Author and traveller Jacqueline Hodder describes the process she went through in choosing a book cover designer (spoiler alert: she used WorkingType Design).
Book Cover Designs, May 2022
Recent Covers
A variety of recent cover designs…
WorkingType Design Samples Online
To view many and varied samples of our cover and book design work, try some of the links below:
Print folio by category: http://workingtype.com.au/index
Book Folio: http://workingtype.myportfolio.com
Full design archive: https://goo.gl/photos/6dzV55fEW6GgGVE59
Reedsy: https://reedsy.com/luke-harris
Recent Design Work and Blog Posts: http://www.workingtype.com.au/blog
Twitter: workingtype
Book Cover Design for September 2021
A few of our recent covers and cover drafts, covering the usual broad range of subject matter. Striving for high contrast and high impact and interesting type combinations.
How to Write a Good Cover Design Brief
The benefit of a good cover design is that it has the potential to turn a curious or potential buyer into a purchaser. For the author, a striking book cover is the most powerful marketing tool which can mean the difference between the success or failure of a book.
Approaching a designer
When considering having a cover design created by a professional graphic artist the author must have a clear idea of what would be the ideal finished product. However, that is not to say that the designer's flair should be constrained. By paying for expertise in graphic design, a certain amount of freedom is granted to the artist to be 'creative'. Constant communication throughout the design process will mean that feedback can be exchanged which should allow for the author to receive a finished cover design that will be fit for purpose and not merely what the designer wanted to produce.
It should be remembered that the role of a 'brief' should be to provide succinct instructions while allowing the designer the freedom to be creative. A creative brief will provide a useful framework in which the designer can work within margins without having creativity compromised. The author should provide guidance only, regular and honest feedback will be the secret to developing a successful cover design. The author must make clear to the designer any information regarding items which 'must' appear in the design.
For the designer to be able to use his creative skills to the full it will be necessary for the author to provide a precis or synopsis of the contents of the book to allow the designer to 'get a feel' for the content and style of the work. The genre and target audience should be discussed to enable the designer to select the correct styles and fonts for the cover. The demographic, gender and age of the target audience should be made clear. If the book is part of a series, the author should provide details of fonts, colour schemes and any famous logos as part of branding already in use. Precise details of sizes, resolutions and file formats should be provided to the designer to allow for continuity in the finished product.
Dealing with technical issues
Throughout the process of designing the cover, it will be important for the author to remain in contact with the designer. At this stage it will be necessary for the size of the cover to be discussed along with its utilization; will it be used as an e-book cover, for a traditional printed book or both. This information will be necessary as the designer will need to know the dimensions and the amount of space there is to work with.
The wise writer will utilize the designer’s expertise, creativity and experience to produce the most appropriate artwork for the book cover. Try not to be too rigid in requirements and give the designer freedom to work without the author indulging in micro-management of the project. There are various colors and fonts which will appeal to the different reader groups and genres. Give any information concerning specifying colors or any preferred fonts. These elements will set the tone of the cover and should reflect the content of the work as close as possible. Constant communication between author and designer can build trust and bring about high-quality results.
By looking at other, similar books already published it will be possible to understand what colour schemes, images and fonts are used on the most successful titles. As previously mentioned, a carefully crafted cover can turn potential purchasers into buyers, particularly in the case of e-books, where the cover is the thing that will, hopefully, attract the interest of potential buyers.
Conclusion
When consulting a graphic designer to provide a cover for a book the designer must be given a complete oversight of what the subject matter and content of the book concerns. This would be achieved in an ideal world by the designer reading the complete text, unfortunately, it is generally impractical. The author should therefore provide a synopsis of the text contained in the book to allow the designer to get 'a feel' for the project.
The author and designer must agree on terms regarding consultation during the development of the cover so that any modifications can be made before the project has advanced too far. There must be a very high level of trust between the two parties if the project is to be a total success. When evaluating the progress of the project, the author should be 'firm but fair' in any criticism of the work provided by the designer. Conversely, when the work is considered to be of a high standard and entirely acceptable to the author, praise should be forthcoming and positive feedback given regarding working with the designer.
Providing the designer with an accurate precis of the subject matter, offering support and assistance during the process and allowing the designer to 'do his job' will result in a final cover which will be a huge asset. The promotion and ultimate sales of the book will benefit and it will be a useful addition to the portfolio of the designer. This will be a win-win situation for all concerned.
