Smashing Book is supposed to be the community book, we would like you to decide what design would fit the book best. In this post we present 6 book cover designs that were designed by the community for the Smashing Book Project (see the Book Cover Design Forum). We let you decide what book cover the Smashing Book will have. Please vote in the poll below – it’s your turn now!
Details about the book cover
We have picked out 6 most interesting book cover designs amond a number of drafts suggested in the forum. We think that every design presented below is appropriate for the Smashing Book. However, what cover makes the book look really smashing?
Please notice:
- the book will be a paperback, not hardcover as shown in some drafts below,
- the book will not be available in stores or any retail stores — it doesn’t have to fight for customer’s attention against numerous other books in stores.
- the book should make a really good impression online.
What cover design should the Smashing Book have?
Below you’ll find a brief overview of the 6 book cover designs. You will find more detailed information and preview of each design below, under the poll. You can click on the image for a larger preview. You can vote for multiple designs. Please vote now!
Participants
Here are more details and images of each design. Thank you to designers for participation!
- jokr (1)
- jokr (2)
- briannelsondesign
- motd
- Static44
- mjmonserrat
a) jokr 1
b) jokr 2
c) briannelsondesign
d) motd
e) Static44
f) mjmonserrat
Thank you for participation, folks! And please feel free to let us know your ideas, thoughts and suggestions in the comments to this post! Thank you for your time.
Justin
April 8th, 2009 4:05 pmI like C the best! The “S” stands out and colors fit the Smashing brand!
Badger
April 8th, 2009 4:09 pmD. The others…meh.
Although it wont be on a bookshelf in my local store, I try and imagine what will make me pick it out from the hundreds of other similar (but not as good) books. The black coloured spine doesnt leap out at all. Its not trying to capture my attetion but it has an air of mystery that will make me want to know whats inside.
Then again, i’ll probably see the Smashing logo and pick it up anyway, regardless of the colour !
ilkut
April 8th, 2009 4:41 pmabsolutely joker2
acidcloud
April 8th, 2009 4:42 pmThis is way too hard.
I love them all!
vocal
April 8th, 2009 5:29 pmI like B the most..
smalllotus
April 8th, 2009 5:29 pmI love C~~lalala~~
Caroline Schnapp
April 8th, 2009 6:40 pmThe results of this poll are disappointing. Designs a and b are superior, and by far. They’re in a different league. Amazing work, jokr, congratulation!
ashesknow
April 8th, 2009 6:45 pmD
minixan
April 8th, 2009 6:51 pm“С” is like a favicon. =)
RolsRice
April 8th, 2009 7:04 pmI really think that, choose he cover you choose, should have the: BY THE AUTHORS OF SMASHING……
Marketing, I think.
And , my favourite cover is the first C, and it seems is the winner until now!
Ariyo
April 8th, 2009 7:48 pmI Love A. It looks sleek. When you look at it you want to open it and see what’s inside. The other ones are OK. However, the designs are not “smashingly” unique in my opinion. they almost feels like you’ve seen them before.
Snookerman
April 8th, 2009 8:10 pmHehe, is motd an arab?
red said fred
April 8th, 2009 8:13 pmB just does it for me…
earthwormjim
April 8th, 2009 8:17 pmC’mon! Choice ‘a’ is very original and unusual. It would stand out and grab the attention of your wandering mind and any passing coworker. The content is already great, you don’t hide it in another generic looking cover.
Eric
April 8th, 2009 8:18 pm“C” is attractive in its simplicity but I really like “A” a lot and “F” would also get my attention.
Ditch the arrows on the O’s though. In more than a year browsing here I never even noticed the arrow on the G until trying to figure out why they were incorporated into this design. The red and white S is the strongest element of the Smashing brand.
exitstencil
April 8th, 2009 8:19 pmA does it for me. By the way, surely the open book under “Participants”, “d) motd”, would result in the book jacket being the wrong way round???!!!
Matt F
April 8th, 2009 8:21 pmA is too cluttered
B has potential, but copies the whole MLB logo thing a bit too closely.
C is a very strong design. Dare I say “iconic”
D is just another free icon image
E is the same as D with a background image
F is just as cluttered as A
Adeline Chong
April 8th, 2009 8:27 pmC!
alex
April 8th, 2009 8:31 pmC, D are good :)
Daniel
April 8th, 2009 8:33 pmI vote for C
W3Planting
April 8th, 2009 8:46 pmthumb up for E
sudeep
April 8th, 2009 9:02 pmI go for D.
Raman Sharma
April 8th, 2009 9:13 pmI love D & F.
1. F
2. D
Kelly
April 8th, 2009 10:01 pmE
raj
April 8th, 2009 10:06 pmI go with (A) – - I like to suggest you the curved arrow for “G”as a branding icon. and i like to see the back side design of A.
