174 Best Book Cover Design Ideas to Inspire Book Writers

Last Updated on April 5, 2023 by DesignerPeople

Many of us have heard of well known and often preached about proverb which says “Never judge a book by its cover”. But when we get into more profound and practical situations, most of us are guilty of judging a book by its cover at first impression. When we visit any bookstore, most of us unconsciously are attracted towards the books which are having intriguing taglines, graphics, quirky titles and overall eye-catchy personality of cover. Beautiful book cover acts as Call To Action as their external aesthetics leads one tempted to even pick up the book and glance over the books once. A book’s cover needs to not only grab the attention of the readers but also be a good expression of the book and its themes. There are many famous books.

GOOD BOOK COVER DESIGN IS VITAL

Book cover plays a crucial part of your marketing effort with the most expressive words, insightful connected in human history. But if your book cover is looking like Photoshop and unrealistic, then no one will ever dare to pick it up.

The book cover design is the most critical factors in a book’s success.

How can an Iconic Book Cover Design increase its sales?

A great book cover design can increase sales by capturing the attention of potential readers and inciting them to take action. A well-designed cover should be eye-catching, inviting, and meaningful, helping to sell the content inside and the entire product. Understanding your target audience and what motivates them is an excellent way to start. Then create covers that reflect those interests while still appealing to a broader range of buyers.

Consider using dummy books as inspiration when creating a cover for your own book or ebook. Use images that are powerful yet minimalistic, making use of typography and colour strategically so that they add emphasis without detracting from the appearance itself. Avoid clichés in favour of more original concepts – after all, you’re trying to stand out among competitors! Finally, ensure that all elements on your finished submission look crisp and cohesive – nothing makes an already difficult job harder than poor formatting or sloppy artistry!

Things You Should Consider Before Designing Your Book Cover

Target audience

Think about how you wrote your narrative for a specific audience; you should use similar principles to your book cover design, as this enables the audience to connect with the work right away. Think about pictures, fonts, and compositions that appeal to your audience. Images relating to the advantages of exercise in a book about personal health and nutrition may draw readers, giving them the impression that they, too, may achieve their goals if they purchase the book.

Style of imagery

The process of selecting an image for your cover can be complicated. Photographic, illustrative, and vector-based are the three most significant types of imagery you can utilise on your cover. Fictional books have more freedom to be creative and expressive, whereas non-fiction books have less room to experiment with images because they tend to be much more literal.

Confident with Message & Tone

As your reader will be more familiar with your book cover than the opening paragraph, this is a fantastic chance to showcase your originality. As the author, you will have a lifelong relationship with the cover, so you should be comfortable with its message and tone.

Style of Font

You must ensure that every little aspect is ideal because your book cover design will combine components that make it the main dish. This is why the typeface you choose is important; in addition to providing information about the genre or subject matter of your book, it also conveys a sense of professionalism that other covers lack. Instead of selecting a typeface that is plain in style and serves merely the functional need of being readable, use one that adds excitement to your cover or enhances its vibe.

Three essential things make people pick a book up:

1.They recognize the author’s name

2.They had the book recommended to them.

3.It is a genre they like, and it’s got an intriguing title, an attractive Book Cover Design and a compelling first page.

Recognition and recommendation aren’t really under your control, so one of the only things you can do that will help sell your book are make sure you have a book cover design that attracts attention.

Now to ensure your book cover is attractive and appealing to readers lets understand its process:

BOOK COVER DESIGN PROCESS

1.START WITH BASICS OF BOOK COVER

Any book will consist of following three elements such as front, back and spine

The front cover will consist of design along with suitable font, colour, content and images. The iconic front covers of these books are etched in our minds, just like their underlying story and characters.

The spine of the book involves the title of the book, author name and logo of your publishing company. Make sure your book spine is striking, cohesive with the design and theme of the cover.

Back cover should include a summary of the book just a paragraph with most engaging points.  If it’s for a nonfiction book, then authors should make a bullet point list of the book’s main features and put that list on the back cover.

Author Bio

One might think as they start reading, “Who’s written this for me?” Readers love to know more about the authors. Use this section to familiarize readers with your persona.

