[Paper Pills]

I've noticed a few posts on both sides of this so I figured I'd start a thread to get everyone's opinion....

Not including covers where a singular assest is used to span the front, spine and back....what is the general opinion on front to spine to back transitions. Is blending necessary or is it acceptable to use the three parts of a cover as stand alone elements, where distinct colors/patterns etc can be used.

I think more often than not, everyone tries to make seemless transitions unless posters are used for the front, but does that really have to be the case? is there anything wrong with using the fold line as a stopping point?

[Cover Newbie]

I actually thought that the "seemless" covers were more rare than the 3-section covers.

I find nothing wrong with using the fold line as a guide to designing a cover. A set of tv series covers for example could all have the same front/back design and the spines (spanning or not) could be a totally different color/design and still work.

[bazzah]

I have had similar thoughts on this. I have seen comments, where people have critisised the front doesn't blend with the spine. Isn't a cover 3 parts? Front, middle and back. I think this comes from the view we see the covers. When you are looking at the cover on your computer, it's flat, showing as one image. What people seem to forget, is when the cover is in the case, it is in 3 parts. Therefore, I believe, the spine can act as a cut off point, without the need for blending!

[JupiterPrime]

Naturally I prefer the seamless method, however there are times when the sectioned method works better - just a combination of factors...what kind of mood am Iin when thinking about the cover, whats my theme going to be, wold it look better seamless, do I have material that would allow it, if I dont, could I successfully blend in such a way where it would appear seamless...

lots of thing to think about

[bunnydojo]

There's no standard, just look at retail covers (especially older ones from MGM). Sometimes the front image is stretched onto the spine, sometimes the back elements are stretched onto the spine, sometimes they're all completely separate. Hey, sometimes you'll even find that the front image is continued onto the spine except for part of a picture of a person being cloned out (since having just a hand on the spine would look strange). Covers where the back, spine, and front all blend into each other seem to always be loved by people looking at flat previews, but if you actually plan on putting it in a case it's all a matter of what makes each individual part look best.