The history and future of book covers: the influence of cover design within the publishing industry.

By   Zoila Marenco 14 min read

Written by Catherine Guden.

 

Most of us have wandered into a bookstore, become captivated by colours, textures and imagery and picked up a book based solely on the cover, without giving too much thought to the story inside. As keen readers, we’re used to analysing an author’s style, influences and intent, but how many of us have spent anything like the same amount of time pondering the genesis of the cover that’s been chosen to represent the book?

The art of creating a successful cover lies in appealing to a target audience in order to sell copies; for designers, it’s a delicate balance between being familiar with cultural and commercial trends and having the artistic vision to craft a cover that is distinctive enough to stand out – as well as authentic to the designers themselves.

To understand the influence of cover designers in the publishing industry today, we need to examine how cover designs have evolved over time and the factors that have impacted their development.

Key Cover Design Periods

According to a history compiled by graphic design agency Graphéine, the first book covers existed solely as protection for sacred texts. Although these early covers were incredibly ornate – often embossed or hand-engraved, and made of ivory and silk with inlaid gems and gold illuminations – the books themselves were considered precious objects and were reserved only for monks or scholars to study. Very few people actually got to appreciate the intricacies of the beautiful cover design.

When the printing revolution began in 1450, significantly speeding up the book production process, ornate covers began to be replaced by leather. Covers were still geared towards protecting the scriptures inside, however, and often had metal clasps to hold the leather together and shield the text from wear.

During the 16th century, books became smaller and more portable, and therefore more accessible. Readers could even purchase the paper text and then choose their own cover design. Depending on their preferences and budgets, they would choose different leathers, embossings and colours.

By 1840, covers were being constructed with cloth instead of leather. With more readers purchasing books for pleasure, the previously functional cloth covers were enhanced to feature embossed or gold illustrations and words to give readers a preview of what was inside. This shifted the entire design practice and opened up new ways for artists to create covers that were both functional and artistic in their own right.

Before long, fully illustrated covers rose to prominence on the front of ‘yellowbacks’ or ‘penny dreadfuls’, precursors to the paperback, which were sold in train stations and on streets. These light little books were constructed entirely out of paper, were cheap to print and sell, and included fully illustrated images.

By the 1920s, fully illustrated paper covers called dust jackets were being placed over cloth-covered hardback books. The dark-blue cover featuring a cityscape and a woman’s crying face on The Great Gatsby is one of the first examples of a book with the fully illustrated jacket that serves to protect the book and reveal elements of the story to appeal to readers.

First edition dust jacket of The Great Gatsby. | Wikimedia Commons

First edition dust jacket of The Great Gatsby. | Wikimedia Commons

Iconic Covers

Any accolade for the greatest-ever cover design would clearly be a matter of great debate, given that trends change over time and different genres favour different styles of art, but there are some perennially popular covers that are easily recognisable and have risen to iconic status, such as those shortlisted by Literary Hub and Book Riot.

Holly Dunn, a freelance cover illustrator, whose work can be found at hollydunndesign.com, believes that an iconic cover emerges when the designer’s vision and the success and popularity of the book converge.

‘These days, for a cover to become iconic it has to be the perfect combination of a book that “goes viral” with a cover that encapsulates it.’

Holly Dunn Cover Designs

Book cover designs by Holly Dunn via https://www.hollydunndesign.com/

An 1894 edition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with a jacket design by Hugh Thomson, marked the first time the novel appeared in fully illustrated covering. The hugely popular design features a golden peacock against a navy background, and continues to be recognisable imagery for both the novel and associated book merch today. Dunn says, ‘When I think of “iconic” covers I think of the original The Great Gatsby or Hugh Thomson’s peacock edition of Pride and Prejudice. These are designs that shape how we see these stories, and the images are synonymous with the book itself. I recently had the opportunity to design an edition of Pride and Prejudice for Wordsworth Classics and took inspiration from the peacock edition when doing so.’

For The Hobbit, the original cover art was done by the author, J. R. R. Tolkien, but this is a rarity since many writers have neither the design skills nor the market knowledge to create successful cover art. It’s the job of the cover designer to create a cover that complements the author’s work and seamlessly communicates the genre and style of the book as well as appealing visually to target readers.

Freelance cover designer Alexandra Allden, who previously worked at HarperCollins and Bonnier Books, always reads the books she is designing in order to get a feel for the writer and their work.

‘For me, inspiration comes from a lot of places for my covers. I always start with reading the book to get a flavour of it and you often find me frantically writing notes.’

