ad crit-7

For my seventh ad crit, I decided to analyze the cover of a book. The ‘For Dummies’ series is something bright and funny, and I figured something with which almost everyone was familiar with.
At a first glance, most of us recognize the brightly colored cover. The yellow, black and blue cover has become almost an icon in itself to many who read fairly regularly. The very simple ‘cartoon’ illustration is also a familiar face, but let’s takes a look at how the cover is really broken down.
While the book uses very limited colors, it has somewhat the same impact as one of the many cereal boxes we have looked at in the past. Large font, too much font and sporadic placement confuse the eye. I suppose one’s eye is drawn to the large black banner covering the top half of the cover, but then one is quickly confused on where to look next. There are way too many large elements for any kind of flow, and I feel if it weren’t for the immediate recognition of the cover and where to look for the particular subject, you wouldn’t know what was going on!
The cover follows the rule of thirds for the most part, which appears to be one of the only design aspects used correctly. Again, there is too much information being stated on the cover for the placement of it. Rogue blurbs and banners are highlighted with information that could be listed much smaller or in a more concise order that would make the book more attractive. The consultant’s name and title could be included with the cartoon bubble text without loosing any pertinent information. I also feel that the ‘A reference for the rest of Us!’ could be included somewhere under the main title in the black banner-box cleaning up the cover to help it’s haphazard design.