So today’s topic for ABEA is all about aesthetics, both with our books and our blogs! I have to admit this isn’t something I’ve thought about much before, but it’s always good to talk about new things!
The Books:
How often do you judge a book by it’s cover? How often are you surprised by what you find? Do you strategise and make sure every book in your series has the same cover design (as far as you are able to) and type? How important is it for the visual art on the outside of the book to match or coordinate with the literature art on the inside?
I think we’re all guilty of judging books by their covers. That’s not to say that I won’t read a book if it doesn’t have a pretty cover and my final decision on whether I read the book or not comes down to whether I like the sound of the synopsis, but I’ll admit that the cover has a lot to do with whether I’ll pick the book up the shelf or not in the first place. That doesn’t mean that a pretty cover means the story is going to be good, but it sure helps in initially being attracted to a book. However, I don’t necessarily always need the cover to be pretty as such, I just need it to catch my eye and think “oh that’s interesting” because that makes me want to pick up the book and see what’s inside. Cover matching is one of my biggest bug bears! I hate it when a book publisher changes the cover of a series halfway through and then my books don’t match! Or when a book gets made into a movie and you’re stuck with the crappy tie in cover! I definitely think it is important that the cover reflect the inside of the book, the cover is the first indication we have as to what the story is about, and it should reflect the story that the book is telling I feel. I find it weird when the cover seems to be totally unrelated to the story.
The Blog:
Since I’m not self-hosted yet, I have a limited choice of graphics to choose for my blog. The reason I chose the theme I did is that I liked the simplicity of it. I wanted my blog to have a nice, clean, simple look and the theme I picked was perfect for that. It’s probably better that I only have a limited choice of themes though, because I would be rubbish at doing graphics! I wouldn’t even know where to start. It took me a while to figure out the layout of my blog, for the first few months it was a bit confused, but once I figured out how do a drop down menu and all the different tags for the different areas of my blog, the layout fell more into place. I work hard on trying to make sure that everything is easy to navigate, so I hope that comes across! In terms of what I like on other people’s blogs, aesthetically speaking, I like it when the blog appears to be a reflection of the blogger. That’s what are blogs are after all aren’t they? A reflection of us.
I’d love to hear from all of you! What do you like in terms of book and blog aesthetics? let me know in the comments!
bookloversblog 
I’m exactly the same as you when it comes to book covers. I like all my covers to be matching if possible, and it really annoys me when they’re changed halfway through the series. And while I don’t solely pick up books based on their covers, it has to be interesting enough for me to be attracted to it in the first place.
When it comes to my blog, I’m so fussy about how it looks! It took me MONTHS to decide on a theme, and now that I’ve finally found one I love, I really feel like it reflects the whimsical/fantasy side of me! I spend a lot of time making title images and such, I just love to have everything looking tied together. And hopefully, it’s still easy to navigate!
Glad to find someone who understand the feelings! Yeah I totally agree. It took me a while to confirm my theme as well, I went through a couple before I stuck with this one.
I like this Armchair BEA edition series! It’s really interesting! Wish I could’ve participated this year, but hopefully, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for next year!
When it comes to book covers, I’m a bit of a cover snob. I want it to grab my attention and make me think, “hmmm. I wonder what this is about.” So I can actually pick up the book and look into it. A book cover is pretty judgmental for me. However, it is not the be all and end all if I read it or not. Even if I’ve heard good things about the book or author, I’m likely to pick it up anyways.
In terms of Blogs, what usually throws me off and makes me shy away from them is too flashy of graphics that have a colour combo that is not appealing to the eyes. Another huge turn off for me is having a VERY large font. I do not necessarily need a 16pt font for everything and have the page super wide for the content to be read. I’ve gone through so many themes before and the simple ones usually are really cute and catch my attention as well! I’m fussy and am always trying to improve my sites look, though! I do enjoy your theme, however.
You definitely should, it’s so much fun! Yeah I’m the same way, I need the cover to grab my attention in order for me to pick it up if it’s a book I haven’t heard of before/author I haven’t heard of before. Yeah, I understand that, the same things would put me off too. I agree, I definitely think simpler is better. Thank you! Glad you enjoy it.