Let’s take a cozy stroll down the frosty lane of misguided design decisions with If You Believe in Love, a cover that boldly asks the question: what if we made a book jacket entirely out of expired stock photos and hope?
At first glance, this looks like a postcard from a pharmaceutical brochure — possibly titled “Reclaiming Joy After Joint Pain.” Our central couple is locked in a lukewarm embrace, staring off-camera like they just remembered they left the stove on. Their complexions are so brightened and softened, they look like they’ve been spiritually exfoliated. Whatever they’re smiling about, it certainly wasn’t the budget for this cover.
The background? Oh, you mean the digitally duct-taped fantasy cottage that’s hanging out behind them like a badly drawn hallucination. Its proportions are comically off — tiny, oddly hued, and dreamily distant. It floats in a soft blur, which is polite code for “we gave up on blending.”
Now let’s unwrap the title work, shall we? “If You Believe in Love” is presented in a dainty script that’s clearly auditioning for a Hallmark movie but ends up looking like your aunt’s cursive from a Christmas card in 1993. The color choices fade right into the couple’s winter-white parkas, and the line breaks are so awkward they might as well be emotional.
Speaking of emotions — we must mourn the composition. It’s unbalanced, half-faded, and devoid of any real focal point. The snow at the bottom bleeds into the text like someone spilled a peppermint mocha over the design file and hit “flatten.”
To cap it off, Christmas in Angels Glen perches at the top, flanked by holly clip art that screams, “Yes, this was made in Microsoft Word.” The tone is festive but off-brand — like a seasonal sweater with a typo.
In sum, If You Believe in Love is what happens when holiday spirit is outsourced to a clip art depot and trust is placed in a Photoshop filter called “Winter Melt.” It’s bland, it’s baffling, and it absolutely believes in its own design — which is the most romantic part of all.