When a book cover doesn't look like a book cover

It should go without saying that I'm a jack-of-all-trades creative (even though I say it ... a lot) and I love getting a chance to flex my graphic design and photoshop skills after I finish a writing project. In this case, I refreshed my 2012 publication (based on a 2006 screenplay) titled "Religiously Roasted Every Goddamn Day".

The third image below is the original book cover I designed in 2012. It worked, but it was never what I had in mind.

The Jesus art in the final design is actually a series of paintings described in the book. As such, I actually created that art -- again -- back in 2012. (There's a version of it in comic-form somewhere called "Who's Your Jesus?" it includes a white Jesus along with the black, green, and yellow Jesus's. Jesusii? Je suis -- oh, hey! It's my blog and I can add whatever I want! Comic: fourth image, below!)

Piecing together the final (2021) design was fun, if not horrifically frustrating. The wide shot (the first image below) is literally a perfect execution of the design I had originally envisioned ...

If not for the fact that it doesn't look ANYTHING like a book cover.

So I played around with the layout and typography. I came up with a variation of the middle shot (centered, closeup on the coffee cup) but it still wasn't sitting well.

How can a book cover not look like a book cover?!

I'll admit that seeing all the artwork laid out like this, if I added the right typography to the comic strip artwork, that would be the most book-ish design of the bunch. Who knows? Maybe when I revise the book again in 2029!

The moral of the story? (What?! Morals? GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THAT SHIT!)

Stop sweating the small stuff and embrace what you like.

(Although, honestly, I do find myself partial to the wider shot.)

... fuck.

Essential links!

Religiously Roasted on Wattpad! Religiously Roasted on Amazon! Enjoy reading my shit for free? Drop a buck (or three!) in the tip jar!