One of the factors that make a person pick up a book is its cover. Having a well-designed book cover is a must-have for every single published book since this is the first thing that potential readers will see. Sure, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but when it comes to book covers, you have no choice but to design one the best way possible if you are intent on making it a best-seller.
Read through the article to learn how to conceptualize your own book cover design and get inspired by the book cover examples and design ideas that we included in the article. Or work directly on easy-to-use and ready-made book cover templates that you can easily download and edit using Microsoft Publisher.
Grab your target readers’ attention with the use of the following basic but essential book cover elements:
1. Book Title: Incorporating your book title on the cover will enable your readers to easily locate your book in a library or a bookstore that are full of books. It is also one way of making people determine what kind your book is and what they can learn from or take away from it.
2. Name of the Author: Along with the book title should be the name of the author. There are some readers who would only look for the books of a certain author and would not anymore bother with the book titles. Plus, if you are the author, why wouldn’t you want to include your name on your own book?
3. High-Quality Images: Whether you have vector design elements or an actual image, always make sure that the images you incorporate on a book cover design are of high-quality. This is one of the main factors why passersby would pick up a book is because the image printed on it have attracted them and have piqued their curiosity. You may also see business book cover examples.
4. Interesting Typography: Make your typography choice interesting enough. There are also other texts such as the excerpts, synopsis, and reviews from critiques. In this case, make sure you avoid overused fonts such as Times New Roman and Arial and look for fresh and interesting ones that can also reflect what the book is all about.
If you are trying to create a book cover design for the first time, consider the following guidelines that can help you in making even the most basic but effective book cover:
1. Choose the best design software/application: With the convenience that technology has brought into our lives, we might as well make use of it. Before you start with the book cover design process, make sure that you have already decided on a design software or design application where you can conveniently and smoothly create your design.
2. Incorporate the essential book cover elements: To achieve the main purpose of having a book cover in the first place, you should then incorporate all the essential book cover elements into one. Make sure every written element is accurate and every design element is correctly placed. Aside from that, make room for some negative space so your book design would not look too crowded and overwhelming to look at. You may also see children’s book cover examples
3. Proofread and edit accordingly: Before you finalize, you have to proofread and edit your book cover design draft accordingly. As soon as you have incorporated everything you need on your book cover design draft, there might be a possibility that you have committed error such as misplaced punctuations, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes. There might also be some wrong placement of images and other graphic elements that need to be corrected.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about book covers:
Have you ever seen a bookstore selling a book without a book cover? Unless it’s the author or the designer’s intended purpose, a book cover will always be a necessary part of your book. Your book cover serves as the window of your book that potential readers can look into. The book cover completes the entirety of a book—as if the last but most important piece of a puzzle. You may also see photo book cover examples.
Most books sold in the bookstore are often enclosed with a seal that one can only have a basic understanding of what the book is all about through the book cover. Book covers contain images and texts that are already good enough for people to get a grasp of what the book contains.
So, what are you waiting for? Turn your vision and imagination into reality with the use of the templates and examples provided in this article. We hope you can now create a book cover design with the help of the discussions we have here in this article.