Depending upon the nature of book, there are many printers, other premium options available, including linen hardbacks, thicker paperweights, Matt, foil stamping, varnishing, and embossing. These options add a unique value proposition to your design but also increase the cost of each book.

Also Read: 10 Effective Branding Trends 2020

2.RESEARCH STAGE

Understand what is the type of genres you are offering to readers, analyze country wise what style is preferred and likes by the people as per their regional or national preference. Is it Romance, Thriller, Science Fiction, Religious, Horror or Crime. Depending upon the type, the overall marketing and branding elements will depend on it. The target audience, market, value proposition strategy and positioning statement will be decided in this stage.

If the book is of paperback, then the target market would be premium sector such as airports, salons, restaurants and conference halls many more sophisticated zones. If it is hardcover then preferred in library or book stores.

3.IDENTIFY AND CHOOSE YOUR DESIGN VISION

When an author writes a book, he is having a specific thought process in his mind. Hence the book cover should send a clear message and wrong direction. Such as nonfiction communicates with your brain and fiction speaks to your heart. Novel book covers send an emotional message congruent with the story and nonfiction book covers that are witty and intriguing sell well. Since you have to select your design which you should have a clear idea of what message you want to convey.

There are various beautiful designs, but very few are meaningful and justifiable. Build a Pinterest board of comparable titles with successful covers. Get inspired by other brand work. Visit an authentic bookstore and handle books to get a feeling for the different paper thicknesses and materials.

4.IDENTIFY THE DESIGN NEEDS TO HIGHLIGHT

Each product is sold in the market only if its value proposition and benefits are successfully communicated with the audience. Same way even the book cover should speak for its USP. Is it the author? Prime character? Or the style and personality of book writing? These all factors play a crucial role and depending upon this, the emphasizes are made accordingly.

5.CHOOSE GRAPHICS AND FONTS

Fonts and graphics should be selected based on the content and tone of the cover story. Do not get too creative and out of the box until and unless it is mandatory or else information gets tricky to communicate. Enlight the right mood with your font depending upon the genre romance, a whimsical font for humour, bold and a strong font to create a sense of drama or adventure. Ensure graphics are communicating what the book is intended. Use the visual element to create emotion, anticipation or expectations.

6.OBTAIN FEEDBACK

Getting feedback is easy but getting meaningful feedback is a tough job. Asking any random person will lead to subjective preferences and can end up with many unrealistic suggestions for the changes. There are many covers which got destroyed when the author allows “too many cooks” to alter the design.

Asking experts or from the industry will provide more objective answers. Hence seek feedback from those industry experience along with the general public. An industry expert is more likely to recognize poorly crafted typography. Participate in designer forums; social media platforms can also gain honest feedback.

7.UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS OF THE PRINTER

Ensure sending a large file which will include entire graphic design along with content details. There should have the design of the spine, front,  flaps and back covers.

A lot of printers prefer files such as AI, PDF, EPS, JPG or CDR But others like to have graphic designs in high-quality. There should not be white margin-left, which create an unpleasant view. Since every printing agency and industry standards are different, it is better to first consult your printer before sending the final print file.

If you plan to have individual printing processes such as glossy, embossing and foil stamping, then you consider creating a second detailed document that acts as a guide for where you want the foil to go.

BOOK COVER DESIGN TRENDS 2020

1.BOLD  TYPOGRAPHY

The year 2020 is all about communicating the unique yet strong typography where artwork inspired by handwriting skills or plan to create your creative font family. Bring life to the font so that it can breathe and convey the purpose. The primary role of any font style is to attract the eye-ball of the audience and yet sustain their attention for a while. The emphasis will be given on organic touches to make the print look more lively. Hence, clean typography should be a significant motive focus of any professional designers.

2.ILLUSTRATED DESIGNS

Because of the use of illustration, we can expect to see cool and edgy cover designs. The year 2019 was a year of detailed and dense illustrated designs, but 2020 will engage more towards lighter illustration styles which will help to pop-up designs. The minimalistic yet bold designs are preferred, which will also portray modern art and theme. The approach for low re-emergence of line art and line drawings marry beautiful book cover design with refreshing modern approach.

