Help Guy Kawasaki Pick The Cover For His Next Book

Guy Kawasaki recently asked the creative community at crowdSPRING (70,000 designers and writers from over 175 countries) to help design a new cover for his upcoming book – Enchantment: The Art of Changing Heart, Minds and Actions.

246 designers from around the world submitted a total of 760 designs. Guy has narrowed the choices down to his top 5 favorite designs and is now asking you to help him decide which design to put on the cover of his book.

For those who don’t know Guy, he is a co-founder of Alltop, a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures (an early-stage venture capital firm) and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine.Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy has authored nine books including: Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way.

You can only vote for one design and there is one vote per IP address (you do not need to register to vote). Feel free to leave comments or questions for Guy in the comment section below.

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  • http://twitter.com/marckohlbrugge Marc Köhlbrugge

    My first instinct was to vote for the one with the red ribbon, but then saw it was using a stock photo which probably means Kawasaki won’t have the sole ownership to it and copy cats can freely use it. Just imagine other books with similar book covers and titles showing up…

    I should note I do not know the details, but I suggest Kawasaki (or his publisher) looks into this before making a final decision.

    Looking further, I think the two hands forming the shape of the heart is rather clever, never seen it before. The two hands is symbol often used to represent business relations and the heart tells it’s more than that. I’m not a big fan of the metal background though, it probably won’t work that well in print and feels really cold which doesn’t fit with the graphic. It will stand out in a bookshelf though so that’s a plus. Anyway, I think with some minor adjustments this one would look great.

  • http://twitter.com/LisaMLoeffler Lisa Loeffler

    Guy – I see the 1st book people see currently has the most votes and the last one has the least. You should consider switching up the order as you progress through the voting process to gauge a true reading.

  • @despoticlick

    white books get messy, black books look heavy, the grey one lacks confidence… go with red

  • Blaine Bartel

    The flower cover is the most captivating to the eye. The image clearly delivers the message in the book title. The font type is not my favorite… I would want to play with that a bit.

    Good luck with it Guy… loved “Art of the Start.”

    Blaine

  • http://marahmedia.com/ MarahMedia

    I was going to vote for the first book with the red ribbon and after reading your comment I reconsidered. Great point about the stock photo.

  • marcus

    i vote the red one. very elegant.

  • http://www.marahcreative.com/ marahcreative

    Great point. I voted for the ribbon cover…maybe because I saw it first?

  • http://randelldesign.com/ Randy Dunning

    The hand/heart logo cover is the strongest contender both visually and thematically. The icon is a clearer representation of the book’s content than any of the other images. I also like the strong font for title and author. This design leaps out at you where the other covers are more subtle and will do the best job of grabbing people’s attention on a crowded bookshelf at Borders.

    The blue butterfly cover runs second. It has great color contrast, the red gradient gives the background energy while the butterfly clearly says “metamorphosis” or change, matching up with the subtitle.

    The other three are well conceived but simply aren’t as compelling.

  • Cerise Welter

    Guy, After reading the draft of the book my favorite is the rainbow daisy. It speaks of promise, of love and many things that enchantment offers. Cerise

  • me me

    i assume since it has the most votes you’ll go with the red heart cover –
    my first impression of that cover is the book is about marriage or love relationships

  • http://twitter.com/bcoelho2000 Bruno Coelho

    P.S: I believe that the number of votes should only appear after a client’s vote. Otherwise one can be enchanted by the sheep behaviour…

  • http://twitter.com/bcoelho2000 Bruno Coelho

    My first reaction was also the Red Ribbon design. But then I saw the heart/hands logo. I believe that it has the best mix of beauty, concept and enchantment! The Red Ribbon made an impact on the beauty side but it was limited on the concept side, because it was only focused on the Heart.

    I was also intrigued by the Stockphoto thing…

  • Kathy

    Would love to be on the waiting list!

