Design A Book Cover

The creative use of coloured pencils arranged in a circle each pointing towards the title of the book immediately drew my attention. This book about the cultural and social history of colour is so good that I had to check it wasn’t the real book cover. On comparing the two front covers I think this reworked design is a more dynamic and better choice of photograph than the one used for the published book.

Even without seeing the year (as if we could miss it) there is no doubt that this book is about the watchful eye of George Orwell’s Big Brother. The huge red-stencilled year makes good use of the gritty background texture. The limited palette of red, black and white makes this a powerful visual cover. It invites the reader to see what the future holds in an all-visible world long before the introduction of government sanctioned security cameras on every street corner watching our every move.

The use of a plumb line to illustrate ‘Finnigans Wake’ by James Joyce looks like a well-weighted pun in direct contrast to one of the most difficult understood classics in English literature. The cover photo is a nicely balanced still life lit equally from both sides of the plummer - it must have been heck-of-a-job trying to keep it from swinging. Good simple use of legible typography helps make this a stand out front cover of one of the most unread books (along with ‘A Brief History Of Time’ by Stephen Hawking) languishing on people’s bookshelves.

An aerial view of twisted dried spaghetti exploding like a firework out of a black night sky gives this cover its strong visual impact. The choice of the simple hand drawn font carries on the culinary theme resembling letters fashioned out of cooked pasta. I haven’t read this particular cookery book but do have Antonio Carluccioo’s mushroom books so I recognise that this well designed cover would do justice in fronting the Italian chef’s appetising recipes.

Here is a photographer who has an innate knowledge of graphic design. The simple close up photo of a cactus turned on its side to make space for the lettering on top is exemplary. It was a good choice to use an uncomplicated, rounded sans serif font to contrast with the irregularity of the plants prickly thorns. Along with all my top ten choices I can see this professional looking sleeve gracing the shelves of bookshops and homes as well as blending in with other covers on Kindle libraries.

Clever use of a photo purportedly looking over the shoulder of Peter Freuchen the Danish explorer makes this a very convincing autobiographical cover. The huskies pulling the sleigh lead us neatly through the freezing Arctic territory enticing us to pick up the book to learn more about the adventurer’s exploits. The choice of the cold blue italic typeface works well with the slanted lettering enhancing the dog’s movements. My slight gripe is the colour of the author’s name which could have been better solved - still, it’s a remarkably well perceived book jacket.

This is a most disconcerting photo of a crying baby inside a parked pram illustrating the cover of the bestselling horror novel of the sixties. A bit of Photoshop wizardry has been used to great effect to achieve this very eerie design. The marriage of light and bold fonts from the same family sit well on the cover without detracting from or intefering with the superb photograph. The addition of a quote by Truman Capote gives the cover genuine credibility. Some of the book cover entries were so professional looking (like this one) that I appreciated when the metadata was included helping to confirm that it was the photographer’s own work and not a copy of an existing book which sadly happened in a few cases.

The delicately embossed gold typography compliments the featherweight grass moving in the wind on the golden pond. The addition of the red Chinese title gives the design a stamp of Far Eastern authenticity. Written over 2500 years ago the book is a continuing inspiration for those wanting to meditate and learn the Taoist spiritual teachings of the sage Lao Tsu. After the bible this is the most translated book in the world and the front cover manages to subliminally convey the peaceful tranquility of it’s contents.