editionsbooqc Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hi there, The Kickstarter for the Coleco book is coming soon and I wanted to ask you which mock up cover you prefer. None of those 3 are final but we need to show something for the campaign. Let me know what you think! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I prefer the Limited Edition cover. Although the other two show items related to Coleco, the actual instantly recognizable aspects of Coleco are way too small. Conversely, the leather component is way too large, generic, and rightly or wrongly leather is not what was memorable about the company. Hope this helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I'm going to be perfectly frank and say that all three look really bad to me. Maybe an alternate idea might be a riff on the famous ColecoVision game box designs. There must be good templates out there for those that could be re-purposed for a more professional looking book cover. Even better, you could get someone with specific experience to design a book cover that looks professional. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I agree with Ikrananka. The cover should proheminently feature the most memorable and recognizable aspects of Coleco: - Coleco Telstar series - Coleco Arcade tabletops (and other electronic games) - ColecoVision / Adam - Cabbage Patch Kids - Starcom and Sectaurs toys - Swimming pool stuff (Mr Turtle in particular) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phattyboombatty Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) I have to agree with the frank comments and say that the fonts are a poor choice, as well as the tentative title. It sounds broken and amateurish. Apologies if this sounds harsh, but I'm schooled in the disciplines of Communication, Journalism, and Advertising, as well as graphic design and layouts. I would be happy to pitch some ideas/offer some assistance if time permits (I have before, and J-F said yes, but it ended there). I prefer the latter Coleco logo (I have a perfect one,vector-drawn), and absolutely no keys. For cover impact, I would suggest using the later-era toys that Coleco was best known for, including Cabbage Patch kids, Telstar, ColecoVision, and perhaps dough-boy pools or their 60s-era hockey tables. The subtitle is not catchy at all. I understand there might be a language barrier, and I would love to iterate to you some idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms that are complex to communicate solely through writing. A few quick suggestions would be something like, "Titans of the Toy Industry" or "A Half Century of American Manufacturing" Edited October 14, 2015 by phattyboombatty 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alekmaul Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 +1 for Ikrananka, as I said previously on FB, don't understand to associate leather with coleco, even if it is in the name (Co...leather...co.... S l'est go, for me, for the last one ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Not a fan of either cover. The first two look like they should be some sort of automobile repair manual, and the last one looks like some old person's photo album. What Ikrananka and Pixelboy said. I agree with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editionsbooqc Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Thank you very much everyone! It helps a lot and I'm glad I asked you before going with one of these! I really like the idea of using the cartridge shape but I'm afraid that it would be misleading. But using other key elements as you mentioned might do the trick. As for the subtitle, I liked this one but I understand how it can be not catchy. My first idea was "The Rise and Fall of Coleco - A North American Industrial Journey" but I found it too long. Thanks again and any suggestion is more than welcome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 How about "The Rise and Demise of Coleco - A Story of Greed, Corruption and Murder" Just kidding, but some sensationalism might help to sell the book 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editionsbooqc Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 You forgot to add sex, sex always sell! More seriously I'm working on a new mock up cover that takes all of your constructive remarks in consideration. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValkerieSilk Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I like the Limited Edition cover a lot... Those were the guys at the helm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Tarzilla Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I'm going to be perfectly frank and say that all three look really bad to me. Maybe an alternate idea might be a riff on the famous ColecoVision game box designs. There must be good templates out there for those that could be re-purposed for a more professional looking book cover. Even better, you could get someone with specific experience to design a book cover that looks professional. I agree with Ikrananka. The cover should proheminently feature the most memorable and recognizable aspects of Coleco: - Coleco Telstar series - Coleco Arcade tabletops (and other electronic games) - ColecoVision / Adam - Cabbage Patch Kids - Starcom and Sectaurs toys - Swimming pool stuff (Mr Turtle in particular) I agree, I don't like any of the three. While the book covers the history of the company prior to video games, I believe your target audience will remember the company from the 70s and 80s toys and video games. Anyone else that remembers the Leather days has probably passed away, sad but true. The cover needs to catch the eye at thumbnail sizes used by Amazon and the like. Maybe the cover should look like the ColecoVision game boxes with the greyish border and black background, should have the yellow starbust in the lower left with the tag line (even just "The Rise and Fall" or the whole phrase) and maybe have an arcing or spiraling timeline collage of some of the things PixelBoy mentioned, but including the Leather era stuff. The collage would be in the area that we would normally expect the arcade machine photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega_SHARK Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Do a line art drawing of a Coleco tabletop game. Have a collage of Coleco products as the fill color. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+pboland Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Honestly, none of those covers work. I would highly suggest the entire cover be a product collage of different Coleco products over the years. This does a couple of things: 1) It lets people know that it is more than just ColecoVision. 2) It's visually grabbing and would look more exciting. Unfortunately, people always say "Never judge a book by its cover", but the truth is people do. I'm sure you guys have enough product images that you could easily make a product collage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editionsbooqc Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Thanks again everyone for your precious advice! We're currently working on something entirely different. We will let you know once it's ready! Probably later today or tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I liked a lot the third one "special edition". But just an idea of cover that would be fun. What do you think about a Cabbage Patch Kids Doll dressed with a Leather suit with a lash hitting a colecovision ? You have all : Toys , Video Games and Leather... on the same cover. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 But just an idea of cover that would be fun. What do you think about a Cabbage Patch Kids Doll dressed with a Leather suit with a lash hitting a colecovision ? Even if it's not used on the book, can someone please do a mock-up of this Seriously though, I think that using the classic ColecoVision advertising slogan "Our Vision is Your Vision" somewhere on the cover with the corresponding line art logo would be essential. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 You forgot to add sex, sex always sell! More seriously I'm working on a new mock up cover that takes all of your constructive remarks in consideration. sex and leather, that'll work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I agree all three are not appealing. I'd definitely have the Colecovision console or games predominately on the cover because that's your selling point, it's not only the history of the company but mainly the console and it's games. That's what people want. Ditch the pic of the old men. Make sure the console or games are viewable for someone skimming web pages or walking by a book shelf. Make it stand out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Who do you think your core audience is going to be? Gamers? Toy collectors? People into business history? I realize that all three of these apply to this book, but my feeling is you should try to focus on who you think will be the biggest audience and have your cover sell primarily to them. If you think it's gamers, ColecoVision should take the prominent real estate on the cover with the other two being a smaller role. Toy collectors then so the same with Cabbage Patch kids. I think at the moment you're trying too hard to appeal to all three at the same time while grabbing nobody's attention. The focus on the cover seems to be lost, and I have to be honest, that also makes me question the content of the book. Really hoping you guys can pull this together and have it be something that really appeals to a lot of people, but IMO you've got a lot of work to do to grab people's attention with the cover. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editionsbooqc Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 ColecoVision and games, got it! I'm really glad I asked you guys! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 In the other hand , i think it really depend what there is in the book. If you consider the colecovision history from 1932 to 1988 , so 56 years, It was a Leather company until 1960 i think , so for 28 years. And they entered in video game only in 1976... so for only 12 years. If the content of the book respect this ratio... people risk to be very disapointed if you put on the cover only video games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 In the other hand , i think it really depend what there is in the book. If you consider the colecovision history from 1932 to 1988 , so 56 years, It was a Leather company until 1960 i think , so for 28 years. And they entered in video game only in 1976... so for only 12 years. If the content of the book respect this ratio... people risk to be very disapointed if you put on the cover only video games. Do you actually think the book will be 2/3 about Coleco's leather-related business? You crack me up, youki... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Seeing as we are a little biased around these parts towards videogames, it's hard to imagine there being much interest in a book detailing the "leather years" besides to give readers a better understanding of how the company got it's start and a quick run through of those 28 years which led-up to the toy years. I do think the picture of the Greenbergs on the cover is very fitting, but it should also include pics of the more successful products that everyone is so familiar with. Good Luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Seeing as we are a little biased around these parts towards videogames, it's hard to imagine there being much interest in a book detailing the "leather years" besides to give readers a better understanding of how the company got it's start and a quick run through of those 28 years which led-up to the toy years. I agree. I think it's important to at least provide that context. In the "CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Color Computer" book I wrote with Boisy Pitre, I purposely put in a relatively long first chapter that covered the history of Tandy (and, in parallel, the development of computers) that went right up to the direct Color Computer pre-cursors (which the following chapter covered). I think if written properly, a Coleco book should provide similar context for the reader, rather than thrusting them directly into the 1970s when they started with videogame stuff. At least that's the Coleco history book I'd prefer to read (albeit with the meat of the (middle) chapters dedicated to the videogame and computer stuff). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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