Matej
April 8th, 2009 10:08 pmno competition for me… C all the way :)
zuodao
April 8th, 2009 10:09 pmof course the last “F”. It’s great and serious.
smailfish
April 8th, 2009 10:14 pmf) mjmonserrat
i like it. it’s full of mystery, and the “s” is consructed by domain name.
Robert Heine
April 8th, 2009 10:22 pmIs there a chance, that the book will be publish in german (language) too ?
andreadesign
April 8th, 2009 10:28 pmThey’re all great!!
It’s really hard to make a choice but, at the end, I’ve voted for “d”.
Olso “e” design is really beauty.
Pixelette
April 8th, 2009 10:29 pmwinner: “C”
Milk
April 8th, 2009 10:39 pmDefinitely A ! Look more professionnal!
C is good, but too simple and no use of the “arrow G”, wich is very cool!
Marko
April 8th, 2009 10:46 pmI think that all covers are ok, but it’s nice that you let us choose.
My favourite is A
PS is there a possibility to include a CD/DVD in the book?
Nakiloe
April 8th, 2009 10:51 pmI’ve voted for C, as it’s clean, has Smashing colors, and will be readable even in little thumbs of e-stores.
a & f : too “noisy”
b : the shape is great but colors… Looks like french flag, sorry :P
d : smashing logo lost in this black sea
e : It’s a nice one, but I don’t feel the rusty look match with Smashing image.
Lien
April 8th, 2009 10:52 pmF is my favorite
adoxus
April 8th, 2009 11:08 pmc is standart, cliché, normal
f is different, geek, abnormal THUS great and simple
a is also great but not so simple.
Allahverdi
April 8th, 2009 11:10 pm“C” design is really clean and cool
Christian Skog
April 8th, 2009 11:15 pmC.
Clean, simple, informative – but yet not too descriptive and obvious.
Tarek
April 8th, 2009 11:24 pmI look at C, D, and E and just see adobe for some reason…
snnaqvi
April 8th, 2009 11:28 pmI like C.
Sheetal
April 8th, 2009 11:29 pmi like D
spritzstuhl
April 8th, 2009 11:40 pmC is my favorite! D looks nice as well but its too common somehow.
thanh truc
April 8th, 2009 11:43 pmi like f …i feel typo’s very good
Stefano
April 8th, 2009 11:52 pmI like f and e are very nice
Marin Todorov
April 9th, 2009 12:09 amI wanted to ask you guys if it is possible to put my photo on the front cover ? I think any of the proposed variants above + my photo will sell millions of copies , I almost guarantee it :) lol
Anyhow, if you re-read your own articles on clean design you’ll see C is the only option :)
ryandc
April 9th, 2009 12:20 amC! Simple, Sublime, Smashing!
Dee
April 9th, 2009 12:29 amC…
Vasilis
April 9th, 2009 12:38 amC is my pick out of the bunch. Clean. Bold. Smashing.
A is nice too, but I’m thinking replacing the grey with black would give it a lot more contrast and it would definitely pop more. I would also remove the 2 refresh icons in “Book”. It’s too much.
cem
April 9th, 2009 12:38 amF. Really cool
r1seUp
April 9th, 2009 12:40 amD, it’s very stylish for a stylish way of thinking as you do
Chocho
April 9th, 2009 12:41 amI like F. But if the book is not all about coding, it dose not work.
If it has to make a good impression online, A failed.
How about a combination of B and C? Use B’s layout and C’s color: keep it simple with only orange color; the tilted “S” bleed of the edge of the cover in design “B” balances better with logo than in design C.
Banu
April 9th, 2009 12:46 amI like C and D.
Nqy_Nik
April 9th, 2009 1:01 amThis book is going to be amazing!!! cant wait
Qre8ive
April 9th, 2009 1:05 amC is simple yet very nice! fits smashing!
lpociask
April 9th, 2009 1:06 amF – is cool ;)
Zoltan Sebestyen
April 9th, 2009 1:14 amMy vote goes to B, but IMHO the curves of the “S” should be fine-tuned.
If you’re interested in my detailed opinion, please feel free to email me.
G-Force
April 9th, 2009 1:24 am“C” – Crisp ‘n’ clean!
B23
April 9th, 2009 1:31 amDefinitely C!
guru
April 9th, 2009 1:40 amE is great, but doesn’t suit the concept of the smashing book, imo.
Love D and C !
GJC
April 9th, 2009 1:40 amI like C.
Message for Natasha at comment 14: I hate to do this to you but you actually hope the book will have “fewer” grammatical errors than the post, not “less”. Less means “not as much”, which isn’t right for your sentence’s structure. Fewer means “not as many”, which conveys the meaning you wanted to. It’s always a risk to correct grammar in public…
Mike
April 9th, 2009 1:59 amB looks a bit pepsi.
and after reading someone elses comment, C now looks adobe inspired.
