[Hidden-tech] Visual brainstorming service?

Marcia Yudkin yudkinyudkin at yahoo.com
Fri Sep 14 18:57:27 EDT 2012


Hi all,

I have a dilemma that I wonder if any design-oriented people on the list can help with.

I have a book cover designer who does great work if I give her a concept to work with.  I am working on a new book that needs a cover and I don't have a good idea of how to illustrate its central idea in a way that avoids cliches.  

So I hired a different cover designer (cheaper) who had a terrific portfolio, thinking that if he created something I liked I could have her flesh it out and I'd pay both and give them both credit.  (I hope there's nothing unethical there, but if so I'm sure someone will let me know about that.)  However, this guy's concepts were all disappointing.  From our ensuing discussion, I learned that what he did was go hunting on Shutterstock, using the most obvious keyword, and chose three images categorized under that keyword and combined each with the book title and byline, in three separate design ideas, to show me.  

Jeez, I could have done that myself!  I was really disappointed.  What I hoped he would do would be to brainstorm ideas and then find stock images and combine or use them in unobvious ways.  In addition, I was appalled at the possibility that I might have ended up using an image on my cover that a million other people had used in much the same way - because it was listed under the core keyword.  Worst of all, when he found I wasn't happy with his concepts, he asked me to tell him what I wanted... which was why I had hired him in the first place, because I didn't have a good visual idea.  (Images are not my strong point.)

So I am wondering if there are designers who offer a service of brainstorming visual ideas that can form the core of something like a book cover, without actually executing the actual cover in detail.  For someone with the right kind of creativity, this is something they could toss off in half an hour, I imagine.  

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Marcia Yudkin
www.yudkin.com
Goshen


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