Have a look. What do you think? (Eero, your brother Jari did the covers for your translations of My Life with Master and Dust Devils, didn't he? I'd be very curious what he thinks.)

Thanks,

Paul

First impression: too dark.

Second impression: I like it, a whole lot. It gives me the creeps, which is good.

I don't know if the first impression matters. The nice thing about the creepy logo/emblem/cover art is that it's portable and makes a neat totem/ad - you could for example use it as an avatar on less serious messageboards.

Hey Sean,

Thanks. (It seriously gives you the creeps? Maybe because you recognize the glyph?)

It would need to be carefully color calibrated for print. The glow behind the black glyph is less visible here on my monitor at work than it is on my monitor at home.

Paul

Yeah, you definitely want to get the glow just right. It still looks a little dark on my monitor. Also, not totally sure about the fancy 'A' - maybe making it more like the 'E' would be better. But, I still definitely dig it on the whole.

I didn't recognize the logo at first but now maybe I do - maybe - maybe that's why I have the creeps, because it's hanging on the edge of recognition...resist the urge to dispel my confusion though, esp. in public...

I can't seem to reach it?

Victor,

Do you get an error message?

Paul

Well, I don't dig it, but Jari apparently does. He says that the red borders of the letters should be somewhat wider, and the gradient of the green could be somewhat more complex. Also, the red could be tinted a little bit darker. Apart from that he seems to like it.

I, on the other hand, find the cover somewhat cheap-looking. You might correct this by emplacing the glyph on a rune-stone or something, to give the illustration some depth. Now the glyph clashes with the background lightning.

Hey Eero,

...and the gradient of the green could be somewhat more complex.

The gradient on the "Acts of Evil" title, or the gradient of the green glow behind the glyph?

Paul

Must have been a temporary problem - I can get to it just fine now.

The icon is hardly visible with my screen settings, but is pretty cool. Screen settings won't be much of a problem on the book, of course.

I really like the font, but I hate how the big letters have a solid circumference and then are filled with a gradient; the red circumference meeting the green filling = blugh.

The cover is also quite pixely, but that is probably just because this is only a test-version?

I like the overall lay-out. (Though it is my secret wish that you design an "Acts of Evil" logo following the rules of 90's black metal band logo's: you must write the name, but write it in such a way that it looks both evil and is nearly symmetrical. This Emperor logo illustrates the concept nicely. Just don't let yourself be influenced by my secret wish. ;) )

Paul wrote:
...and the gradient of the green could be somewhat more complex.

The gradient on the "Acts of Evil" title, or the gradient of the green glow behind the glyph?

The glow, I understand.

Yeah, that's a weak skill area for me. I'd love to see how Jari would do it, if he's inclined to show off :) Can I email you the glyph?

Paul

Alrighty, a new prototype. It features:

A different fancy 'A'.
A more complex glow behind the glyph.
Solid, rather than duo-tone text for the byline.

Victor, yeah, it's just grainy because it's a low-res prototype. If you look closely at the glow behind the glyph you'll see some obvious banding. That'll be gone in a high-res version. (And the red outlining of the letters, as much as I like it, probably won't print with the same intensity. Inks don't do piercing colors the way monitors do.)                                     

Sean, ready for a hint?

Paul

Yeah, Paul, fire away! Let's see if Jari has some insight on the matter. He tells me he'll have time for it next week.

Cool. Sent. I'm quite looking forward to seeing what he'll do differently. (Did you send him a link to my revised version?)

Paul

I know this is an old post, but this cover is creepy.

Chris