THE CLIENT.
It will be your job to catch the audience's attention from the beginning - a book cover can make or break a book. The story might be the best literary work of all time, but if readers don't pick the book up in the first place, they will never discover that fact. The cover is what will draw them in. "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? RUBBISH! We all do it, we can't help but do it. The human eye picks up so many images every millisecond. So what will make that particular book stand out from the rest of the visual information that is being sent to the brain? The answer: your design. No pressure, huh?
Your client will have their own opinions on what they want. The reason they come to you is that they are unsure how to put their ideas into reality. Some just don't have the design knowledge, some have no interest in doing the actual design themselves, and some just aren't design-savy. Any and all of these reasons are why they will come to you; but you're not home free yet.
You now have to read between the lines to actually find out what the client is after. Those that aren't design-savy will not always be able to explain the image they have in their heads. Others will have no clue what they want, but they will know when they see it; they will also know what they don't want when they see it. After all the work you are going to be putting into their design, you want the client to be happy with the finished result, so it is imperative that you do your best from the outset to delve into their imaginations and discover their true desire.
But how?
THE BRIEF.
As you have probably noticed here on Wattpad, most designers will have a form that they would like clients to fill in. The reason for this is to try and gage what the client is really looking for. Just knowing the title and the author is not enough. You will need to know the genre, a brief outline of the books contents, any character information that is relevant, and so on. Probably the most important aspect will be the main character's image that the author is describing in their story. It's no good having a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl on the front cover if the main character is dark-haired and green-eyed.
Often when you ask a client to give you a brief summary of their book, they will give you an overview of the actual story itself, this isn't always very helpful. From a readers point of view that would be fine, but from a designers point of view, it will be your job to catch the audience's attention from the beginning - as stated previously, a book cover can make or break a book. So what information will you need?
1) Character - Their physical description is important. You will need to know the colour of their hair, eyes, and skin. Any remarkable features like tattoos, birthmarks, beauty spots. Anything that is relevant to the main character in the book. Male or female usually helps too :)
2) Location - Where the bulk of the book takes place for example. If you have a Vampire that can only come out at night, you don't want to put them sunbathing on the beach, do you? (Unless they glitter lol). Likewise, you will need to take into account any landmarks that may be relevant. If you have a story where the character goes to school in London, then an image of Big Ben in the background will automatically tell readers the location in which the book is set.
3) When - What era is the story set in? If it is a Victorian era you won't want someone wearing a bluetooth headset for example (unless there's time travel involved of course). You must take into account the time in which the story is set and source your images accordingly. This will also effect the location as well as the model used. You don't want the millennium dome in the background of a story set in the 1900's.
4) Additional characters - Some clients will want you to have several characters on the front cover. It may be necessary to try to (respectfully and delicately) steer them away from this. Often if you have too many people, or indeed information, on the front cover it will detract from the overall design; it will look too busy. The eye is more likely to be drawn to less information, not more. If they are insistant then you will have to try and find a way around this problem, but I will address this issue later.
5) Text - Title, subtitle, and author - this is usually the only information you will have on a front cover. Again, be careful with the subtitle; some clients want extremely long subtitles. Ideally a design will have as little text as possible - the eye is drawn to the visual, not the textual - the more text you have, the more the eye will naturally want to turn away. If you are not able to steer a client away from this, you will have to try other methods, but again I will cover the issue of visual-overload later.
6) Genre and mood - What mood is their book? Is it romantic for example? Just because the genre might be action or adventure, does not mean that they don't want to portray some romance on the front cover. Just as if they are writing a fantasy novel, they might want a dark feel to the book. These are things you must think about, so don't just ask about the genre, ask about the mood too.
7) Input - Ask for their ideas, it is after all their book. As a designer it is your job to turn their ideas into a reality so listen to what they have to say. Some clients will have a vague idea of what they want, others will have a very detailed description of what they are looking for - in this case make sure you are tactful when steering them in what might be a better design direction. Try to keep to their ideas as best as you can, even when making suggestions of your own.
So now you have the information they want included on the cover, I find it best to ask what they don't want. This may seem trivial, and most clients will not even have thought about this aspect. But there are some that have an aversion to certain things such as smoking, nudity, tattoos, piercings, and so on. This can also effect your choice of stock photos, so I always find it best to ask beforehand.
Below is a copy of my own form that I use here on Wattpad. The form is probably the best way to get the most information without bombarding your client with a million questions. Anything additional can be discussed separately. When you have all the information, you can set about searching for the right stock for the cover.
THE FORM.
Items marked with an * are required.
☆ Avatar [ ] Banner [ ] Cover [ ]*
☆ Title*
☆ Subtitle
☆ Author*
☆ Summary*
☆ Character Descriptions
☆ Genre*
☆ Mood*
☆ Ideas*
☆ Anything you DO NOT want
☆ Favourite colour
YOU ARE READING
A Pinkabelle guide to book cover design.
Non-FictionSo many people have asked me how I design my book covers, how they can do it themselves, where I get my pictures from, and so on. I figured it was about time I answered all those questions in one place. Seeing as this is a literary site, how better...
