Lookalikes

Posted on by scott

A common phenomenon in publishing is the “lookalike cover,” which happens when two covers share the same stock photograph (or at least a very similar one).

Here’s an example from the first of my new Midnighters covers:


Note: This lookalike was first spotted by Pop Culture Junkie.

This isn’t such a bad lookalike, because the photos have been cropped, Photoshopped, and used in very different ways. Plus, it’s a fairly normal-looking stock photo.

But the crazier the photo, the more obvious the lookalike. Like this one that was pointed out to me recently (thanks, Eloise). It involves the Australian cover for Peeps and, um, the Bible.

Now what sort of Bible is that, you ask? It’s a coffee-table version with slick magazine-like layouts, that’s supposed to appeal to you slick young things.

As one might expect, The Bible: Illuminated was surrounded by a fairly boring controversy over whether publishers should try to make religious texts “cool” or not. Blah, blah, blah. Some people will like it, others not. For some, the juxtaposition of modern images with ancient texts will be brain-rattling, which is probably a good thing.

But for readers of Peeps, the cognitive dissonance should be especially intense. And that’s the fun part of lookalikes—when the same image works in different ways for two very different books.

Any more lookalikes out there that you guys have found?

Update: And it turns out there are more of these eyeball covers! Check them out on Pop Culture Junkie.

114 thoughts on “Lookalikes”

  2. That is the coolest looking Bible I’ve ever seen.

    I have that cover of Midnighters, along with the matching cover for The Secret Hour. They are my fave Midnighters covers and I really want to get Blue Noon with the new cover soon. I must complete my collection. 😀

    CLICK MY NAME!!! Read my blog. Vote in my poll.

  8. I love that Bible cover! I don’t see anything wrong with making it look cool. When you think about it, the Bible has a lot of juicy stories in it, fratricide, rebellion, and of course the apocalypse. It deserves to look sharp.
    The eye picture kind of looks like the cover for The Host.
    I love the new covers for Midnighters. Very cool. 🙂

  10. actually i was in boreders a few weeks ago and saw that bible and noticed that cover…i thought it looked like the cover of stephenie meyer’s THE HOST as well. not exactly the same picture, but same feel and look. But yea, i did notice its relation to peeps as well! wooo!

  11. I was in B&N the other day and I looked at a book cover and I thought I had seen that book cover before. So I ran around the store and found the other book and they both had the same picture of a girl walking in the snow.

    I also go around counting how many books have certain fonts, like Trajan Pro. And I count how many romance-y fluffy novels have the same curly cursive font. I’m such a graphic design nerd.

  12. Well, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the first pair if you hadn’t pointed it out.

    But, dude, that second picture for the bible?? What are they thinking? And, yeah, to whoever said it kind of looks like the cover of THE HOST.

  13. Yup–the cover of the forthcoming pretty terrific YA novel from Text, The Beginner’s Guide to Living (Feb 09) uses a stock photo very similar to the one used on the cover of Nadia Wheatley’s YA short story collection “Listening to Mondrian”. Same young man, same photo shoot (apparently), slightly different pose. I alerted Text but they weren’t worried, so if they’re not I guess I’m not!

  15. Hm…you could have some funny pranks with that! Personally, it’s all about content, but it is the cover that sells.

  16. I much prefer the use of the eye on the peeps cover. I don’t really see what it has to do with the Bible. But then again, I know nothing about the Bible except that there is a bit about everyone dying and that there is a snake… I still think it is weird that they are trying to make the Bible ‘cool’ though…

  17. thats way koolz, hey was any1 surprised y how much attention the new jk rowling book got, lyk no1 talked about it at all!!! I thot peepl wuld b mor exited about it

  19. Wow! I’m in a computer design class at school and i’ve started noticing all these different things. It’s really funny to see how many things are just copied.

    Kate-la Yeah i noticed that to. The people were 12 when the Harry Potter Books first came out have graduated college now. They were the biggest original fans. They’ve sadly moved on. I just am broke so havn’t gotten it but am really curious to see what it’s like.

