Cover Theory: Putting a Face to it.

Filed by: Darren on November 28, 2007 at 21:03
Filed In: Books, Cover Art

Here's a question for you: do you think it's a good idea, or a bad idea, to have character portraits - specifically clear, distinct faces - on book covers?

My current theory, which I'd welcome your thoughts on, is this:

I think I'm right in saying that readers tend (however consciously or subconsciously) to identify with the main character of the novel they're reading. In doing so - by picturing themselves in that lead role and mentally role-playing their way through the narrative - they increase their sense of identification and association with the book. Which is a Good Thing, yes?

But a face is a very strong indicator of personality and individuality. So if you put a face on a book cover, won't that create the sense of entity and persona for that character that's distinct and removed from that of the reader? And wouldn't that be a psychological obstacle to the identification of the reader with the character, and result in the lessening of the reader's involvement in the novel?

In which case, surely publishers should avoid portraying characters on the covers of their books? Particularly if it's one of the principle p.o.v. characters, and definitely if it's the main, first-person narrator of the story. Otherwise there's a risk that readers won't immerse themselves fully in the narrative, and won't form such a strong associative bond with the series, or with the author's ongoing body of work. Not such a Good Thing.

Or am I reading too much into the idea of automatic reader-as-character association?

I do know it's something that I tend to do. One of the (many) reasons I'm such a big fan of The Dresden Files (covers by Orbit, example to the right reflected throughout the series: no characters in evidence whatsoever) used to be that I just knew I'd look damn good in that duster coat... but when I read the last installment, I just saw the guy from the TV series (which creates an even bigger dissociation problem than a character on a book jacket, for obvious reasons) in my mind's eye. I was no longer reading the adventures of me-as-Harry-Dresden; I was watching a new TV episode in my head, instead.

Then again, not everyone will have the same subjective experience when reading a book as I do, obviously. And anyway, isn't the quality of the prose, the degree to which the descriptive writing evokes the sense of character, far more likely to generate a sense of deep involvement than any image on the cover?

I have to admit that it's been a personal bugbear of mine for years; one I do keep coming back to. And for now I'm still on the side of 'faces on covers = bad'.

But what do you think?

Filed on: November 28, 2007
Filed under: Books, Cover Art
Tagged with: character portraits | Cover Art | cover design |

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6 Responses to 'Cover Theory: Putting a Face to it.'

SMD on November 29th, 2007 7:59 am

Well I'm not published yet, but I can at least offer what I would want if something I wrote were published.
Personally I agree with you. If any cover of mine had to have a character on the cover I'd want it to be very obscure and lacking in detail (such as an intense fantasy scenery using watercolor). I think unless there is a character in the novel that is intentionally very very distinct the cover shouldn't have a detailed view of the main character, if possible. Mostly I think this because a lot of times the art on such covers is terrible and looks amateur...but that's my opinion.

But anywho.
Iain on November 29th, 2007 12:04 pm

Darren,

I really don't like faces and such on the cover, prefering covers that give me an idea of the flavour of the book and its style. Like you I want to imagine what the characters look like.

Regarding media adaptations (I like listening to the wireless - old tech I know but some great adaptations), it gives an extra layer which you may or may not want to filter out. A different issue though really, IMHO.
mhayinde on November 29th, 2007 7:56 pm

I don't like seeing characters on the covers of books at all. Even if I don't necessarily identify with a lead character, I certainly want the freedom to be able to imagine them myself. Part of the joy of reading is creating the world in your own head, and a big aspect of that is imagining the characters. And cover artists are never going to get it exactly right - even if this character matches my idea, it certainly won't match the next reader's!
Having said that, I do sometimes like to see other readers' impressions of characters on websites and so on...
Darren on November 30th, 2007 5:09 pm

Thanks to everyone who's commented so far, and apologies for my own tardy response - had some emergency admin issues to deal with today, unfortunately.

Seems we're generally in agreement so far - scenic and / or atmospheric covers are preferable to a character portrait.

Anyone from the fields of illustration and / or publishing want to add anything at this stage?

And Iain mate, I agree that the whole media adaptation issue is a completely different ball-park. One for another post another day, perhaps...
Fiona on November 30th, 2007 11:07 pm

It doesn't bother me either way - a lot of science fiction novels have a male protagonist so as a female I don't identify with them in that way anyway. What really annoys me is when it is obvious that the artist hasn't really looked at the book, so the covers really don't reflect the setting of the book. When I started reading science fiction in the '70s, a lot of books had covers showing skimpily dressed women for example the Arrow editions of Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Darkover" series. Darkover is supposed to be a cold planet!
Darren on December 1st, 2007 11:00 am

LOL :)

Yeah, it always helps when the artist has read the book. Even getting details like hair colour wrong, especially when the author has described a specific colour for a character's locks - can be particularly annoying.

One artist who does pay close attention to the books he illustrates is Les Edwards (a website client o' mine) who actually took on board feedback from Pern fans when he was drawing the latest McCaffrey cover so he could make sure the dragons he was drawing were properly equine rather than lizard-like.