Tips & Tricks to Writing on Wattpad

5 Tips for Covers

5 TIPS FOR COVERS

Someone requested a tip on covers and I figured might as well since I've been designing graphics for a little over a year now... Cover example on the side, and more if you click on the External Link, if you want to see my work. :3

1) Programs

There are a lot of programs for photo-editing, some better than others, some free, some not. I would say Photoshop is the best, but it costs money. GIMP is also a great program, it's free, but you need to download it. Pixlr is a good Internet-based program, that's free. PowerPoint, on Window's computers, can also be used for text. There are also other programs, such as PicMonkey, iPiccy and Photobucket, but those programs can be a bit limited. When you're starting out, I suggest trying a variety of programs, and finding the one that works the best for you.

2) Pictures

There are a lot of websites for pictures. WeHeartIt, DeviantArt, Tumblr, BeautyInEverything, Favim, Google Images, and more. When you're looking for a picture, firstly, of course, make sure it fits the mood of the graphic. Don't use a dark, gloomy picture for a Humor story, and don't use a bright pink, pretty pearls picture for a horror story. Also, try to look for pictures that aren't small. You'll probably have to stretch them to make the graphic, and the quality of the photo won't be as good. It'll probably be blurry. You shouldn't use pictures that are watermarked either.

2.5) When editing, try to keep the picture the same. Like, don't squish it in, or stretch it out, because that probably won't look the best.

3) Fonts

Usually (as in 8.5-9 times out of 10), using only two different fonts is best. One simple, and one cursive. Or just one font. Too many fonts can be distracting, and look unprofessional, as well as make the cover look crowded. I would suggest using only one cursive font. I know it might sound boring like that, but using simple fonts, like Century Gothic, or Times New Roman, can make a cover look a lot cleaner. I also suggest staying away from super blocky fonts (Impact Label for example).

4) Colours

When picking the colour of the font, pick something from the photo you're using. If it's a pastel photo, don't use neon green, or deep blue, unless the photo has a decent chunk of that colour. My suggestion is to, if possible, pick the font colour from the photo, using the colour pick tool.

5) Effects

When it comes to effects... I guess it depends on the cover, but I would say stay away from stuff like prominent borders that distract from the boarder, the fade-y white thing that goes around the cover, cartoon stickers, and stuff like that. If you want to layer on textures, or colour adjustments, go for it, but borders can look tacky and unprofessional.

Hope I didin't offend anyone with this tip, these are just my suggestions. If you're just starting out, don't expect to be perfect. Sorry, but it's true. Just keep practicing. The more covers you make, and the more you look at other people's covers and learn what looks good and what doesn't, the better you get.

Next Tip: Beginnings

~JJ :)