Pictured is the cover art for Cassandra Clare’s City of Heavenly Fire, the last book in The Mortal Instruments Series. For those who have read the previous novels or have seen the TV series, Shadowhunters, the cover is very telling of what the book will entail.
This series follows the lives of teenage Shadowhunters, mortals who are part angel, whose only purpose is to protect the non-Shadowhunters (Mundanes) from demons. Shadowhunters use runes to protect themselves from the dangers of fighting demons. The runes can be seen on the girls body in the cover art.
The colors here create a very dark and dramatic mood, showing the reader that what’s inside is going to be thrilling and suspenseful. What stands out is the red hair of the main character, Clary, which is a major symbol in the books. In addition to Clary’s red hair, the only other bright color is the orange at the bottom, which is the Heavenly Fire. The light radiating from Clary’s runes shows that there is a lot of energy or power coming from within her. Additionally, the lines created from the light guide the eye in many directions all over the cover, creating graphic movement.
Those who are unfamiliar with the series may not pick up on the other symbolic elements shown. The boy in the background has angel wings, but why then is he in the shadows? The boy pictured, Jonathan, actually has demon blood in his veins and is Clary’s brother. Clary is shown holding a dagger and is turned away from Jonathan, showing that these two probably don’t get along. The colors used to highlight both Jonathan and Clary are extremely symbolic, very yin and yang, showing the good versus evil without having to actually know who the characters are.
There are a few different things going on with the typography on the cover. The fonts used are serif fonts, which are more rigid and sharp than sans serif fonts which are softer and flow easily. The type of font is extremely important, a sans serif font would be inappropriate for the tone of the novel. The titles and the authors name are in bold and are typed larger, showing the importance of the words. Smaller on the cover is a quote from Entertainment Weekly supporting the book. The quote from Entertainment Weekly is in bold to catch the reader’s attention. Additionally, there is a notice that states the book is a New York Times best seller, smaller above the title. These two things are important for the reader to know, but aren’t as important as the title and author.
There is one thing missing from the photo that would be included on the actual book cover. On a physical copy, there would be texture to the cover; the words and anything that looks like light is being emitted are actually raised off the paper to create a 3 dimensional effect. Additionally, the areas that seem to light up are given a “shimmer-effect,” giving a liveliness to the image. The amount of detail given to the cover allows it stand alone as a work of art.
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