Where Cover Artists Actually Find Ideas

We come up with new concepts with clients every day, and imagination does run out. These are the three sources I keep coming back to. Useful for designers, and just as useful for artists who want to arrive with something in hand.

— Vladislav Martynov, founder of BangCoverArt

Pinterest

The easiest and cheapest place to start. You will find an enormous amount of work by very good artists there in a few minutes. It is also where an artist can settle the practical questions before ever contacting a designer: the colour direction, the clothes, the background, the pose. Turning up with that already decided speeds everything up and gets you closer to what you actually wanted.

One rule, and it is not negotiable: do not steal an idea one to one. Take the technique and keep your own thing.

Cinema

I go to see well-reviewed films fairly often and keep being surprised by how they are shot. There is a lot to take from the framing and the lighting in a good film, and very little of it has been used on a cover.

Travelling with a camera

I am a committed homebody, but I get dragged out on weekends and holidays — and only recently did I work out that most of my ideas, for artwork and for the business, come out of those trips. Photograph anything that catches your attention and write the thoughts down while you still have them.