Layout/Cover Art on HOH2

[Voltron87]

Ok, this is not about the poker content of the HOH books. It's about the way they were designed/packaged.


The books look like crap. Honestly. You could have a found a better picture to put on the front, and the colors are just drab.

The layout is just abysmal, in my opinion. The typeface sucks, and the headers are awkward. The book should have a bigger area, so they are easier to open and read with the binding. The table graphics don't mesh well with the text on the pages, mostly because the pages aren't quite wide enough.

I would have made the front more modern, chosen a better picture, maybe Dan at the final table with a ton of chips. I would have made the pages wider, and used a darker, thinner paper. I would have made the font smaller and used a different typeface. These books just look crappy. I was in a BN with a friend today and his attitude was "that book looks like [censored], and it doesn't look like it was published by a high quality company". All the two plus two books are poorly designed. The theory of poker is just an ugly book, I'm sorry, and it doesnt represent the 2+2 name well. I know a lot of people will say "well who cares, the advice is the best, etc", but thats not the point. When you run a company/brandname and publish books, you should make them look good and spend some time on this, because it matters more than you think to people who are not hardcore poker pros. I really doubt anyone put much thought into this. Hire someone else next time.

[Mason Malmuth]

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Hire someone else next time.

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Hi Voltron:

I want you to know that we plan to replace David Sklansky ASAP.

Best wishes,
Mason

[ptmusic]

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[ QUOTE ]
Hire someone else next time.

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Hi Voltron:

I want you to know that we plan to replace David Sklansky ASAP.

Best wishes,
Mason

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2+2 books is unquestionably the best poker book publishing company in existence. This is despite the fact that much of what the OP said is true.

To be honest, I don't care about the look much, I'll keep buying the books that are well-reviewed and apply to the games I play. In fact, a book that is a little less slick in the looks department might be better for me: my opponents won't have as much of an edge because they passed over the good books and instead picked up Hellmuth's book.

-ptmusic

p.s. Getting Started in Hold 'Em has a much better look than any 2+2 book I've seen (I haven't seen them all of course).

[Zygote]

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I know a lot of people will say "well who cares, the advice is the best, etc", but thats not the point.

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that is the point. the hoh error thread had merit, but this is treading on ridiculous whinning. i do understand, from a marketing stand point, that better branding may add a few sales, but the difference is relatively insignificant in this case. The main benefit of the cover appeal is the fact that twoplustwo authors are notable gambling authorities, espeacially david, and as long as they put their names on the books, they should be in good shape. Basically, you have heavily exaggerated the importance of the cover in the poker book publishing process and i disagree that more time spent on that aspect will be all that worthwhile.

[Voltron87]

haha, at first I thought you meant "yeah, we'll be redoing the Theory of Poker". i typed the stuff below before I got it.

I don't want to come off as a detractor of 2p2 because I'm not, the content of your books is the best in the business, but I think you generally do yourself injustices when it comes to the design of your book. I think the paper and binding on the HOH books was pretty awkward.


seriously though, think about getting someone else to design the books.

[Voltron87]

well, most of the points i raised do make the book harder to read, which does matter.

I'm saying the 2p2 company, brand name, DS and MM, whatever, do themselves a disservce by putting out great poker content in a shoddy/badly designed book. It does matter. If you want to appeal to people who havent read 2p2 books and for whom DS is not a household name, guess what, the cover matters.

[Zygote]

[ QUOTE ]
well, most of the points i raised do make the book harder to read, which does matter.

I'm saying the 2p2 company, brand name, DS and MM, whatever, do themselves a disservce by putting out great poker content in a shoddy/badly designed book. It does matter. If you want to appeal to people who havent read 2p2 books and for whom DS is not a household name, guess what, the cover matters.

[/ QUOTE ]

don't listen to me. i'm probably biased because i want as few people buying the books as possible.

[ChrisMonkeymaker]

Harrington 2 looks like a Christmas book because of the pure green and pure red colors. You should have let Harrington wear a white beard for the cover.

[theghost]

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You could have a found a better picture to put on the front

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????

IMO this picture is perfect. Harrington looks like some kind of poker alien / devourer of worlds. Step off with this "I wish it was prettier" bs - it looks cool, just not conventional.

[Quad_Damage]

Oh look... another "we're so great we don't have to listen to criticism" post.