Guest post by Saira Manns of Black Phoenix Publishing Collective.
They say not to judge a book by its cover, but whether we’re book creators or book consumers, we all know that’s the first and most important impression a potential reader has of a new book. Within a second of glimpsing a book’s cover on a shelf full of healthy competition, the reader is either tempted to pick it up, or to pass it by. From this glorious moment of first contact, if it can be made to happen, other promotional efforts come into play and start earning their keep – blurbs, celebrity endorsements, promises of online content or updated features – but first, the reader must be convinced to reach out and take that book in hand: and that’s the job of a well-designed cover.
Because it’s so incredibly vital to a book’s chances of success, book cover design can’t be left to chance. Near enough is not in fact good enough when you consider the vast array of options on the shelf for the potential reader, and it takes the talent, skill and experience of a meticulous mind, broad in scope yet narrow in focus, to design the cover that will capture the attention of just the right person for the book.
Black Phoenix Publishing Collective’s own Saira Manns is the cover designer for our latest debut literary release, romantic novella The Weekend by Suzy England. Aside from her design skills, she’s an experienced project manager, typesetter, editor and proofreader, accustomed to seeing the whole picture of a book’s development through, with a keen eye for detail that we were excited to benefit from. Below, she has put together the most important considerations for designing a successful book cover.
- Author
First things first – who wrote the book? Do they have an existing brand, look and feel, or is it their first novel? What are their expectations of what the cover will look like? Just as the story itself came from the author’s imagination, so too can the seed of the idea for the cover.
Luckily for us, Suzy had some great ideas in mind for the cover of The Weekend and was a great deal of fun to work with. Though this is her first published book, Suzy has a strong presence on Wattpad with multiple novels already proving successful. Her self-designed covers were consistent and on-brand, but for this published version we wanted to work together on a new design to really elevate the title.
The final cover of The Weekend is a refined version of one of Suzy’s original design concepts, which to me made the whole project even more meaningful.
- Audience
Next up is perhaps the most important question – who will be reading the book? What are they searching for? What are they likely to expect from the book off the basis of their impression of the cover?
In the case of The Weekend, we knew that Suzy’s established fan base were predominately women reading romance novels, and so the cover had to immediately convey that genre to them.
2. Colours
A big element of design is colour and colour theory. Just as certain colours can complement or clash with another, so too do we as humans intrinsically associate certain thoughts and feelings to particular colours. Though colour psychology can vary throughout cultures, below are the common associated meanings for our intended audience:
- Blue – calmness, formality, cold
- Green – nature, jealousy, greed
- Red – energy, danger, eroticism
- Yellow – happiness, caution, cowardice
- Orange – joy, pride, heat
- Purple – royalty, mystery, power
- Black – death, evil, formal
- White – innocence, peace, clean
In the case of The Weekend, the cover evokes the emotion of the storyline, combining a soft red with pale blue. It reflects the passion of the romance, as red is a very emotionally intense colour, and is used to stimulate people to make quick decisions (not unlike Clark’s). The blue elicits masculinity and the notions of secrecy but, ultimately, truth. I also love the contrast of warm red reflecting the summertime weather of Vermont with the icy blue of a New York winter, as seen in the novel.
3. Imagery
Symbols, icons, and images also play an important role in the design of a book cover, and can immediately bring to mind an idea of what the story is about.
The heart falling through the hourglass was a suggested concept from the author. It’s a beautiful representation of the time constraints of a single weekend (and of love itself). The original illustration was created by a vector artist on Shutterstock.
4. Fonts
Now it’s time to turn our attention to font. When designing a book cover, it’s essential to think about choosing a typeface that is appropriate to the story and the era in which it’s set. For example, a romantic cursive script would not suit a science fiction novel set in a dystopian future, just as a childish bold font does not lend itself to a murder mystery.
In the case of The Weekend, the serif font of the title is a subtle nod to the novel-inside-the-novel written on a typewriter. We also place the author’s name is in her chosen ‘author font’ in line with her existing branding.
5. Format
And last, but definitely not least, comes consideration of the format of the cover. Will it be in print? E-book only? Or both? What are the file requirements of the printer? What size will the printed book be? Is it to be hardback, paperback… do you need a dust jacket?
The Weekend will be available in both print and digital, and so in this case two versions of the cover were required. The print version of the book is A-format (8.5 x 10.5 inches) paperback, which meant the need to extend the cover design to wrap around the spine and back cover, as well as the inclusion of the blurb, author bio, barcode, and ISBN. In contrast, the e-book simply required the front cover artwork.
So, there you have it! A quick rundown of the cover design process. What do think of the cover of The Weekend? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
You can find out more about Saira at her website or by following her on Twitter and Instagram. The Weekend is available at this link from Black Phoenix Publishing Collective from Amazon and online retailers.