F for the win
Bemoi
April 9th, 2009 2:11 amOf course “C” gives me smallville feeling
Gregory Franz
April 9th, 2009 2:15 amC, C, C, C, C, C…
Keep it “Cimple”.
noski
April 9th, 2009 2:28 amI think you scrap all of them and let me design one for you, failing that go for C and have nothing but the big S on the front.
Farzad
April 9th, 2009 2:30 amD and F
Dave
April 9th, 2009 2:47 am1st) A
2nd) F
3rd) B
ferocesalatino
April 9th, 2009 2:48 ami like F
DayDream
April 9th, 2009 3:16 amI’m going for D
icetrix
April 9th, 2009 3:46 amC. Suits best with the style of this site.
v8webdesign.com
April 9th, 2009 3:48 amFor me, C.
Bartp
April 9th, 2009 4:13 amFor me C & F
Dörthe
April 9th, 2009 4:28 amblack is always beautiful – d and f
Adam Alyan
April 9th, 2009 4:31 amA and F!
kuve
April 9th, 2009 4:33 amI love F
Tom
April 9th, 2009 4:36 amIt’s all about A for me!!
micce
April 9th, 2009 4:46 amC – D – F
Andrew Turnbull
April 9th, 2009 5:23 amF “good design, it stands out from the others.” Customers who walk around a book shop seeing that cover would be drawn to it.. Thats how i came to my conclusion. My eyes kept locking on at F cover.
Proffesional
Mayank Singhal
April 9th, 2009 6:04 amD is too supermanish…
i like superman
but smashingmag’s bigger ;)
FFF
April 9th, 2009 6:19 amVote for F, I want this cover in my bookshelf!
ziosteve
April 9th, 2009 6:34 amvote for F!
Mephisto )*(
April 9th, 2009 7:11 amI think “F” is the most representative for your work !
Vote for F.
Ciprian
April 9th, 2009 7:25 amWOW Yes as I already said, C is the option because it toked me 1 sec to identify it and 2 sec more to relate it to your logo and the favicon. AND I realy realy want one :)
Sean McCambridge
April 9th, 2009 8:01 amI like B all the way. Imagining myself browsing books at B&N, the B cover is the one that would catch my attention.
linux29
April 9th, 2009 8:02 amabsolutely C
clean and very cool
James Inman
April 9th, 2009 8:04 amA and C, but I like B too.
Nadun
April 9th, 2009 8:05 amd is clear thus have a smashing identity.
snu1031
April 9th, 2009 8:22 amvote for F! got a sexy look and a sense of network like matrix!
renata
April 9th, 2009 8:39 amplease, C!
and i want a smashing book!
;-p
Brea Sandness
April 9th, 2009 8:52 amThey were all very well done!! I could never be as creative as these designers. Personally, cover designs A & C stand out amongst the rest. The bright orange cover for C will definitely make the book stand out on a shelf or table. In A the background was a nice change in pace from solid colors, but agree with the person who didn’t like the arrows on the “oo” in the word book. The background is very busy (in a good way), however, the title should be clear and stand out from the chaos in the back, and not add more disorder to the design. I thought B looked nice with the multiple colors, but found it reminded me of a software box, not a book. Selections D, E, and F were all also very well done, although, the choice of black as a primary color for the background put them at a disadvantage. It is easy for a wandering eye to look right over a black tinted book, potentially causing a loss in a sale. I choose C because, the edges are very clean, and the title was thoughtfully placed. Overall, the appearance did not come off as “plain,” but stylish. This designer did a great job with keeping with the modern taste of the younger generations, while not going overboard. This designer was able to produce a cover that would be able to compete and stand out amongst rows of other well designed covers and books. Great Job briannelsondesign!!!
DeGenTd
April 9th, 2009 9:13 am…C
Hardly waiting this book…
wei
April 9th, 2009 9:14 amI need one ! looks great
Fazai38
April 9th, 2009 9:15 amI will vote for D… As when it’s on a book shelf.. It makes it more stands out… It’s looks informative and more valueble informations.
C is shouting too much i guess…
laurie
April 9th, 2009 9:19 amcan we not have a black background? I feel its too much a default, white needs more love
Merewald Valletta
April 9th, 2009 9:30 amDefinitely C. I think it’s clean, minimalist and absolutely dashing. I think, out of the choices (though they’re all great) that C should be the one chosen. Gosh, I’m so excited for this book. I simply cannot wait! :)
Chris Robinson
April 9th, 2009 9:43 amvoted C, clean and simple with clear branding
Casey Parker
April 9th, 2009 10:15 amI’d put C on my coffee table…clean, sleek design with impact…power.
Tim
April 9th, 2009 10:15 amI like B n D and also C, but not as much as BnD X-)
BZ
April 9th, 2009 10:17 amD. Nice contrast and 2.0 trend for the era.
Jack F
April 9th, 2009 10:32 amI went for C myself, really like it. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy once it’s done!
Eduardo Ascencio
April 9th, 2009 10:35 amMe gusto mucho el diseño de la F y la D, me parece un tremendo recuento de ideas.