HazMat: Shaman

As doubtless you've noticed by now, there's a definite tendency towards tilts and other weirdness in my HazMat cover art.

It's on purpose, of course.

Not just because it matches the edginess of the contents. It's because any cover displayed on a newsstand has two important jobs: first, to get the publication noticed, and second, to entice the customer to pick it up. The rest of the magazine only come into play once it's in hand.

Well, true fact: I used a small focus group to see which variant of the cover art worked best. You see only the winners here.

For instance, at left is the cover I did for HazMat volume 6, issue 1. The original photo, right, was taken by Kristy Swanson.

At first, Kristy -- who, by the way, is also HazMat's Art Editor -- was not especially fond of the twisted-bubble effect I chose for her "Shaman" cover. However, in a side-by-side comparison with other, more rectilinear versions, she herself had to agree: it was definitely a better attention grabber.

Case closed.

When you've really got a better way, it sometimes helps if you're able to prove it!