  21. What makes me the happiest is seeing Alea (Pop Culture Junkie)’s name up there. She’s seriously awesome for this type of lookalikes thing 😀

  22. No, actually I’m sorry scott-sama, but I’m really unskilled in finding cool things like “lookalikes,” which have never been brought to my attention until now. Weird, though, the covers. 😉

  23. Thank you for linking to me! Lookalikes are so interesting to compare and contrast. I love seeing the same picture used in completely different ways as you said! And also thanks to people like Khy who help me find them! 😀

  24. lookalike covers…..odd, i’d have never noticed

    also that bible looks different, but pretty cool

    ~Aryll-wa

  27. Oooh… The look alike covers are real interesting. I didn’t think that the cover for the Midnighters and the other book look very similar though.

    The idea of snazzing up the bible is certainly pretty cool too. Anyone seen the LolCatz bible? It was actually a little bit easier to comprehend.

  31. New post! What an interesting post! It was the the PEEPS cover that caught my eye when I was in the library. I had to borrow it since it was a nice cover. =D

    I wonder why they like using the eyeballs picture as cover for all those books?

    When I saw The Host by Stephenie Meyer sitting on the shelf of International Bestsellers, I was shocked. I was wondering why on earth my Geography textbook is a bestseller until I saw that the book was actually a novel. Seriously, I still can’t believe how similar the covers are. You can take a look at my Geography textbook cover at http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e6/kagomegirl92/Eyeforgeography001.jpg . :p

  33. it surely snowed last night, but no snow day 2day!!!! darn, well @least……oh crap, i just remembered i have a quiz i forgot r study 4 UGH!!!!!=(

  34. Wow, that is just weird.
    And I just read a post about similar covers somewhere else the other day. The juxtaposition of these is especially odd though.
    I mean….the Bible? Peeps? Huh?

  37. I didn’t notice until last night that Something Rotten by Alan Gratz has an almost identical cover to the whole Dante Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow. My friend (who owns the DV series) pointed it out to me.

    I just finished reading Something Rotten and it is really good. I highly recommend it. It’s based after Hamlet, but waaay more interesting. Ally Carter is doing an online book club, and there’s going to be a chat with her and Alan Gratz on the 30th. Just thought I’d mention it since everyone here is obsessed with reading. 😀

  40. LUCKY!!!!!!Kate-la, i wish i lived where u lived cause we should have had a snow day 2day &the roads were not plowed @all so i m guessing the city thought we were going 2 have a snow day!!!!! i was soooo mad!!!=(

  41. I was at Barnes and Noble and me and my friend found a book about how to use photo shop, and it had the same picture at the newer version of Touching Darkness, too.

    And while we’re on the subject of covers, the original Midnighters ones are so much cooler that the new ones.

  42. finished w/ my homework, but i have dance@ six, in 2 hours!!! friday we r supposed 2 get snow…..i m hoping 4 a snowday=D

  44. I’m BACKKKKKK! I missed coming on here so much! My computer went completely insane and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it! It made me so sad! I’ve missed so much on her, I was like having freaking seperation anxiety!

  46. i would freak 2!!! i would seriously go insane!!!=D
    okay, so on my way home from school 2day i forgot my book, so that means i was forced 2 do something else like look out the window(which i did)…….staring out the window was okay, but that’ not my point, this is: there was a street i just realized (even though i’ve lived in this house 4about 7years) it said Shay ct.(spelled exactally that way, no joke) i was excited cause it was very cool!!!=D

  48. Oh completely. Lol. Yeah, it really sucked. Ha, that’s cool! Sometimes you just have to open your eyes and there’s tons of cool things you’ll find.

  49. very true, i hate it wen im looking 4 smething, and it turns out its been lyk rit in front of me the whole time

  53. Ah, such is life. I just had to take my first 3 finals today…they weren’t so bad though I guess…

  54. I saw this on my ipod touch, but this looks way cooler on an actual computer screen! That’s crazy. I mean, it has to violate some kind of copy-right law or something, don’t you think? I mean, who originally took the picture?

  55. hanna-la: thats a reely good questoin.