3.MINIMALISTIC COVER DESIGNS

Graphic designers and the design industry will now focus on creating simple designs that everyone can understand immediately. There are books which have only one colour and image which will provide clarity. The minimalistic design allows you to focus solely on one central element without diverting your attention.

The minimalistic book cover designs will have a lot of white space left on the cover to create a lasting impression. Hence, the designer brings focused attention of the viewer toward one element that depicts the core content or story of the book.

4.HAND-DRAWN LETTERS

Everyone loves handwriting styles as it creates a lot of sense of belongingness and human touch, where the book can actually be used to convey a wide range of emotions and feelings. The child-like writing or drawings looks nostalgic on a children’s book, and same writing could be disturbing or creepy, though, when used on a mystery or suspense cover; hence it should be used smartly.

5.PHOTOGRAPHY

Even when starting with a sharp image, illustration it may lose its impact when combined with the wrong style of photography. But recently, designers have been experimenting when its about presenting photographs.

Image of book cover design will prefer more towards using authentic and real photos instead of stock images. Actual photos will help build a relationship with the readers and viewers and an excellent way to evoke feelings. The intention here is to develop a convincing brand image of the business.

6.USE OF COLLAGE

The college is a very exciting world; hence designers use collage maker to create innovative collages to express their feeling. Collage enhances the covers with a unique and original look.

Collage leads a versatile trend that you can apply to different styles. It provides liberal space which encourages designers to explore more creative possibilities. The designer can now experiment with more combinations of shapes and textures.

7.CLEAN DESIGN

Clean design moves site content to the forefront and helps focus your audience’s attention on what your site says. You want a clean, sophisticated design that features just enough to convey a message and get the attention of the potential buyer.

Make sure the title name, author name and image on the book is clearly visible and stands out. Simple colours, typography, less artwork will increase the reach of the book among the audience. Make sure your font size is easy to understand and highly readable by all the age group people. A great book cover is a combination of strong composition, clear title and subtitles.

8.NEGATIVE SPACE DESIGN

Negative Space act as breathing room for all the design elements on the book cover design. The book covers design should utilize negative space very wisely to illustrate a concept or idea. When used effectively, it will ensure to creatively display the background texture or images by not overlapping or distracting from the text on the cover.

For short titles or author names, white space between the letters can create a panoramic effect. The white-space with a plain background and a single key image tends to work best with non-fiction covers.

9.RETRO TOUCH

The year 2020 will again bring the golden era of the ’70s and 80’s styles of designing. The effect of nostalgia is involved here in such designs. Hence, in 2020, we can expect fonts from the seventies. Along with bold and vibrant colours, we will also see brochure designs created in the elements belonging to the era of the seventies and eighties.

FAQ’s

1.How much does it cost to design a book cover?

Generally, book covers range from 2000 INR to upwards of 15000. For a professional-looking, well-designed book cover you should expect to pay 40000 to 10000 INR.

2.How much time does it take to design a book cover?

It depends upon the vision of the author on an average it requires 10-12 working days.  But for more complex projects it may take up to 20 working days.

 3.How to get the Book Cover Design?

1)DIY

There are websites which will help you design your own book cover with available free templates and tutorials. Various sites are such as Canva, Adobe, Word.

2)Professional Book Cover Design agency

There are numerous professional book cover design agency and marketplace such as Reedsy, Ebook Launch, 99 Designs, Author Packages, 100 covers, Damonza and many more. These are affordable, and few also provide a money-back guarantee.  Trusting experts will help you to get hassle-free and creative book cover designs.

CREATIVE BOOK COVERS FOR INSPIRATION

Best book cover design will always help you to tell your story and convey the tone of your book. It will excite readers into actually opening up the book and reading.

Let’s look and learn from fascinating book cover designs for Inspiration.

Author: Priyanka Thakkar

Passionate, adventurous and my never-ending learning approach lead me towards the world of content writing after working years in core marketing profile. My experience of working in world-famous MNC motivated me to understand the niche requirement of strategic words to communicate correctly about brand message towards people. My zeal in an informal way of writing articles allows anyone to enrich their knowledge in the world of branding, packaging and digital marketing. Being an MBA in Marketing and HR, my excellence lies in framing marketing strategies as well as relationship building. Do connect me personally my LinkedIn & I love to share my expertise with you.