{"id":"2033","date":"2019-08-21T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T14:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?p=2033"},"modified":"2019-06-21T12:07:49","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T19:07:49","slug":"designing-a-book-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/designing-a-book-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"Which One Won? Designing a book cover about postpartum depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Designing a book cover about a subject like postpartum depression can be tricky. You want to convey the seriousness of the disorder while also inviting readers to open the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One author <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"used PickFu (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/books\/book-covers\/which-cover-do-you-like-best-for-a-book-about-postpartum-depression-K3S8HYYG\" target=\"_blank\">used PickFu<\/a> to create a round-robin tournament with three head-to-head matches to choose the perfect cover for her book about coping with postpartum depression. She tested exclusively from a female audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Option A&#8217;s cover is in black and white with an image of a woman in the middle. But instead of the woman&#8217;s upper body and head, you see a cloud of gray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Option B&#8217;s cover, a soft purple, takes a slightly lighter approach: it features an upside-down pacifier in the center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Option C resembles the cover of a young adult novel with large font reminiscent of handwriting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-a.jpeg\" alt=\"Designing a book cover - Option A\" data-id=\"2034\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=2034\" class=\"wp-image-2034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-a.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-a-200x300.jpeg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-b.jpeg\" alt=\"Designing a book cover - Option B\" data-id=\"2035\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=2035\" class=\"wp-image-2035\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-b.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-b-200x300.jpeg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-c.png\" alt=\"Designing a book cover - Option C\" data-id=\"2036\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=2036\" class=\"wp-image-2036 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-c.png 500w, https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/postpartum-depression-option-c-200x300.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you guess which one won? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:200px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>And the winner is&#8230;Option A! With a score of 61 points, Option A edged Option B&#8217;s 57 and handily beat Option C&#8217;s 32. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s see why Option A attracted the respondents&#8217; admiration the most. <\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"when-designing-a-book-cover-symbolism-matters\">When designing a book cover, symbolism matters<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>With the cloud over the mother&#8217;s head and upper torso, Option A resonated with several respondents. Depression is often described as feeling like you&#8217;re in a fog, and Option A&#8217;s design evokes this feeling well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One respondent put it nicely when she said, &#8220;The cover with the woman and cloud is beautifully sad. It really illustrates how hard depression is.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many respondents who voted for Option A had personally experienced postpartum depression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I like the idea of the head being shown in a cloud, because that&#8217;s how I often felt,&#8221; said one woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another woman wrote that she didn&#8217;t like Option B&#8217;s pacifier on the cover because it made the postpartum depression seem like the baby&#8217;s fault, when really it is more &#8220;[the mother&#8217;s] mind being the enemy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"take-the-topic-seriously\">Take the topic seriously<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Few respondents voted for Option C&#8217;s scrawly cover because it seemed too lighthearted and fun for such a heavy, sad topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;[Option] C makes [postpartum depression] look like a joke, and it&#8217;s not something to joke about,&#8221; said one respondent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, those who did vote for Option C found it more personal than Option A&#8217;s blotted-out woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;At least C isn&#8217;t erasing the woman who is struggling,&#8221; said one respondent. Another added, &#8220;The way [Option C] is handwritten helps make it feel more personal.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, these comments were in the minority. Most respondents felt that Option C&#8217;s bland design and playful font made light of a scary situation. <\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"key-takeaways\">Key takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re designing a book cover about something as gritty and tricky as postpartum depression, make sure you honor the difficulty of the experience in your cover design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Postpartum depression can be terrifying and debilitating for new mothers, and many of the comments supporting Option A&#8217;s gray and cloudy cover came from women who&#8217;d experienced depression themselves. They related to it, and they&#8217;re who the book is for. The cover speaks to their experience of feeling muddled and foggy and unsure of how to relate to their new baby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, it&#8217;s not the baby&#8217;s fault, which is why several respondents disliked the pacifier on Option B&#8217;s cover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On your own cover, be aware of what the symbols you&#8217;ve put there are saying. Think about the cover from several different perspectives, if you can. And most importantly, <em>ask<\/em> for different perspectives. Create your own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/ask\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">PickFu poll<\/a> to determine which cover resonates the most with your intended audience. <\/p>\n","protected":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Designing a book cover about a subject like postpartum depression can be tricky. You want to convey the seriousness of the disorder while also inviting readers to open the book. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":""},"author":"9","featured_media":"2039","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":"","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":"","_editorskit_reading_time":"0","_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":"","_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":["21","15"],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Which One Won? Designing a book cover about postpartum depression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you designing a book cover? One author&#039;s PickFu poll tests three covers about a book on dealing with postpartum depression. 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Can you guess which one won?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/designing-a-book-cover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The PickFu blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickfu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100000373763478\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-21T14:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-21T19:07:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/wow-postpartum-depression.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Ojeda Melchor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lauraomelchor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickfu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Ojeda Melchor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/designing-a-book-cover\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/designing-a-book-cover\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Ojeda Melchor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/#\/schema\/person\/808db59d4354f39626f5e53815e19b48\"},\"headline\":\"Which One Won? 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