Objectives
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Understand the purpose of cover design
Become acquainted with the process of designing a cover
Realize the design needs for a series of covers
Definitions
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Books are multipage publication formats with a substantial
volume of organized and sequenced content, including
reference, children’s, literature, nonfiction, textbooks, limited
edition and fine press, and image-heavy books.
A template is a compositional structure with designated
positions for the visual elements.
Cover Design
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How We Are Hungry: Cover
© John Gall (Daniel Chang, Illustrator)
A cover must grab a reader’s
attention.
 Whether a reader views a
reduced version of a cover
online or in a catalog or
sees it in its actual size
displayed in a bookstore, a
cover must beckon you to
pick it up.
A cover design is both
promotional and editorial, and
should give the reader a sense
of what the book or magazine
is about.
The Process of Designing a Cover
• Once you have generated a design
concept, visualization and composition
are next.
• For cover design, required components
are book title (and subtitle), edition,
author(s), and possibly other elements.
• The cover is a reader’s first experience
with a publication.
 After the initial reaction to a cover
in a bookstore, online, at a
newsstand, or on an eReader, once
the reader starts reading, a new
relationship develops.
 Often, a reader will contemplate
the cover.
8: All True: Unbelievable: Cover
© Nicole Caputo
Integration of Type and Image
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Type and image should work cooperatively to communicate the
subject and design concept, working in a supporting, sympathetic,
or contrasting relationship.
There are four basic routes:
 All-Type
 Type-driven
 Image-driven
 Visual-verbal synergy
City of the Snakes: Cover
© Catherine Casalino (Designer, Illustrator)
Cover Design Checklist
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Attract readers with an attention-grabbing design
Display information in a clear visual hierarchy
Express the essence of the book’s content
Suggest the genre
Differentiate it—make it unique
Consider proportions of trim size when composing
Design the spine for graphic impact and readability
Type and image should work cooperatively
Treat back cover and spine as part of the “whole” design
• The entire cover—including the spine, which is a key
player in a bookstore environment—must be considered
as a whole. Both the front and back can be treated as a
continuous design.
Compositional Modes
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Consider the following structures as points of departure:
 Approximate symmetry: The composition is arranged with
almost exact correspondence on either side of a vertical axis.
 Modular grid: Produces unity and continuity, helps maintain
alignment among graphic elements, and can be rearranged to
create different zones or forms yet still remain unified.
 Major focal point versus multiple focal points: Establish
emphasis in a visual hierarchy with a main focal point.
 Parallel or corresponding movements: Create alignment
through parallel or corresponding arrangements of type,
image, rules, and any or all graphic elements.
Compositional Modes
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Rhythm, pattern, color: An all over pattern and/or
thoughtfully positioned repeats of color can create rhythm
and visual connections.
Divisions: Achieve consonance, a whole composition through
a connecting structure of corresponding parts.
Transparency: Type is positioned over a large image. We read
the type and see the image (almost) simultaneously, where
one complements the other.
Canvas of interesting juxtapositions: Arrange type and image
into interesting juxtapositions, yet respect the principles of
emphasis and visual hierarchy
Compositional Modes
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Corner to corner: Diagonally transverse the surface by a
pulling-like action from opposite corners to achieve active
spatial tension.
Open space: Open areas of the spatial field are active
players in the overall composition.
Illusion of space or movement: Create illusions of spatial
depth or movement in a variety of ways by manipulating the
picture plane.
Fractured or ambiguous space: Graphic space that is
fractured or ambiguous does not reflect how we see the
natural world.
New Covers for Existing Books
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When designing a new edition for a popular existing book,
several factors must be kept in mind:
 Target the audience (current and future readers).
 Design a cover that represents the content as an
enthusiastic and intelligent approach to the book’s topic.
 Make clear to current readers that this edition has new or
revised subject content and illustrations through an
updated cover design.
 Differentiate the cover from the current competition.
 Make the author’s name easy to see and read.
Designing for a Series
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Albert Camus: Cover Series
© John Gall, Art Director; Helen Yentus, Designer
When designing for a
series, corresponding visual
elements and positions will
help people recognize and
identify the books as
belonging together.
 Among the covers or
jackets, there should
be similarities, for
example, method of
visualization,
composition,
placement of the
elements, type
treatments, color, or
use of visuals.
Designing for a Series
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The author’s name, book title, and visuals are usually placed in
the same position on each cover, or there are only slight
variations in position.
A template unites each individual cover within a series so that
the viewer can easily identify and relate each cover to another in
the series.
 A cover can be a “fraternal twin” to the next, with enough
variation to distinguish the individual titles within the series.
 Others allow for greater variation, creating the look of
“cousins” among the covers, where there is some family
resemblance, but they are not as close as fraternal twins.
Joyland Series: Book Covers
© David Gee, Brian Davis, Emily Schultz
(Art Directors)
Summary
•
Books are multipage publication formats with a substantial
volume of organized and sequenced content, including
reference, children’s, literature, nonfiction, textbooks,
limited edition and fine press, and image-heavy books.
•
A cover must grab a reader’s attention and, in visual
shorthand, communicate the book’s substance.
•
Cover design is both promotional and editorial.
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A cover becomes part of the entire reading experience.
•
Four basic cover design routes are all-type, type-driven,
image-driven, and visual-verbal synergy.
Summary
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There are several basic ways of structuring a cover, called
compositional modes.
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There are special considerations when designing a new cover
for an existing book.
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When designing for a series, there should be similarities among
the covers, for example, method of visualization,
composition/template/placement of the elements, type
treatments, color, or use of visuals.
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For a series, often a designer will create a template—a
compositional structure with designated positions for the visual
elements.