Various Graphic Design examples and Testimonials from Authors I have worked with to create their own Custom designed Book Covers:
 |
| Long Snake Moan by author LP Ring |
"Working with Kura is a fantastic experience.
She's extremely organised
throughout the process from helping you hone your cover ideas initially
to the final design production.
She's also excellent at giving you
advice and direction on how to get the best images and which images work
or don't work according to your genre and cover ideas.
She has a very
good eye for images, is very knowledgeable and quick with her responses
at all stages and I was really happy with the quality of both ebook
cover and print cover. She is also very sympathetic to the author's side
of things - perhaps because she's an author herself. I hope to work
with her again in the foreseeable future."
LP RING author of Korean Thriller Long Snake Moan
 |
| "Torn" , author Mary Brock Jones, cover designer Kura Carpenter |
"Kura Carpenter has an uncanny ability to read an
author's mind, and design a cover which best depicts the story and bring
out ideas behind the story.
I enjoyed working with Kura enormously,
every conversation produced a good result, and the finished product is
superb.
Eyecatching, riveting, and evocative! Thanks Kura. Let's get on
with the next one, please. "
- B.Hale (New Zealand)
author of Ice Escape
"Kura did a great job of designing the book cover for
A Necklace of Souls, even giving me coffee to keep me sane and being
patient with my indecision.
Kura understands what designs will sell; in
less than 30 days, e-sales have been steadily positive."
- RL Stedman (New Zealand)
author of A Necklace of Souls
"I engaged Kura's services to design the cover of a guidebook to the
customs, ceremonies and traditions of the City of London in 2014. Kura
quickly identified the image that the guidebook's cover should convey - a
fresh and contemporary look & feel merged with the highest
tradition of the ancient City - reflecting the City's ability to be at
once über modern and yet a glorious proud medieval anachronism.
Kura helped me identify / filter design themes that appealed to me, and
those that did not. I was particularly impressed that Kura was able to
capture the essence of the City, and translate that in to a design that
appealed to me without having previously visited the City of London or
experienced its manifold ancient institutions.
Kura helped me focus on the important elements of the cover design, and
subsequently produced a series of posters and supporting imagery for
promotion of the publication in digital and print form.
Having browsed Kura's portfolio of work, I'm particularly impressed that
the design Kura produced was something unlike much of her other
commissions - showing Kura's ability to capture and convey the essence
of the publication's content no matter the subject.
As I embark on the next edition of the guidebook I'm pleased to engaged
Kura's services once more to refresh and update the cover design in
order to link with the Magna Carta 800 celebrations commencing in the
City of London in the summer of 2015."
- Paul David Jagger (United Kingdom)
author of "The City of London Freeman's Guide"
"Dear Kura,
I am writing to say how delighted I am with the cover you designed
for my book ‘Weekend in Weighton’.
Not only am I very happy with the finished cover I also thoroughly
enjoyed working with you during the creative process. I learned a lot going through your ‘patented’, step-by-step
design journey.
I must also commend your patience, fast turnaround [especially given
the difference in our time zones!] , amazing creative input, attention to
detail and willingness to go the extra mile.
I am extremely happy to recommend you and I look forward to working
with you again.
Thanks again for all your dedication to the ‘WiW’ cause."
- Terry Murphy (United Kingdom)
Author
of “Weekend in Weighton”
"
I have had a fabulous response from
the designer of the cover for A Baltic Affair. The designer, Kura Carpenter,
has captured the spirit of the book beautifully in her artwork. I have no
hesitation in commending her to other authors and to publishers.
Kura is brilliant at capturing the author's ideas and turning them into
something stunningly visual. The PDF she has sent me contains eight variations
on the concept she has created around a map, a sunset over the sea and a ship
under full sail. The colours are breathtaking. the impact is 'pick me up' which
is exactly what you need on a cover. This one definitely demands closer
examination, and once someone picks a book up off a shelf, you are halfway to a
sale. At least that is what a number of marketing experts tell me. I'll believe
them, because I know my own reaction when a cover attracts my attention, if I
like the blurb I read and I like the genre and possible storyline - I'll take
it to the cashier and buy."
- Patrick G Cox (Germany)
Author
of “A Baltic Affair”
"Working
with Kura was brilliant – I had a complicated novel that had completely
stymied me when it came to designing a cover myself, but after bouncing
a few emails back and forth with Kura it was clear that she really got
it.
A couple of days later and she had sent me a set of awesome
concepts, all of which were a different take on the novel, and all of
which would have been perfect.
The final version is going to kick arse,
and the author is over the moon about it (when I showed him the
concepts, his response was "TERRIFIC!!!!!!"). The books stores aren't
going to know what hit them..."
- Stephen Minchin, (NZ)
Publisher, Steampress
Recommendation in reference to "Tropic of
Skorpeo", by Michael Morrissey.
"Working with Kura
is an absolute pleasure! She is multi-talented, scholarly, personable and
possesses a lovely sense of humor. She is also astute and conscientious about
her work and professional relationships with clients.
The first time I worked
with Kura, she assisted me with a redesign of
my book cover for a stage play celebrating the life and writing of Dorothy L.
Sayers. Her approach to the project and the suggestions she made not only
demonstrated a sensitivity to my vision but also mastery of her craft.
I have
just completed my second project with Kura
which was to create a front and back book cover for an animation film script.
Again, I was delighted at her versatility and the ease with which she was able
to accommodate my vision and make wonderful contributions to the work. I look
forward to working with Kura again and I give
her my very highest recommendation. "
- Victoria Nelson (USA)
Scriptwriter
of “Jack Marlin, Private Eye: The Case of the Barbary
Blackbird”
“Kura is clearly and outstanding
designer, but what really sets her apart is her patience and her dedication to
creating the ideal final product. We went through countless revisions and she
readily incorporated all of my feedback and offered her own brilliant ideas. I
can't say enough about how great is was to work with her.”
- Wade Crawford (USA)
Author of Deviants and the Divine
“Kura is a talented designer:
she perfectly understood my concept and since the beginning she demonstrated
great creativity. Kura also dealt with me in a
very professional manner and with remarkable communication skills. I certainly
would work with her again.”
- Giuseppe Tortorici (Dublin, Ireland)
Author of Isemen
“I enjoyed
working with Kura. she is a talented designer;
she nailed the concept perfectly, and she has great communication skills. I
give her five stars!”
- James E Thomas (USA)
Author of Reed Butler's Story
 |
| L is for Sayers, Victoria Nelson |
“I am truly delighted with the results of my
collaboration with Kura! Thank you again Kura for a wonderful design! When I opened that package
today and saw the cover and the colors it literally took my breath away. It is
so beautiful! Thank you again so much for your kind assistance.”
- Victoria
Nelson (USA)
Playwright of L is for Sayers
“Kura is a very talented cover designer and I was
delighted with both her design and her responsiveness in fine-tuning it. Highly
recommended!”
-
Titus Powell (London,
UK)
Author of The Dare Ring
“Kura
made the creation of the cover for my novel ‘A Dark Future’ an easy and
painless process, allowing me to concentrate on the production of the book
itself.
As
the
second book in a series, there were some constraints to the cover
design, and Kura accepted these without concern as she did with any
suggested changes. She regularly gave updates and advice for
improvements to
the design, making the end product better than I could have hoped.
With her technical skill, her eye for design,
understanding of the requirements of a book cover, and her attention to detail,
I would not hesitate to use her again, neither could I recommend her highly
enough to others.”
- Justin Elliot (Dunedin,
NZ)
Author of A Dark Future
