A book cover design is the visual representation of a book. It’s what readers see when they pick up your book. The first thing they notice is the title and author’s name, but even more important than this is the book’s overall look. Is it inviting and easy to read? Does it match its genre? What mood does it set? These questions come to mind when people see your cover design.
Book covers have come a long way from simply being a picture of an author with their name written in big letters on top. Today, book covers are an art form in themselves! They are used to entice potential readers into picking up your book by creating intrigue through their graphics and layout and showcasing what type of story lies within.
While many people think they know how to create a good-looking book cover design, most don’t realize just how much goes into creating one. Many elements go into making sure that your cover looks professional and appealing so that readers will want to pick up your novel or nonfiction work.
The evolution of book cover design is a long and complex story. Many different factors have influenced its development over the years. Here we’ll look at how the cover has changed over the last couple hundred years, starting with the first mass-produced books in the 1800s and continuing through today’s e-books and digital readers.
1800s: The First Paperbacks
The book covers evolved with the rise of the paperback novel. In 1836, Charles Folsom released The American Printer, a guide for printers on how to use steam-powered presses. Paperbacks didn’t come into existence until almost 100 years later, with the release of Penguin Books in 1935.
The earliest paperbacks were cheap and mass-produced by printing presses. These books had a minimal design since they were intended to be simply functional and affordable. However, as print quality improved, so did the design of book covers.
1900s: Book Cover Art Grows Up
In the 1900s, book cover design was still in its infancy. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that designers started to take a more artistic approach to the covers they created.
The 19th century was a time of great change in western culture. As the Industrial Revolution took hold, many people fled cities for rural areas. This led to a literary movement known as Romanticism, which focused on nature and humanity’s place within it. Artists such as John William Waterhouse painted many works that reflected this interest in nature and human emotion.
Romanticism also led to Gothic Revivalism, which saw artists like Arthur Rackham create macabre illustrations that captured the dark side of human nature. These illustrations were often used on book covers to give readers an idea of what they would find inside before they purchased them from booksellers or libraries.
But it wasn’t until the early 20th century that designers began using artwork as part of their book cover designs; and even then, it was usually just a small illustration at the top edge of the cover instead of an image across the whole front face like we see today.
1920s-1930s: The Era of the Dust Jacket
The 1920s was the beginning of modern book cover design. The dust jacket was introduced and became an important part of marketing a book.
During this period, most books were sold in shops, displayed on shelves or in cases with other books on similar topics. It was important for a book’s cover to catch the eye when it was purchased by someone browsing through the stacks.
The first dust jackets appeared around the turn of the century and were printed on brown paper and glued to the front and back covers of books. These early dust jackets were often quite plain and only protected the actual text pages inside. However, by the 1920s, publishers began using more elaborate designs with illustrations and text.
1940s-1950s: Eye-Catching Cover Illustrations
The 1940s saw the rise of paperback books (also called “pulp fiction”). These were smaller and cheaper than hardcover books which meant a wider audience could purchase them. They also had a more colourful design with eye-catching illustrations on the front cover.
1960s-1970s: Photographic Illustrations
In 1960, Penguin Books replaced their traditional green covers with black ones so they wouldn’t clash with other books in libraries or bookstores. This move sparked a trend among other publishers who wanted their books to stand out from one another in this crowded market. Publishers began using more colourful images on their covers and photographs instead of illustrations. Today, this trend continues, with many authors choosing professional photographs of themselves as their official author photos.
1980s-1990s: Grunge Style Covers
The 1980s and 1990s saw a new trend in book covers from Alpha Book Writers: grunge style. The style was characterized by messy, handwritten typography and abstract artwork. It was an attempt to capture the era’s essence but also reflected a shift in marketing tactics. Instead of trying to sell books based on their content, publishers began using visual cues to attract readers.
The use of grunge typography continued through the 1990s and into the 2000s. It eventually lost its appeal as more slick designs became popular again.
2000s-Present Day
In the 2000s, covers became more and more elaborate. They began to include illustrations and photographs and became much larger in size. Covers began to have multiple layers of text and images to see different layers when you held the book at different angles.
In the 2010s, cover design has become even more complex. You can see this by looking at book covers from major publishing houses. These covers often have several panels on them, with different images and text arranged in various ways. The goal is to create an eye-catching design that will make people want to buy your book.
Conclusion
Looking back, it’s pretty interesting to see how book design has come too. Some changes strike me as unequivocal improvements (I’m looking at you, awkward serif font). Other changes are debatable; many of the more recent covers seem to be stylistically half-baked. But in any case, Book Writing Services are moving towards a wildly untapped medium, and I’m excited to see how designers adapt to the newer challenges in self-publishing.