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Hey everybody, So today, I'm super excited to finally share
with you the top ten covers in the Damsel Distressed cover design contest.
I know I said this on Monday, but I must say again:
Thank you.
Thank you to every single one of the more than 50 graphic designers and artists who
took time to create a piece of artwork for this project. Each of those people submitted
gorgeous work, and the vast majority of those artists submitted multiple concepts. Some
sent as many as 7-8 different versions or ideas for the cover.
It was brilliant and moving and overwhelming and endlessly humbling.
So, thank you for sharing your artwork with me and for sharing that bit of yourself with
this bit of myself.
That said, the team didn't take lightly the task of whittling these dozens and dozens
and dozens of entries down to ten. But after much discussion, debate, and deliberation,
we've found our top ten.
Now, we've given these ten entries code names, which we'll use during the voting process,
but if any of these individual artists choose to disclose their designs to encourage their
friends/supporters to vote, that's fine with us.
The goal of this video is to give an objective (albeit excited) preview of the entries, and
make sure that every person who wants to help decide the cover can do so... even those who
for whatever reason may be unable to examine the covers on their own.
Now, voting for the contest will open at noon CST today, October 14th, 2013, and will remain
open for two weeks. We'll close the polls just before midnight on the 31st.
So, in no particular order, I'm proud to show you the top ten semi finalists.
Beyond Blue This design has a soothing teal background
and is highlighted with a white line drawings. The letters have a folksy hand-drawn style
accented by pale pink, rose, and olive green. The melancholy girl is drawn only with white
and is adorned with small details from Imogen's life.
Black Bird This dark design is grounded in black, and
accented with crisp white and powerful red. The single bird sings a sad song into the
sky which is full of music, pills, and beautiful baubles. The title font is a swirling calligraphy
style lettering with looping embellishments filling the bottom half of the design and
rising at a slight angle.
Dark Doodles With a white back ground and bold black outlines
reminiscent of permanent marker, this design is sparsely accented with a buttery yellow,
hot pink, and cool teal. The designs swirl together and include some of Imogen's basics:
converse sneakers, her phone, and a sharp secret as well.
Hidden Gen The artist's use of a black background which
continues--unbroken into Imogen's hair and hoodie creates a dramatic effect revealing
her face in the negative space left when the darkness is carved away. Imogen's face, peering
through her heavy swept bangs, is featured prominently, with a hard-to-read-expression
and a star in her eye.
Lined Lyrics This hot pink design uses tone on tone stripes
of two slightly different fushia shades to horizontally span the page. In white hand
drawn elements, we have a single cloud, spilling tears down into the puddle below. Below the
bold, black title, lyrics from the song Unseen (which was featured in the contest video)
have been hand written in a neat, white script.
Moody Masks Ups and Downs are on display in this detailed
design on an off-white background (with a pale, tone on tone chevron pattern). The top
half uses warm tones, candy, music, tickets and a smile to create those ups, while the
bottom uses deep, cool colors to depict the downs full of tears, pills, and pins.
Sound Crown On a charcoal back ground, in a steely, contrasting
grey, a sound designer's headset fills most of the space. Imogen's version of a crown
is surrounded by contrasting fonts in teal and magenta, as the cable twists below creating
a sweet, deep pink heart. The author name in a pop of lime green rounds out the color
scheme.
Stormy Girl In the negative, Gen's hair stands straight
up on end in stark white. At the bottom of the cover, one blue-grey eye winks open. In
a tiny detail, a whimsical stylized crown sits on her head, topped by a little blue
and red pill where a gemstone might be. The title font features a sketched, feminine design
for Damsel, coupled with stark, unadorned "distressed."
Torn Apart This hand sketched cover features a design
that recalls retro cartoons and comics of the past. The heroine looks skyward as her
hair blows back, with her bold red lips creating a focal point. Across her head, the paper
is torn, and peeled away, curling back on itself and revealing the title and author
name written on bright teal paper showing from underneath.
Wistful Watercolors This watercolor painting uses moody teals
and blues to blend together the top half of the design. slowly they seep down to where
the warm colors are introduced. reds, oranges, golds, and bronze mix and are further enhanced
by a scratched, distressed texture. Contrasting on top of the paint is bold white text.