Alexandra Allden Cover Designs

Book cover designs by Alexandra Allen. Check out here

Dunn follows this same strategy: ‘The main inspiration always comes from the book itself. I start by reading the text, whether I’m designing a special edition of an already published book or a new manuscript from an indie author. I’ll note down images and symbols that are relevant to the story and brainstorm ways to express the essence of the story visually.’

One modern example of a book cover that is both popular today and predicted to have longevity in the market is Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died. The pastel colours and childlike design create a feeling of nostalgic innocence, whereas the image on the front of Jennette holding an urn provides an opposing sinister vibe that complements the title.

Cover Design in the Present

According to the BBC, we as readers judge books by covers constantly, which is exactly what designers intend us to do. We instinctively translate the images, colour palette and choice of fonts into a decision as to whether the genre and style are likely to be of interest to us. Physical books showcase what we like not only in text but also in design: we collect, display and carry books with us and they become representative of design aesthetics we associate with ourselves.

Allden looks at the intended audience for the book, what they are currently purchasing within the genre, and uses these trends to guide her design process. ‘I always create one wild card idea that might break out of what is happening at that current moment. Sometimes it’s worth the gamble to go for something different.’

Dunn also focuses on the readers and what other books within the genre look like. ‘My main goal is always to be true to the book and to help it get into the hands of readers who will love it. Considering trends is an important part of this, as it plays into how we choose our next read. Through researching comparative covers, the current trends will naturally bleed into my design process. It’s not necessarily something I do consciously, but I do want my covers to look current.’

Cover design changes as new styles emerge and publishing houses discover what booksellers are purchasing. According to Miblart, Novelists Inc. and Book Riot, current covers share several design elements that are being used across genres.

 

The use of symbolic objects, or one object that is connected to a person or plot within the story, has become quite popular. The cover for Rebecca K. Reilly’s Greta & Valdin is one example. Against a simple pink background, the image of a broken mesh bag full of limes draws the potential reader in and encourages them to find out how the image relates to the story inside.

For fantasy books, the covers often include crowns, weapons or fantastical beasts combined with natural elements like flowers or leaves. The palette is usually darker with some pops of colour, while the text uses serif fonts, heavily stylised and often woven into the imagery. Examples from recent years include Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Fire in the Flesh and Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Within the YA and romance genres, vivid colours, white fonts and animated imagery are the current go-to, and the desire to appear youthful has driven the evolution of these covers. Emily Henry’s books, such as People We Meet On Vacationand Happy Place, are popular examples of this trend.

Allden notes that iconic covers tend to inspire a copycat trend. ‘For me, an iconic cover is something that breaks the mould and does something within the genre that is a bit different.’ The bold colours on Happy Place, designed by Holly Ovenden, have ‘completely changed how rom-com is being packaged’.

Meanwhile, horror-esque fiction such as Mona Awad’s Rouge and Ainslie Hogarth’s Motherthing are leaning in to a retro campy style. Blood, roses and sharp-nailed monstrous fingers feature prominently on these kinds of covers, creating a nostalgic eeriness. Dunn says that, in the horror genre, designers are currently focused on ‘merging the horrific and the beautiful’.

Cultural Impact

Cover design can also be heavily influenced by what is happening more broadly around the world. Cultural impact drives designers to create covers that deliver a particular message or elicit an emotional response.

Although Allden rarely creates non-fiction covers anymore, when she did her designs were often ‘reactionary to what was going on in the current climate’. However, she notices now that within millennial culture there has been a deeper desire to experience nature and live more simply, and fiction books have responded to this by focusing on ‘open-water swimming, gardening’ and ‘community-based’ activities.

According to Dunn, a lot of new titles are ‘based on different cultures from around the world which are reflected in the cover designs’. Additionally, with the birth of new subgenres, designers face uncharted territory and are free to dream up new aesthetics that will be associated with these books. Since the pandemic, for example, readers have sought out relaxing stories that have been nicknamed ‘comfort reads’. Dunn is excited about the prospect of creating new designs for these books that have yet to develop ‘their own associated aesthetic’.

AI

Technology has had a significant impact on aesthetics, in terms of both how designers create cover art and how readers consume and share books. AI in particular has challenged the way in which we create and has made it possible for writers to bypass professional designers and produce their own cover art almost instantly, although there is still some way to go before AI can replace the human perspective and vast breadth of knowledge that designers have gained from years of experience within the publishing industry. Allden, like many designers, is not fully comfortable with the use of AI, except to use ‘generative fill to help… make bleed on some covers’. She doesn’t think AI will ever completely replace human creativity. She references the time when publishers were worried that ebooks would eradicate print books, whereas they are now successfully published in tandem. She hopes that AI and designers can work together in the future in this same way.

