Creating an ad for the Worldcon program book. I'm going to be posting on a graphic design forum elsewhere for advice as well, which is why I've got the text below the cut, as I didn't want to write it all out twice.

Short version: working on ad for ConDFW to go in the Worldcon program book (full page this time!), and am soliciting feedback. I want it to stand out from the general run of con ads, but not to look too slick, like a Creation Con.



I am looking for suggestions and ideas for tweaking what I've done for an ad for a literary science fiction convention, or for new directions I hadn't thought of. (The ad itself is due this coming Monday, but if you come across this thread later than Monday, I'll still be interested in opinions.)

Background: I volunteer on staff for a local science fiction convention--"con" in industry parlance--and I am designing an ad that will run in the program book for Worldcon, THE literary science fiction con of the year, which is being held in our state this year, so it's our biggest PR chance before our con.

Our ad will be competing for attention with (1) ads for cons designed like these, which were submitted to our program book this year, and (2) with ads for books and magazines that are designed by graphic artists working for the publishers.

As we are a literary con--focusing on books, rather than on TV, comics, movies, or games--I rather like the ones I did below that resemble a book or magazine cover, but I don't want readers to assume it's an ad for a book and pass it by. I also want it to stand out from other cons' ads...but not look too slick, like it's a for-profit con run by a company instead of a non-profit organization run by fans. (In the con world, there are distinct differences between the two types! The examples I linked above are all fan-run, non-profit cons.)

I sat down and hammered out ten designs of varying quality and this link goes to all ten.

Although the ad itself will be in black & white, the artwork is this great piece from our Artist Guest of Honor, which we have permission to use (and he has supplied a high-res copy, although I can't really zoom in farther than I have below without starting to degrade the quality).

We have a full page (U.S. letter size) for the ad, with full bleed.



PLEASE NOTE: The faint lines that make borders on some of the images are my guides for the bleed and the live area and will NOT appear in the final version.



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