View Full Version : What picture shows thrify living?
I'm attempting to design cover art for my book and I'm 100% baffled. Aside from not knowing how to operate paint.net, which I'll eventually learn, I don't know what the cover art should look like.
The book is about the adventure of spending less in all areas of life. I can't think of one image that expresses that. Some book covers in the genre are very messy, as they try to show a bit of everything from sewing needles to butter churns. Messy doesn't seem to be in fashion right now and I don't care for it anyway.
I have a happy picture of me and my late husband dancing at his daughter's wedding which does express the joy that money can't buy. OTOH, the cover has to catch the eye of people who want to spend less money.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
Do you have any money in the budget for a graphic artist? My daughter is one, and she's told me about sites where you post your project and then you get a whole bunch of ideas and you just pay for the one you want. A lot of the artists are young and trying to establish themselves so their work is cheap. I can find out the site if you're interested.
I would guard against "do-it-yourself" if you're not an artist and/or have to learn the software. It might come off looking cheap. Plus, you're trying to express a tone or a feeling--being literal about the types of images may be too "paint-by-numbers" to be effective.
JMHO, not knowing your abilities in the graphic arts department. So I don't mean to demean you. I'm just suggesting that it often takes an impartial third party to see what should be done.
Miss Cellane
11-2-13, 8:17am
What's the title of your book? That might spark some ideas.
At the moment the title is Frugal Living for the 21st Century: Adventures in Using Your Money Wisely. I've thought about reversing the two phrases. It's comprehensive and sometimes extreme, always avoiding any sense of deprivation or poverty. My new avatar is now the picture I mentioned.
My parents were both artists, but all I can say I have is a certain instinctive "eye". I can learn software and I can tell if what I make is or isn't artistically right, but what I don't know is what to even start with that will express the book and sell the book. I intent to put it up on Amazon in Kindle format, so the cover has to look good in thumbnail size as well as full size, and has to catch the browser's eye.
try2bfrugal
11-2-13, 4:14pm
You might look through Amazon or Google books at other covers for ideas. I will do that later and see if anything jumps out at me.
I am looking forward to your book Reader99! I know from your posts you are a master at simple living.
Taking the idea from TFG's post, what about "Master Frugal Living" or some variation of that?
The image could be taming a tiger with $$ for eyes. Just thinking...
I LOVE your new picture. Very lovely.
I guess the problem is that frugal living, simplicity, etc mean different things to different people. What is the 1st thing that pops into your head when you think of the richness of frugal living?
Taking the idea from TFG's post, what about "Master Frugal Living" or some variation of that?
The image could be taming a tiger with $$ for eyes. Just thinking...
Oooo, I can picture it. Thank you.
SnakeBlitz33
11-2-13, 11:23pm
When I think of frugality I think of that phrase in the poor man's almanac by Benjamin Franklin: A Penny saved is a penny earned. Why not have a picture of some pennies in small piles...
1. It can act as a symbol - by making "changes" ... change, .... get it? People have to make "change" in their daily lives to meet goals for saving "pennies."
2. It can be taken as literal - frugality, saving money, pinching pennies, earning by saving, etc... whatever theme your book has.
Anyways... just an idea.
iris lilies
11-3-13, 12:42am
...The book is about the adventure of spending less in all areas of life.
That's what you emphasize--the joy of adventure. That's a nice photo of you and your DH and I'm not so sure that one would be entirely wrong. At least, put it on the back.
When I think of frugality I think of that phrase in the poor man's almanac by Benjamin Franklin: A Penny saved is a penny earned. Why not have a picture of some pennies in small piles...
1. It can act as a symbol - by making "changes" ... change, .... get it? People have to make "change" in their daily lives to meet goals for saving "pennies."
2. It can be taken as literal - frugality, saving money, pinching pennies, earning by saving, etc... whatever theme your book has.
Anyways... just an idea.
Hmm, and possibly a quote below it, "If nothing changes, nothing changes."
tetrimbath
11-3-13, 2:54pm
One person I know who has put together a lot of frugality based graphics is Helen Passey, the previous wiki administrator for New Road Map. Here are examples of what she's done. Do they help? http://www.financialintegrity.org/index.php?title=Financial_Integrity_inspiration Maybe she can help.
Gardenarian
11-4-13, 4:11pm
Hi Reader99,
Love the photo, but agree it wouldn't work for the book cover.
As a librarian, I can say that we do a lot of research on the books we buy, but the cover does have an impact - as does the title.
If you keep that title (more on that below,) I would definitely switch the order, for the simple reason that many searches come up alphabetically.
I would actually try and whittle the title down as much as you can; short, punchy titles are easier to remember and have greater impact. Think of Mary Roach with "Stiff", "Bonk", and "Gulp". I can see people in the library saying "oh it's something about being cheap..."
Is the emphasis more on simple living or frugality? You might want to take a look at your library and think about where it would be shelved in the Dewey Decimal system - in the 330s with Economics? The 170s with Philosophy? The 640s with Homemaking? Take a look at the types of books in each section and see what kind of covers they have.
Doing a Google image search for "simple living" gives loads of ideas to start with. Frugality images bring up something entirely different. Actually pretty cool to play around with how people define these things.
Hi Reader99,
Love the photo, but agree it wouldn't work for the book cover.
As a librarian, I can say that we do a lot of research on the books we buy, but the cover does have an impact - as does the title.
If you keep that title (more on that below,) I would definitely switch the order, for the simple reason that many searches come up alphabetically.
I would actually try and whittle the title down as much as you can; short, punchy titles are easier to remember and have greater impact. Think of Mary Roach with "Stiff", "Bonk", and "Gulp". I can see people in the library saying "oh it's something about being cheap..."
