Women make up the bulk of sci-fi readership in addition to romance readership. They aren’t put off by “masculine” covers. Yet women writers still find themselves marginalized on the shelf by curly script and a florid indulgence of pink. Which begs the question: to what purpose?
book covers
Publisher Aesthetic as Visual Brand
By Jasmine Gower
Even before readers notice the Ooligan hook on the spine, they can often recognize the arts and crafts style and blue and green color palettes for which Ooligan book covers have recently become known.
Musical Book Covers
By Marina Garcia
I can’t be the only one attached to my favorite book’s original cover—so why does it seem to change so often?
Why You Should Absolutely Judge a Book by Its Cover
By Hanna Ziegler
The saying is “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but the truth is, we all do—and we’re actually supposed to. Someone designed that cover with specific intentions for you, the reader, to pull the book off the shelf and take a closer look. If I think about it too hard, I realize how shallow and materialistic I am as a reader and how hard a cover has to work just to get me to pick it up. My recent interest in cover design has to do with a challenge I’m undertaking this year to read at least thirty books with a main character who would be classified as a minority in America. Finding books that show this diversity on the cover is actually a lot more difficult than I expected.
The Covers That Typography Built
By Andrea McDonald
Typography is an important aspect of any cover. It’s the first thing readers read on a book. The typeface must not only be compatible with whatever images are displayed on the cover, but also with the genre in which the book is positioned. Covers that use the typography as their primary design feature are referred to as “typographic covers.” These are the ones with limited imagery, photographic or otherwise, where the title and author take up most of the space. With these covers, finding the right font is more important than ever.
Cover Trends, and How At the Waterline Compares
By Michelle Zhang
I’ve always judged a book by its cover even though the saying tells you not to, and I doubt that anyone would completely dismiss the cover when deciding whether to read a book. After researching some cover trends both today and in recent years, I wondered how well At the Waterline stands against today’s market trends.