Author Bio: Kieran Fallon is the owner of a Dublin Graphic Design Agency Éire Graphic Design. We are here to help your organisation become more memorable through designing striking logos, eye-grabbing flyers, posters that pop, exciting animated emails and dynamic lightweight digital advertising campaigns – always backed by flexible and insightful support.
The Sentinel book cover design
Jacqueline Hodder’s excellent book The Sentinel is out now. She reports satisfaction with the cover design, which was a very interesting task involving lighthouses and persons in period attire. And who doesn’t like working with louring skies and dramatic storm-torn coastlines? Here is the bliurb for Jacqueline’s book:
“Escaping from a disastrous relationship, Kathleen Devine flees to an isolated lighthouse off the Victorian coastline. Taking up the position of Head Teacher to the lighthouse keepers' children, she is ensnared in the lives of those marooned on the lonely outpost and soon realises no-one can escape their past. When the fearsome Head Lightkeeper, Mr Johannsson forms an unlikely friendship with the daughter of one of the keepers, it threatens to destroy their fragile peace. Can Kathleen find the strength to survive and answer the question that haunts them all: what happened to Isabella and why?”
Available here: https://www.amazon.com/Sentinel-Jacqueline-Hodder/dp/0648899403/
Shore to Shore cover — Exploring the Mornington Peninsula
Recent Cover Design examples
A few recent cover designs, from high fantasy to Australian railway trips…
Four Covers for 2020
A small sample of recently cover drafts for WorkingType clients, featuring the usual interesting diversity of subject matter and tone…
![July Seventeenth cover_front_05[5].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/51dc1c1ee4b0c7a76cdb8427/1583867516955-NAY2PXMY5LXUCFZ76WIJ/July+Seventeenth+cover_front_05%5B5%5D.jpg)
Recent Book Cover Designs
We’ve been busy designing new covers for lovely author and publisher clients, with a very broad range of subjects. Here are a few of them.
A New Series for Peter Ralph
Writer of financial thrillers Peter Ralph is embarking on a new series featuring Josh Kennelly, a character first introduced in Fog City Fraud. The first book, Deadly Bequests is “set in New Orleans and is a scam about the elderly getting fleeced via their wills.”. The second book is The Guardians . Josh “receives a crazy call from a veteran of the Afghanistan war claiming that his father has been kidnapped by a guardian. Reluctantly, Josh gets involved and discovers the guardianship industry where judges, guardians, lawyers, and doctors, look after themselves, but not their wards. The forces that he’s trying to expose are all-powerful. Has he bitten off more than he can chew?”
We designed all three books to have a consistent identity and repeated elements.
Good News with Mal Walden — Book cover
Right in the middle of the Carlton Readings shop window, Mal and his book (Good News) do leap out at one somewhat… stand aside Walter Isaacson and Carole King. Published by Brolga Publishing, cover design by WorkingType.
The Legacy of Douglas Grant — Book Cover
John Ramsland often writes about eminent Aboriginal Australians, and in Douglas Grant he has found a fascinating subject. Survivor of an appalling massacre as a baby, raised by Scottish immigrants, then a volunteer for the Western Front, Grant’s life deserves attention and respect. We let his photograph speak for itself, with a faint background of a World War I battle scene. Published by Brolga Publishing.
Italian Bel Canto — Book Cover
Joseph Talia writes about great singers and their teachers, and the science of singing. We populated the cover of his latest book with luminaries from that world. from Dame Joan Sutherland back to Rossini and Farinelli. And in the background, an amazing piece of art from Rococo master Giovanni Tiepolo. Published by Australian Academic Press.
Sailor to Radio Lineman to CEO to Author — Jim Pratt and His Books
Scottish born James Pratt, the son of a coal miner, is a man from humble beginnings who rose to the top of his chosen profession. At the age of 15 he, (as he describes it), ran away to sea and joined the British Merchant Navy before settling in Australia at the young age of 18.
He worked as a radio lineman in outback Queensland for several years then moved into sales and marketing, then General Management. By the time of his retirement, he had reached the very top of his profession as a Telecommunications Executive.
He held several senior positions, including, Chairman of the globally renowned GSM Association, was the founding CEO of Peoples Telephone Company Limited, a substantial mobile telephone network operator in Hong Kong, (now China Mobile Hong Kong), a former Managing Director with Telstra and the President & CEO of GlobeTrac Inc. He served as a non-executive director on several boards until his retirement.
He honed his writing and communication skills on business reports and strategy papers and had numerous articles published in various global Telecommunications magazines.
Well travelled, he has been to almost 100 countries, meeting some of the most famous and influential people around the globe.
