learning as I go

This video deals with the rookie errors on cover designs that can kill sales:

Basically:

1. Don't design for no one (which is what happens when you generically design a bland cover aimed at everyone). I don't think I'm guilty of that. But...
2. The "thumbnail fail": On Amazon, only a thumbnail of your book's cover will be shown before the potential buyer conjures up the desire to zoom in. What happens to your cover's text when everything is scrunched down to thumbnail size? If important elements like the title, subtitle, author, etc. aren't visible, you've got a problem. I might be guilty of this, but that's why I originally chose a heavier font.
3. "Counterfeit clones": This is when one cover design apes another. That's not me. Anyway, design your cover to stand out, not to be a copyright infringement.
4. Typography: Think about hierarchy (what takes highest priority on the page), contrast, kerning, tone, font choice (which I've been getting dinged on). Limit yourself to at most 2 high-quality fonts; match fonts to the tone of your work; prioritize hierarchy and readability; make sure the title dominates.
5. "Composition chaos": textual clutter, misalignment; hierarchy not obvious; busy backgrounds that obscure the text, etc. Do "the squint test": squint, and what are you seeing first? Also, check for balance (centering, appropriate text size, etc.). I think I pass the squint test.
6. In sum: Do a thumbnail test; squint test; do a test print; check for all the faux pas mentioned above.

The presenter says your book on Amazon gets about three seconds of consideration before people decide to move on or to read further and maybe purchase. I wish she had spent more time on the criticisms that I've been receiving re: Do your cover and title convey your content? She also didn't deal with the issue of AI-designed covers, but she did say she has a different video about that. Meanwhile, here's another video on cover design:

I remember reading a section of Stephen R. Donaldson's "gradual interview" (where he took on a slew of reader questions), and at one point, Donaldson remarked that he much preferred some of the later cover designers who stuck to simple, abstract covers instead of the overly specific, almost realistic artwork of famous cover artists like Darrell K. Sweet, who did the early versions of Donaldson's first two Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever among other sci-fi/fantasy books. Compare these two very different cover designs:

Darrell K. Sweet—detailed, fairly realistic

a more abstract design (not sure of the designer's name; this was probably for a British edition)

The second image is what Donaldson says he favors, not Sweet's work. Personally, I grew up with and love Sweet's covers, but maybe I simply lack design sense.

ADDENDUM: I did finally get a specific complaint about the title, and frankly, the more I think about it, the less I like it (the title, I mean, not the complaint). But the titles that are now burbling up in my head—like Text, Image, Criticism—sound too coldly abstract, like Jacques Derrida's Structure, Sign, and Play.