  • http://twitter.com/marckohlbrugge Marc Köhlbrugge

    I can see what you’re saying about the order of the covers influencing the results. However, I don’t think Kawasaki will base his decision solely on the number of votes anyway. He’ll probably just look through these comments a bit and take our feedback into consideration when making the final decision. The voting is just to get the community engaged I think.

  • http://twitter.com/marckohlbrugge Marc Köhlbrugge

    Just to be absolutely clear: I’m not saying the stock photo is indeed available for anyone to use. Perhaps the designer has paid for the sole rights. I’m just saying if he didn’t, this might be a problem.

  • http://twitter.com/marckohlbrugge Marc Köhlbrugge

    I haven’t read the brief, but yes the heart/hands logo is a very strong image and it seems to fit perfectly.

    I should add I have zero experience with packaging design and what works for a corporate identity might not necessarily work for packaging design. (Although branding is probably a big part of it, at least when selling online.)

  • Longtime Observer

    All of these are competent, but none of them go “zing” on the heartstrings, IMO.

  • http://twitter.com/Webconomist Giles Crouch

    I rather like the more simple approach of the ribbon and red/white…more “zen” and less complex. Gets the message across faster and is clean.

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  • em

    I am still sooo bummed I did not get to submit my entry. :0( ( http://www.emilyalbinski.com/enchantment_concept_albinski.jpg )

    I guess though, of the ones that made it, my fave is the multi colored flower one. I really like the type and design of the top left best, but conceptually when the main graphic is just a heart, it might be misleading as to the subject matter?

  • Rick Huse

    I voted for #1 because it is simple yet delivers the message of possibilities and a feeling that change can occur at any moment.

    #2 looks like an arts & crafts book.
    #3 A fund raiser
    #4 Is my second favorite as it also symbolizes change, but the red background distracts you.
    #5 Reminds me of Ad Libs.

    Good Luck with the book Guy!

  • http://www.urbook.biz Inquiries

    Agree with the choices and comments Mr. Dunning made couple posts back. My first choice is the hand/heart logo cover concept, think it has a slight advantage over the butterfly cover, as the logo style illustration of shaking hands reads business and the heart shape design can imply psychology.

    The butterfly in all cultures is a sign of transformation; all be-it slightly over-used for psychology/metaphysics and not associated much with business.

    Both cover designs will scale nicely without loosing clarity on myriad of current marketing platforms. Another design benefit of both entries, for the actual book cover, is the bold in your face title and author’s name, legible from a distance, providing additional product recognition whether on a friend’s coffee table, nightstand, airport gift store or a traditional bookstore shelf. Enjoyed participating in the process, looking forward to seeing which cover is picked!

  • torrencesalces

    Go for the eyecatching with the colours & enchantment of the water drops/dew/rain also your name is clearer so much easier for those with sight probs.The first one seems more like a medical journal for heart foundation.Just my opinion-torrencesalces

  • Anonymous

    the blue butterfly cover looks elegant and eye catching.
    the color contrast of the blue butterfly and the red background is very enchanting, just like the book title.

  • Mpus04

    wow..that butterfly will catch your eyes instantly.. nice design

  • Gloria Justice

    For whatever reason, Guy, this cover says “enchanting” louder than the others.

  • http://twitter.com/GuyKawasaki Guy Kawasaki

    Don’t assume anything. :-)

    Guy

  • http://twitter.com/GuyKawasaki Guy Kawasaki

    How are you counting 1-2-3-4?

    Thanks,

    Guy

  • http://twitter.com/harishtejwani Harish Tejwani

    What a list – I like butterfly one (BUT – it is reminiscent of original moth-flower design that announced the contest) and I like the “waver-y ribbon with the heart” (- credit to iStockPhoto ;) and intense flower is also great and heart/hand image is also strong in message (minor tweaks to backgrounds).

    Now I have to vote! And did my secret ballot from these 4.

