WNA #3: The book cover
Books are purchased in one of two ways:
Someone recommends a book → we buy it online.
We stumble upon it → pick it up → give the back a once-over → flick through it → decide wether or not to buy.
Number one, the recommendation, is important but boring. It relies purely on the subjective “quality” of what’s written. We recommend books to one another that provoke, inspire, entertain, or otherwise satisfy.
I’m doing my best to provoke, inspire, and satisfy. Time will tell if I succeeded.
Number two is more urgent at the moment. It resembles what marketers like to call a funnel: a sequence that ultimately leads to a sale.
Awareness → Interest → Consideration → Intent → Evaluation → Purchase.
In this sequence, the cover of the book is pivotal. It determines whether or not we notice the book, whether or not we pick it up, and what we expect to find if and when we do.
I wish that writing a “good” book would be enough; that sales would follow automatically; that the funnel didn’t exist. But, as I once wrote myself (as an introduction to Part 2: Clients):
“Some of our work receives instant client approval. But from time to time, we get stuck in feedback loops and endless revisions. In a perfect world, it would all come down to the quality of our work. In reality, it doesn’t. In this part of the book, we will examine the forces and actors responsible for swaying our projects in one direction or the other.”
So, in my attempts to sway the publisher and his sales team, I figured that now is the time to start working on the cover of the book — even though the contents aren’t wrapped up yet. I have to convince them that the book will sell.
Purpose & context
As a designer, I’m tempted to begin the visual design process straight away.
But I shouldn’t.
As I said, the cover of the book plays a role in the sales funnel. It serves a three-fold purpose:
To be noticed (awareness)
To be picked up (interest)
And, in part, to set expectations (consideration)
Awareness and interest are 100% contextual. Strawberries are red because the plants that bear them are green. Evolution, baby🤘. So, lately, I’ve been taking photos of book shelves and shops. Deliberately messy and angled, because nobody browses book shops at 90-degree angles. Stuff like this:
Early conclusions
What this tells me about book covers in this field is:
I’m not alone in trying to grab attention (darn).
Bright colours, especially red and orange, are common.
Probably because bright pink and bright green are harder to print with CMYK
White on black remains a popular choice, too.
The majority of book covers is primarily typographical.
Sans-serif is king.
Illustrative covers immediately look amateurish (to me, at least).
Now, I can’t simply go left where everybody goes right for the sake of standing out. Some attributes are common for a reason. But this (rather basic) analysis does give me some pointers for the cover design:
I will not use a sans-serif font. The statement “We’re Not Artists” warrants a typeface that signals at least a little rebellion. Even though the book is not about design, it will likely find its way to shelves filled with design books. An alternative typeface (maybe blackletter?) will help me stand out.
I will explore viability of bright yellow, blue, purple, or green instead of red and orange — although I must sadly admit that red, white, and black felt kinda right. This will only work if I can print the cover in Pantone colours, though.
I will refrain from illustrations or decorative elements, because I feel the topics covered in the book are, to a degree, timeless, or foundational, even. The cover must reflect this, in part through simplicity.
That’s it for now. I might or might not share early sketches as I go through them. To be honest, I find it hard sharing incomplete work. We’ll see.
Before you go
Thanks to everyone who replied to my previous request. Really helps. Today, I’m asking for input again:
What book cover(s) do you abso-fucking-lutely love?
Tell me by replying, or in the comments. Thanks.