It’s a well-known truth that books are judged by their covers. Whether we are searching for books online or visiting bookstores to find a new read, the first thing we notice is the cover. Just by examining it, we can often gauge whether the content might meet our criteria, even before reading the blurb.
A book cover captures the attention of both readers and authors. From the history of “War and Peace” to “Pride and Prejudice,” each cover tells its own story that helps attract readers and invites them into the world of the book. Through this blog, we will assist you in designing a cover for your upcoming book so you can achieve your desired goals.
Step-By-Step Guide to Book Cover Designing
Gather the book cover design inspirations
Before you begin designing the cover for your book, you should gather visual inspirations to help you with an idea to design your cover to get the look and feel.
By gathering the ideas of different book covers of your niche, you will understand your start and the endpoint, and ideas to narrow down what you have to accomplish with the designed covered. Try to collect those inspirations that are close to your theme. After you collect the ideas, examine them and notice some of the patterns similar in each of them. Make a list or keep those in your mind for the next steps.
Outline the main themes of your book
Remember, the book cover highlights the main themes of the content. Plus, the cover should also support the mood of the book. Whether your book is on a serious note or is something funny and relaxing, you need to look for this yourself.
For instance, if your book has a serious talk, design a cover with a serious tone while a fun tale needs a cover that is different in terms of aesthetics. Highlight the themes of your book and keep them on the hook when designing the cover. However, when you are utilizing services like book covers design services or expert book cover designers. Provide them with the synopsis of your book. Let them read it so they can get an idea of the book’s tone and mood.
Take the genre into account
When it comes to designing covers, each genre has a different convention. For instance, what makes to understand that the book you are holding in your hands is a romantic novel? It is the picture of a couple being portrayed on the front cover. The use of dark covers is a hint to crime novels and so on.
To get an idea of what your audience might expect from your cover, check some of the competing books. If you feel that all of them are following a certain style, you can copy that to your design strategy. This will help your readers automatically recognize the genre of your book.
Use visual hierarchy
One of the key book cover designs is visual hierarchy. Your aim should be that when the readers browse through the shelves either physical or online, they should observe the most important part of the cover first.
This varies according to each book. For some, it might be the title of the book, while for others it can be the name of the best-selling author. In general, your hierarchy should place the element and the graphics aligning with each other and then followed by the name of the author. You can also add prizes and endorsements on your cover.
Avoid clutter and keep it simple
Imagine, you are viewing a book online and the cover you see in small size looks like a traffic of images without a clear view of the important things. This shows that clutter covers are the enemy when they are viewed in mini sizes. As online purchasing of books is reaching a peak, covers are usually shrunk down to smaller thumbnails. If you design something with clutter, you are turning away your potential readers.
Choose one focal element for your cover. It can be the title of the book or the image used on the cover. After selecting a focal point, your cover will be emphasized around that point. Make sure that you are leaving enough white space around your main point.
Opt for an appropriate font and color palette
Choosing a typeface for your book cover is a challenging task. It is crucial as it needs to look great when viewed on the full screen and give a feel when viewed with the naked eye. Avoid supper detailed displays or complex typefaces.
The color palette is one of the biggest assets of the book. The right shades will draw the attention of the readers giving them a snapshot of the book’s tone and mood. You can look for services like Children publishers or children’s book publishing. They will guide you in opting for a palette that can attract your readers.
Make your title stand out different
Readers might be looking for the title on your book cover. Try making it visible as it gives a powerful clue to the content of the book. Make sure you choose a font that is readable and stands out differently from the background graphics.
Don’t miss the spine and back cover
With the front cover, we can’t ignore the importance of the back cover. Spines play their role in physical bookstores where people buying the book detect the title through it. Adding it to your book will give it a professional and consistent look.
Design a Book Cover and Increase Its Sales
With the emergence of e-books still the importance of book covers has not been marginalized. The basic principle in designing a book cover is still applicable. Designing a cover that hooks your readers is the key to the success of a book.
Look for the focal point in the cover and leave enough white space surrounding it. Choose a color palette that is attractive yet fulfills the demands of tone and mood of the book. The font should be readable and never ignore adding a back cover. Avoid clutter covers and try keeping it simple.