Some view the use of this technology as unethical since it relies on original art without the consent of – or payment to – the artists who created it. Because of its dependence on this method, nothing AI can create will ever be truly original. Dunn has already tired of generated images that she believes look ‘very digital, overly airbrushed and lifeless’. She reiterates that the way in which AI is currently being used to create cover art is exploitative. ‘I just think most of it is ugly and generic. I maintain that generative AI in its current form is art theft and unethical.’

With ever more books being published and bookstores already being tight on shelf space, it has arguably become even more important for new book covers to stand out as both original and precision-targeted at their market. If AI design becomes prevalent, the thrill of finding a cover that deeply resonates with the reader and truly celebrates the work of the writer may well disappear and our bookshelves will no longer be a collection of standalone art pieces but a smattering of carbon-copied images blurring together.

Social Media

Technology has, however, also impacted the literary world in general and cover design specifically in positive ways. With the birth of TikTok and Instagram and their literature-centred spaces ‘BookTok’ and ‘Bookstagram’, readers, writers and publishers have created accounts dedicated to discussing all things books. The viral circulation that takes place on these social media channels allows new books to be shared instantly. People can receive recommendations from other readers with the same interests rather than just being marketed to by publishers and professional book reviewers for broadsheets and literary publications – if they even read them. Readers can also provide feedback on covers they like and dislike, which can be useful feedback for future designs. Dunn says, ‘There are so many beautiful books being published that it’s very hard to get your book noticed without a great cover. Readers are also more vocal in saying when they don’t like a cover, especially when it’s a special edition of a beloved book.’

Social media has also allowed designers to more easily share and showcase their own work. Allden says Instagram has helped her connect to, collaborate with and learn from other designers, as well as to find work as a freelancer.

Since many book covers are first revealed online, Dunn thinks about how her designs will come across on the screen of a social media page. There is inevitably fierce competition for this instantaneous attention and adjudication, which can ultimately lead to more innovation and creativity. The cover has to be memorable enough that publishers and readers alike will make content surrounding it.

‘It can feel intimidating at times,’ she says, ‘and there’s a lot of pressure to create covers that will not only sell well in bookshops but will also be shareable on social media.’

Personal Aesthetics

As important as it is for readers to be intrigued by a cover design, we must also consider the importance of creative fulfilment for the cover designers themselves. They want to create covers that will satisfy the market as well as their own aesthetic, so finding the right clients who allow them to do both is crucial. Dunn has a distinctive style that she makes known to the publishers and authors who work with her, so there is rarely an issue with how and what she designs. ‘My aesthetic sensibility is always going to come through. Because of this, the two things usually align.’

Dominic Forbes, a freelance graphic designer and art director for Dominic Forbes Design & Art Direction and managing designer for HarperCollins, also strikes the balance between his own aesthetics and the trends within the genre. ‘It’s definitely a balancing act but ultimately I’m a designer, not an artist, so my job is creating something I think looks good that is also fit for purpose.’

The Continued Evolution of Cover Design

As AI becomes more prevalent, Forbes predicts that the design world will revolt and return to ‘hand-made art and illustration’ in order to bring back the quality and originality that makes cover art truly unique.

Dunn still sees the desire from readers to ‘see human-made art on their books (as evidenced by the social media backlash any time a book cover turns out to be AI-generated) just as they’d rather read human-written books’. She does not believe that the use of AI will ever overtake the need for human designers, since the connection between human-created artwork and a reader will ultimately be stronger than anything generated by AI.

As new technologies develop, and our tastes as a society change, cover designs will continue to evolve. Dunn acknowledges that the ‘publishing industry moves a lot slower than in fashion’, so many of the trends we are seeing in 2024 will continue to be relevant in the years to come.

As an independent author, it is crucial to find the right designer to guide and implement the artistic design process in order for your voice to be accurately and beautifully represented on the cover of your book and to stand out among the other titles on the market.

Designers ultimately want their work to come across as genuine and they want to create art that resonates with readers for a long time. As Dunn says, ‘There’s a story behind every design decision. Perhaps that’s a little idealistic, but it’s what I aspire to in my daily practice.’

Dominic Forbes Book Cover Designs

Book cover designs by Dominic Forbes via https://www.dominicforbes.co.uk/

 

 

With special thanks to Catherine Guden for her contributions to research and writing; to Alexandra Allden, Dominic Forbes and Holly Dunn for participating in the Q&A; and to Romilly King for our custom illustration.

Zoila Marenco
Zoila Marenco
Zoila has five years of experience in client management. She transitioned from working in an organisation offering talent management services to a tech startup specialising in behavioural change in teams. Her experience with clients and communities prompted her move to marketing, taking on the role of a community manager to help Whitefox build, expand and oversee online communities.