Is the emphasis more on simple living or frugality? You might want to take a look at your library and think about where it would be shelved in the Dewey Decimal system - in the 330s with Economics? The 170s with Philosophy? The 640s with Homemaking? Take a look at the types of books in each section and see what kind of covers they have.
Doing a Google image search for "simple living" gives loads of ideas to start with. Frugality images bring up something entirely different. Actually pretty cool to play around with how people define these things.
Hmm. Thank you that's very thought provoking. Because the range of the book is very wide I think it would be more Personal Finance 332 than Homemaking. I notice my local library online catalog has the Tightwad Gazette in both categories, but Jeff Yeager's works in just 332.
The emphasis is on non-money alternatives, so on thrift, but that can't help but also draw in some simplicity and some green living. I've thought about just having the title "Adventures in Frugal Living". I need to find out how Amazon's search feature works, whether it searches strictly on words in the title itself or in the description as well.
My struggle with cover art has been that the obvious choice is pictures of money, and the book is about money, but it's really about living, and that's hard to condense into one image.
And I am SO over piggy banks. Any image search I've done, it's one dam pig after another.
I went to istockphotos.com and searched on money adventure. I got fewer pigs and more passports. Also one with a blue sky background and a dollar bill flying with a jet trail behind it. That might do. It's a wide open feeling to it that I like.
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-19958440-dollar-bill-airplane.php (http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-19958440-dollar-bill-airplane.php)
The photo
And here's another one, kind of an elegant feel to it: http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/4896084/2/stock-photo-4896084-christmas-gift.jpg
I had said I'm over piggy banks, but this one kind of caught my fancy: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-2299317-money-to-burn.php
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-12501522-make-money-magically-appear.php (http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-2299317-money-to-burn.php)
Gardenarian
11-5-13, 3:53pm
I kind of like these dollars on a clothesline (http://www.123rf.com/photo_2027355_dollar-notes-are-hanging-on-clothesline-to-dry-the-bills-are-isolated-over-white.html) though I have a feeling I've seen it before...
I kind of like these dollars on a clothesline (http://www.123rf.com/photo_2027355_dollar-notes-are-hanging-on-clothesline-to-dry-the-bills-are-isolated-over-white.html) though I have a feeling I've seen it before...
You may have seen it before, there's a clipart pic that's very similar. I like it too.
"At the moment the title is Frugal Living for the 21st Century: Adventures in Using Your Money Wisely. I've thought about reversing the two phrases. It's comprehensive and sometimes extreme, always avoiding any sense of deprivation or poverty. My new avatar is now the picture I mentioned."
I love the title in reverse: "Adventures in Using Your Money Wisely: Frugal Living for the 21st Century."
Or what about even shorter: "Adventures in Frugal Living: Having Fun, Making Do and Doing Without in the 21st Century" (Hmmm, I guess that's not really shorter!)
When you described your book, I pictured something with growth--a plant growing, a vine with a tendril, maybe growing from a penny? Or something with maps--the adventure part, I think helps there! Maybe a packed vintage suitcase, with a plant growing out of it? :) I could go on all day. Good luck and let us know when it's out, it sounds like a great book.
"At the moment the title is Frugal Living for the 21st Century: Adventures in Using Your Money Wisely. I've thought about reversing the two phrases. It's comprehensive and sometimes extreme, always avoiding any sense of deprivation or poverty. My new avatar is now the picture I mentioned."
I love the title in reverse: "Adventures in Using Your Money Wisely: Frugal Living for the 21st Century."
Or what about even shorter: "Adventures in Frugal Living: Having Fun, Making Do and Doing Without in the 21st Century" (Hmmm, I guess that's not really shorter!)
When you described your book, I pictured something with growth--a plant growing, a vine with a tendril, maybe growing from a penny? Or something with maps--the adventure part, I think helps there! Maybe a packed vintage suitcase, with a plant growing out of it? :) I could go on all day. Good luck and let us know when it's out, it sounds like a great book.
My title page is littered with possibilities, including Adventures in Frugal Living for the 21st Century. Or should it be IN the 21st century?
For pictures I'm currently favoring this one: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-pho...lly-appear.php
When I sort of mocked up a cover the title looked better as Adventures in Frugal Living
then the picture
then my name
Then in smaller print, just as a remark, "21st century strategies for using your money wisely". Since Amazon provides a place to put keywords for a search, I don't have to artificially introduce key words into the title itself.
(http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-12501522-make-money-magically-appear.php)
This one is now a contender, but I'm not sure what a mass audience's subconcious will asssume it means when browsing for books: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-6137470-3d-person-puppet-sliding-on-slice-puzzle.php
This one is now a contender, but I'm not sure what a mass audience's subconcious will asssume it means when browsing for books: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-6137470-3d-person-puppet-sliding-on-slice-puzzle.php
The first impression I had was a sense of frivolity sliding on a game-like puzzle. You definitely had a different impression so what was yours?
This thread has been quite interesting to follow and think about, BTW.
fidgiegirl
11-8-13, 10:18pm
Ooh the puzzle piece doesn't really speak frugality or simplicity to me either . . . I didn't look at any of the other images.
Gardenarian
11-9-13, 2:55pm
I'm thinking you should go with something really unique to set you apart from all the other frugal living books. Like "Mr. Money Mustache" - how'd he come up with that? Or "Possum Living", one of my faves.
The first impression I had was a sense of frivolity sliding on a game-like puzzle. You definitely had a different impression so what was yours?
This thread has been quite interesting to follow and think about, BTW.
I read into it the excitement of "surfing" the puzzle of how to live on less and less money.
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