![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A Letter to June Manga
May. 20th, 2010 12:07 amTook a break from crunching deadlines to address a rant long in the making:
Dear June Manga,
Do you do any research on your reading audience besides their gender? Specifically: their age?
I am mainly inquiring about the ridiculously childish cover designs you have for over 75% of your manga. If you were to do an online poll or take a look at the shelves in the bookstores that carry yaoi graphic novels, you will discover that all readers are at least of high school age. The main reason I do not buy your books because I cannot bear to look at the horrible typography on the cover? You should already be designing to appeal to an older crowd anyways as yaoi is usually explicit and reserved for 18 and older. When I buy a book, I place it on my book shelf as a display and what else of a book gets displayed but its cover?
How many 18-year-old women would buy the fluffy pink book you portray as yaoi manga? You're only hurting your own sales in not taking this into account. Have you not seen the original Japanese or Korean covers? Why do you go such lengths to make a totally different look and then FAIL so terribly at it? Are you actually trying to attract 10-year-old readers with the cutesy look?
Also, whoever does the current designs needs to take a course in basic typography and color theory immediately. The Ai no Kusabi titles are a particularly eye-searing example. Way to ruin beautiful cover art. There's also no need to make the font in each series look so drastically different. It's actually gotten to the point where I often have to squint or tilt my head in order to make out titles. Have you never heard of the phrase, "form follows function?" Ask your graphic designers--their intro courses should have covered this.
In conclusion, June Manga, please actually design your covers.
In Brute Honesty,
A Reader Heartily Sick of Garish Covers
The garish covers at which I shudder. I also did send this to them. XD
Dear June Manga,
Do you do any research on your reading audience besides their gender? Specifically: their age?
I am mainly inquiring about the ridiculously childish cover designs you have for over 75% of your manga. If you were to do an online poll or take a look at the shelves in the bookstores that carry yaoi graphic novels, you will discover that all readers are at least of high school age. The main reason I do not buy your books because I cannot bear to look at the horrible typography on the cover? You should already be designing to appeal to an older crowd anyways as yaoi is usually explicit and reserved for 18 and older. When I buy a book, I place it on my book shelf as a display and what else of a book gets displayed but its cover?
How many 18-year-old women would buy the fluffy pink book you portray as yaoi manga? You're only hurting your own sales in not taking this into account. Have you not seen the original Japanese or Korean covers? Why do you go such lengths to make a totally different look and then FAIL so terribly at it? Are you actually trying to attract 10-year-old readers with the cutesy look?
Also, whoever does the current designs needs to take a course in basic typography and color theory immediately. The Ai no Kusabi titles are a particularly eye-searing example. Way to ruin beautiful cover art. There's also no need to make the font in each series look so drastically different. It's actually gotten to the point where I often have to squint or tilt my head in order to make out titles. Have you never heard of the phrase, "form follows function?" Ask your graphic designers--their intro courses should have covered this.
In conclusion, June Manga, please actually design your covers.
In Brute Honesty,
A Reader Heartily Sick of Garish Covers
The garish covers at which I shudder. I also did send this to them. XD