Design a Travel Book Cover (in colour)

I’ve never been to Cuba but imagine that happy-go-lucky, cigar-smoking mamas are sitting on ready-made street scenarios in readiness for tourists to take photos of them in exchange for Caribbean backsheesh. The scenes might well have been set but it still takes a good photographer to capture them well. You’ve taken great care to centralised your subject whilst managing to get both props either side of her to fit snugly into your composition. The cigar between her lips hints that she must be a Cuban lady so your understated title serves to confirm what we’ve suspected. The is a very happy cover that made me smile and eager to visit the photographically obliging people in their colourful country.

This is a strong iconic image representing Myanmar. The leg-rowing fishermen have become one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country formerly known as Burma. Your photo of the native earning his living with his unique way of fishing on Inle Lake is an absolute gem perfectly caught in the golden hour light. The drop shadow typeface beautifully picks up the colour of the tribeman’s traditional orange trousers. All-in-all this is a front cover that makes me want to visit Myanmar to meet and photograph the Intha and the country they inhabit.

There is an innocent naivety about this photo that I really like. It captures the simple delight the Irish people have with their love of their country’s music. Every second pub on every street in Ireland seems to have a live band belting out traditional Irish jigs on their fiddles, squeeze boxes and bodhrans. Your slanted ‘Ireland’ heading in the colours of the national flag is a nice jaunty touch echoing the art painted on the pub wall. The table and chairs work well in the corner and I love the inclusion of the security camera installed to keep a watchful eye over the pub’s drinking patrons.

The United States Of America is such a vast country that it would be impossible to show its diversity in a single photograph. You’ve chosen to illustrate an off-the-beaten-track, abstract landscape far removed from the iconic landmarks one would normally associate with the States. Your gold lettering compliments the Louisiana Bayou’s lush coloured beauty reflected in the Mississippi River Delta’s slow moving swamp. Thank you for sharing your Cajun experience.

I’m always amazed by the photographic capabilities of Apple’s iPhone cameras. Of course, as in this case, it helps if it’s in the hands of a capable photographer. Your wide-angle capture of the multicoloured Nepalese boats look as if they were intentionally positioned by you to fill your Pokhara’s Phewa Lake composition. The delicate ‘Nepal’ typeface hanging in the sky perfectly matches the blue colour found on the wooden boats. The heading subtly finishes off your riotously coloured front cover which certainly floats my boat.

Your image captures the essence of Slovenia in one single photograph. It immediately demonstrates the country’s outstanding beauty by including the snow-capped mountains, the tranquility of the lake and hints of the iconic East European historic architecture. The reflection serves to double the scenic impact with the mirrored church spire pointing towards the great choice of a reflective looking typeface. Centring ‘Slovenia’ at the base of the extended sky was a good decision as it doesn’t interfere with any elements of your sharply taken landscape photograph.

I’ve seen many photographs of the Incan Empire site of Machu Picchu but never from this unique perspective. Leading lines of the brick wall, grass verges and straw-covered shelter neatly lead the eye towards the heritage site now designated one of the new wonders of the world. The inclusion of the grazing llama is an added bonus. You must have been up very early and first on the scene to avoid any tourists in your shot. The size of the Peruvian font is just right, in relation to the rest of the photo, and I like that you’ve used the darkest colour of the landscape’s palette to make the heading stand out against the grey clouded sky.

I marvelled at the equal sharpness and lighting throughout your Greek island landscape so much so that your entry went straight into my top ten. The aerial view of rooftops cascading down the cliff towards the Aegean sea is exemplary. The manmade architecture lines are perfectly offset by nature’s rugged volcanic backdrop. You’ve nicely centred the individual letters of ‘Greece’ stacked (like the buildings) on top of each other. Picking them out in the colours of the national flag echos the colours of the Santorini buildings. The clarity of your photo is explained by the words ‘time capture’ hidden within your list of keywords. I commend you therefore for the time and effort it must have taken to construct your evenly lit cover photo.

I saw another incarnations of this photo before you finally settled on your final front cover. I remember it being wrongly titled with the place name ‘Lofoten’. Wisely you changed the heading to the country’s name as specified in the brief. You did right to persevere with your superbly taken Norwegian snow white landscape with its scattering of red buildings. But, in my opinion, you’ve lost the magnificence of your photo by reducing its size to accommodate an oversized frame.

I imagine you used a tripod in order to capture the milky flow of the Vltava River running through the centre of Prague. Your series of bridges over the Czech capital’s river lead us neatly towards the final section of sun-setting sky. Although not directly in the foreground the emphasis is on the King Charles Bridge crossing to the majestically lit historic part of the town on the left. Your perfectly centred white lettering serves to underline the urban beauty of the city of a hundred spires.