    Tally&Zane: we havnt had 2 take finals yet, but they dont look very fun

  56. No, they’re not…I had to take Art, Math, and PE today. They were all really easy, but it’s sooooooooooooooooo boring.

  57. So many different kinds of intense. I love that second look alike one. Is it the same exact photo, just from stock? Perhaps I misunderstood.

  58. Aella, yes, it’s the same exact stock photo.

    On the subject of finals…I probably need to be studying for a couple, but I’d rather do this instead. Hee-hee.

  59. Thats weird. A bible with a large eye…mmm…ill think about that.

    In other news, I have finally made a breakthrough and after 3 hard long months i have finally started my story that i was sure was impossible to start.

  63. ITS SNOWING ITS SOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!
    and Im not sure why someeone one would put that picture on a bible…….mine is red and orange leather…see normal, but a eye thats just wierd

  64. My real name is Branda. Haha.

    I know! I was thrilled! Now all i have to do is continue it.

    It snowed the other day where i live. It was awesome.

  65. wow, u guys posted alot while i was @dance!!! Branda sounds like an interesting name=D my bible is pink& white!! the bible kinda creeps me out a little bit……scary!!!!

  68. wow, thats pretty interesting….. thnks Gia!!!!=D maybe it isn’t so far away, give it a few years then we’ll c what its like…..oooooh!!!;)

  69. bye,bye G2G2 bed(as usual my mom is kicking me off the computer) good night(or morning, or afternoon)=D laytah!!!!

  71. Gia: That would be really sick, except for the whole “female cadaver” part. I don’t know if I could live the rest of my life with a dead person’s face. 😉

  74. I’ve already finished my EOY exams in November, currently in the December holidays. I can’t wait to return to school on the 2nd of Jan. (Yeah, I’m geeky like that – it’s that being away from school for about a month and I have no idea what to do.)

    I’m watching Twilight the movie tomorrow! *squeals*

    Audrey-Sensei: Agreed. Though it was brain-hurting, it actually explained the text better. Srsly! (I can has hard-copeh, pwease?)

  75. Im from Australia, and i have that cover of Peepes, and i love it!! (im a major fan :P) But i think that the same cover for a Vampire love story in which the main characters are always horny, is somewhat ironic to be the cover for a bibel to.. he he he.
    Good spotting though,
    Livvey-la,
    xx

  76. Audrey-Sensi:whats an LOLcats bible?…..is it a bible with cats on it?…….u should show it 2 the Jesus fan club@ my school.=D
    G2G2 school, 2day is our Christmas Carol play!!!!i m pretty excited 4 it, but if i mess up i get a bad grade in the class(i don’t have any lines, but i can’t stand in the wrong spot)bye,bye!!!=D

  79. That’s insane, if I saw a bible like that, I’d be like ‘What kind of religion is this? Peep religion?’ and everyone would look at me like I was crazy.
    I think the girl for Midnighters/Shelter Me is pretty! That’s insane. (blowing my mind)
    *Crosses fingers for snowday tomarrow, while checking out the cat bible(wow) and other look-a-likes*

  81. we have no scool today! which is why im on the computer wasting away the scool hours. i think scool just got out like nine minutes ago tho… hehe.

    we had two hour late starts all the other days.

    i love the snow! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!!! (Justine-la would probably say the opposite. hehe)

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 8)

  82. Trish-la: thnks……sounds cool(the LOLcats bible)
    Jay-wa: there should b a snow day 2morrow& if the news people r lying then there will b problems!!! i will scream if i have school 2morrow!!!!=D

  84. Yesterday our bus ditched, and was like three feet from tipping completely over! We should have had a snow day…I hope We have one Tomorrow! And everyone else does, so they don’t have to go to school!

    Lizzy-wa: School gets boring so close to break! WOO Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Snow Yay!

    (that’s insane that people re-use other people’s book covers…still insane…)

  85. on my way 2 school the roads were not cleared @all, it was soooo retarted that they made us go 2 school, yet didn’t plow the roads!!! i would have been soooo scared if my bus almost tipped over!!!=D

  86. Luckily I Wasn’t on it, Instead I was waiting outside for, like, ever. But we got to go to school late, not late enough to miss first period, but late enough to have clear hallways :P!!

