Fantasy Book Cover | Surreal Tone and Color Pallet

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This customer received 13 eBook cover designs from 3 designers. They chose this eBook cover design from MarcoLax DZ as the winning design.
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eBook Cover Design Brief
This book is a light-hearted fantasy story with some comedy and some gore. I want a cover that evokes contrast between the morbid-ness of the conflict and the light-heartedness of the situation. I figure a good way to do that is with a lot of contrast between dark and light colors. Maybe contrast in the saturation; if that’s a thing. A lot of background colors, but maybe lighting that doesn’t let them be too vibrant and a subject that is almost colorless. (But I don’t know if that would work. You’re the artist(s).)
The book is called The Life Stealer. It’s named for a character in the book who lives inside of a coffin. This is an important figure, and I would like it to be the main subject of the composition. The coffin is made from ancient wood, so old and lifeless that it has turned gray (See the texture I uploaded if you don't know what I mean). The top of the coffin (face, door, lid, whatever you would call it) has the symbol of a dead tree carved into it. Since this is a fantasy story, the coffin should not look too modern. I will include a quick sketch I did on a notepad of what I imagine. I am open to variations so long as the design is kept humble.
My initial thought is to have the coffin standing straight up in the middle of a swamp since that’s an important setting in the story. I imagine it would end up looking similar to this cover I saw while browsing the library but with a different color pallet; I will include a picture with the project files (“Every Heart Doorway.” Seanan McGuire). Obviously, this is just my first thought about how to arrange it, and I would be happy to see other ideas.
As for the text of the cover. All I need is the title “The Life Stealer” and the author's name “May B. Brady.”Please keep text on a separate layer if possible. I have no preference for the font. As I said, the book is an oddity between horror, comedy, and fantasy, and I have no idea what font would convey that.
I’m going to include a third file that I think is an example of the surreal color pallet that I imagine. From the movie “Dumbo.” I feel this image has what I earlier called the contrast in saturation. As the colors are bright, but the subject, Dumbo, is rather desaturated, but he still stands out (as a result, I feel, of the lighting). I include this as a means of explaining myself.
Thank you so much for taking on this project with me. I can’t wait to see what fantastic results you come up with! I tried to give a clear direction without being too constrictive. I hope it wasn't too much to read through!!
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Requirements
Must have
- The subject must be the coffin described in the project listing: The coffin is made from ancient wood, so old and lifeless that it has turned gray. The top of the coffin has the symbol of a dead tree carved into it. Since this is a fantasy story, the coffin should not look too modern. I will include a quick sketch I did on a notepad of what I imagine. I am open to variations so long as the design is kept humble.
- Name of Book: The Life Stealer
- Name of Author: May B. Brady
- Please keep text on separate layer if possible :)
Nice to have
- My initial thought is to have the coffin standing straight up in the middle of a swamp since that’s an important setting of the story. I imagine it would end up looking similar to this cover I saw while browsing the library but with a different color pallet; I will include a picture with the project files (“Every Heart Doorway.” Seanan McGuire). Obviously, this is just my first thought about how to arrange it, and I would be happy to see other ideas.
Should not have
- Blood or dark scary things