Look, in the publishing industry there are conventions. Sometimes called cliches, sometimes called tropes, sometimes called stereotypes, we’ve all grown up with them around us, so it’s not surprising that they pop up in our work now and again.

Is that bad? I don’t think so. Many MANY successful books, movies, TV shows, ad campaigns and songs succeed because they tread a familiar and well loved path. Sometimes the cliche is the right choice.

Certainly as a designer, I occasionally find a rather “classical” cover design is the best for that project or idea. In the interest of  showing people how cliche informs my work I thought I’d refer to this rather great blog post about movie posters and see how my work stacks up. Their list of movie poster cliches begins with:

1. Giant heads over a beach

uh, check:

2. From the Back

Check?

 

3. Big Text on Faces

Check?

4. Back to Back

Yep.

 

5. In Bed

Uh huh.

6. Through the Legs

Ummm…

 

7. Big Eye

Well… do big lips count?

 

8. Blue

Come on…who doesn’t love blue?

9. Running for their Lives

Yeah, guilty

10. Cute Red Dress

Yep.

11. Benches

Hey! Wait a second. I don’t have any benches. I need to get onto that.

12. Graphical Blindfolds

Phew. Yep

 

13. Yellow Indies

Everything is indie with me. And sometimes, it’s yellow.

14. Reflective Glasses

Teehee. Yes.

15. Women Looking Backward

I mean, who HASN’T done one of these?

Apparently when I do it, they’re green. Go figure.

I hope you’ve had fun with this. Go check out the original post for a few more laughs. And know that a groundbreaking and unique cover is what you’re after, I can certainly do that for you too.