  • http://blog.mycroburst.com/ Christian Logan

    Honestly, the first one seems inspired by the novel Eclipse.

  • http://felixleong.com/ Felix Leong

    Wow! I would definitely vote for you design had you submitted it! It definitely had more soul than the entries listed above.

    I share the same sentiments with you about the top two entries. Actually I’d vote for the multi-coloured flower if the type had been better. The top-left seemed to be like a “safe” design that had a broader appeal but I felt it lacked a bit of punch.

  • http://twitter.com/kkalog Constantinos

    flower power of course!

  • daniel

    d red one.butterfly for bestseller c”,)

  • http://twitter.com/afearnley Andrew Fearnley

    Kinda bummed that a lot of the entries, including my own were not rated. I guess that’s one of the drawbacks of crowd-sourcing. Too many options to go through.

    Anyway, as you didn’t want romantic, cute or frilly, I’d say the ribbon and the flower, and possibly the butterfly are out, however the type treatment on the ribbon design is the strongest. You can pay for extended rights to the istockphoto for 500,000+ copies.

    None of them except the handshake really say anything about business. Your brief didn’t mention whether your audience will be trying to persuade consumers, other business people, or both. If you go with the butterfly, work on the type. It needs proper leading (line spacing) and margins. Right now it’s too close to the edges and you risk losing part of it to the paper guillotine.

  • Asbjorn

    The ribbon heart is beautiful but ignores Guy’s brief on many points: “I don’t want frilly, romantic, cute. … (I want Title capitalization, serial comma, nothing in ALL CAPS.)”

    The butterfly version is the best one of these five. (Though it’s not quite sans romance and cute.:-)

  • openkz

    nice butterfly…

  • vidiasta

    my fave is the red one with blue butterfly, very classy and elegant.

  • http://twitter.com/gilangmahar Gilang Mahardhika

    the blue butterfly in red, wow!
    that is just simply elegant!
    love that cover!

  • Jay

    Thank, Guy, for helping cheapen the design community.

  • http://www.parachute4teens.com Carol

    Only the flower cover is truly enchanting. Others are nice but that cover conveys the message in a picture.

  • http://twitter.com/tomlewek Tom Lewek

    They are all very unprofessional in my opinion.

  • DXinner

    the white one seems inline with the books title…. i like the simplicity provided in that cover

  • guest

    maybe running these through Tineye.com before making a final decision would help.. stock and stolen artwork i’m sure

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GJZMAMBJW4JI3BDGJ66CPN6OWE ichsan scofflaw

    the butterfly very cute :)

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  • em

    toughie. Though I do agree w/ the 3 that are in the top.

    I do like the design/layout of the ribbon one the best. I was unsure about the heart, but I liked Rick Huse’s comment that it suggests enchantment can happen at any moment.

    If you go with the butterfly one, I would suggest giving a little more breathing room around the type. Also, it might be a good idea to have the colors match spot on to the colors on the last cover, reality check. It could be a way to introduce a consistent visual brand, so when the next one comes out, perhaps from a far away a person would see those colors and wonder if that’s a new kawasaki book.

    The flower one is also strong, but I think it would definitely be worth exploring more type treatment options.

  • Rick Huse

    lol, yeah about that… I thought the positions were fixed at the time that I voted.

    Revised explanation:
    I voted for the one with the red ribbon heart because it is simple yet delivers the message of possibilities and a feeling that change can occur at any moment.

    The flower with multi color petals feels like an arts & crafts book.

    The handshake forming a heart feels like a fund raiser.

    The butterfly is my second favorite as it also symbolizes change, but the red background distracts you.

    The last one reminds me of Ad Libs.

    Good Luck with the book Guy!

  • em

    ps – while I think the the heart handshake icon is a smart choice for an icon that relates to the subject matter, I would be careful as it seems this graphic (well ones very similar) have been used for other people/companies.. if you google heart handshake on google images, there are a lot of results… could lead to confusion.

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