  88. Jay-wa:i carpool w/ neighbors 2school, but about 3 years ago this bus got into a car accident……all the kids got 2 school late, but nobody on the bus was hurt(i think the person in the other car went 2 the hospital tho)
    Random question: what’s your favorite movie??? mine is…..ummm…….Mean Girls=D

  89. hes cute. 😯

    +-+miko kagome+-+: Your geography book is so awesome! And it’s the same cover as The Host! INSANE. (Kenzie-la already said this, and I didn’t realize it. But still, INSANE!)
    insane. insane. insane.

    Tally&Zane
    I’m BACKKKKKK! I missed coming on here so much! My computer went completely insane and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it! It made me so sad! I’ve missed so much on her, I was like having freaking seperation anxiety!

    Her? Does she have a name..?

    I forgot (and now can’t find) who said the old covers of Midnighters were cooler, but they are. HOWEVER, The guy on Blue Noon, is fiiiine. Rawr. And I think the girls are pretty. Kind of like Pretties pretty a weensy bit. And the model on The Secret Hour looks like evil, very Dess like.
    Have a good week/day/month/holiday. (No SCHOOL!!))Hopefully
    :happy:

  90. I can’t pick a favorite movie. In History we were watching Les Miserables, which is good. Man in the Moon is good. Comedy is best though. Mean Girls was like, eye opening.

  91. SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!! SNOW DAY!!!

    Bye! (for real this time..maybe!)
    Ashley-wa: Juno was good, I thought.

  92. yeah, Keri luv’s that movie!!!(every time she likes a movie she gets into this phase where she gets a little ubsessed w/ a movies) 2day in spanish we watched Rudolph in spanish……boring!!!

  94. never saw that b4…..it sounded good tho!!! i want 2 c the boy in striped pajamas!!! the book was very good…..kinda sad tho=D

  97. what game?

    OMG!the bible?!?!?!?!?!?!
    wth????????????

    HHHEEEERRRR EEEEE
    i dont have a name for my computer
    but i do for my reading light(Zoey), my old pencil shapener(beaver-i was in 2nd grade ok????), my radio(Felicity-she brings me happiness), my phone(rebecca-cause my friend rebecca made fun of me for nameing zoey)
    haha

  98. Peeps is the new Bible.

    Does that mean Cal is Christ?

    Calstmus?
    You know, I prefer Christmas, I think.

    (Despite the fact I’m Jewish)

  99. The first two don’t look that much a like (I still like the old Midnighters covers better!), but Peeps and the Bible??

  100. Huh, I forgot who said it, but their right, it is ironic that a sci-fi novel about horny vampires would have the same cover picture as the bible. And the people who were talking about the new J.K. Rowling book, it’s not bad, although in a way it really does dissapoint (I’d been hoping for Harry Potter closure *sigh*). Some person brough up how eyes are ALWAYS on covers, and it’s really true. What’s wrong with a whole face? Or just a disign? I’ve seen so many books with eyes, it’s insane. The new Midnighters covers aren’t bad, I guess I’m just biased because they’re not the ones I have. I still like imagioning the character better though, and the new covers are nothing like how I imagined Jess, Melissa, and Jonathon.

  105. I just saw that Bible today, and did several double takes when I noticed it in the store. It was pretty surreal–I wondered whether I’d gone temporarily insane.

  107. I think it’s good that those two look alike! Very interesting how the same cover can work for two very different things!

  111. Funny thing, which happened a while ago. The day you posted this I go to the mall. I go into waldenbooks and while looking through the clearance section, guess what I find. THAT book, I laughed for ten minutes. I just thought it was really funny. That is now the wallpaper on my phone. 😀

  113. scary. I never knew a Bible’s cover could look like that.The Bible is supposed to have a calm, peaceful, NON-LOOKALIKE cover, not one that matches a scott westerfeld book (no offence, scott [or god]). I REAPEAT: SCARY

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