His first stop inside a departures lounge at any airport was always the bookstore where he would purchase a novel, usually an action thriller. He read almost everything by Le Carre, Ludlum, Forsyth, Cussler, Clancy, Harris and many more, most with enjoyment. However, over time, he concluded that he could write more entertaining stories than those he was now buying to read on those long flights and was finding it increasingly hard to find a book he could relax with and enjoy. So, upon retiring, he turned his hand to writing his first novel, Telekom, which he released several years ago with quite some success. He has just released his second novel, The Sleeper Project and had started work on his third, to be called, “Cassidy’s Conflict.”
Author Pat Kelly and her books
Pat Kelly writes well-plotted and thoroughly engaging historical novels populated by believable characters. Although her characters often face great challenges, she maintains a touch of humour and optimism. She is skilled at evoking lost eras and the way people saw the world.
Pat Kelly was born in Glasgow in 1938. When she was just over a year old her father was called up to serve his country and she barely saw him until she was about eight years old.
Perhaps as an escape, in early primary school Pat took to writing stories, which her teacher used to read out to the class.
In her teens and early twenties Pat wrote several books, sent them to publishers with a stamped return envelope, but never received any of them back, so had to retype them to send them to the next publisher. None were ever acknowledged or published.
Eventually, Pat married and was too involved with raising children to have time to write. In 1968 she arrived in SouthAustralia, with four children, as a £10 Pom. After divorcing after over twenty-five years of marriage Pat was contacted by a Manxman, Mike, she had known in her teens. They married and returned to the Isle of Man to live.
After Mike retired, in 1993, they followed the summers with six months in each country. While in the Isle of Man they ran a daffodil farm and were well known on the Island for their roadside stall, with an honesty box, selling daffodils and plants.
In 2014, the travel was becoming too much, so they moved to Australia permanently to live in Lakes Entrance, a beautiful, peaceful little town in Victoria.
When she moved to the Isle of Man, Pat left all her family in Australia. Mikes mother Lou, a wonderful lady took her new daughter in law under her wing and they had great conversations.
Lou had grown up in a tiny village in the West of the Isle of Man. The population of this village was around 20, but when the great war started an internment camp was built which eventually housed around 25,000 ‘enemy aliens’. As Lou told Pat about her childhood and this huge camp looming over her tiny village, Pat realised she was listening to history, a lot of which no one else alive could tell – and that if Lou died, all that history would be lost forever. So she wrote it's all down and turned it into a book called ‘Hedge of Thorns’ that was a great success on the island.
The research for this sparked Pat's interest in Manx history And she then went on to write a second book, ‘Smugglers Urchins’, set in the smuggling era on the island.
Her next foray into Manx history was the famous Laxey water wheel, resulting in ‘Shadow of the Wheel’.
Pat is currently working on a story which finds 14-year-old Manx girl being transported for 7 years for stealing a loaf of bread. She sails with the second fleet in a ship that was nicknamed ‘the floating brothel’.
Ellen Hansa and her novel, Esther's Violin
Cover note: The background image is Ellen’s father’s ex libris, flipped to make the letters semi-abstract forms. Typeface is Mostra Nuova. Body text is Arno Pro.
May it be a camera, a lump of clay or a sheet of paper, Ellen Hansa manages to create a story. At the age of fifteen she tried to start a career as a photo journalist, an impossible task for a young woman in the late 1950’is in war-torn Vienna. She studied photography and with her masters’ degree under her collar, tried again. Having been rejected once more, Ellen spends the next years in photographic studios both in Vienna, Oslo and later in Melbourne.
After her marriage and three children, Ellen tried her luck turning clay into pots. A few years later Stanyers’ Pottery was born and for many years the business flourished.
After her husband’s death Ellen withdrew to her bush block. A writing group in the local Neighbourhood House drew her back into society. She started telling stories again and compiled a number of short stories called “Stories around the Table”. Then she gave herself the big challenge to write and publish a fictional novel, Esther’s Violin.
Her work can be viewed here.
Seedpod, ceramic sculpture by Ellen Hansa
Fatal Path Cover — More Iterations
An update on an earlier post — two more iterations on this cover. Sometimes it is a long and winding road to a final cover…
Three Cover Iterations: Twins, a rifle and a world of pain
Thrillers are an enjoyable design challenge — very bold use of highly condensed type, high contrast, extreme emotions and a certain cinematic touch. The Fatal Path is no exception to this general pattern. Here are three alternate versions of the same cover.