10 eye catching book cover ideas for 2020
Rajendra Zadpe
It is important that a book cover design is in line with new trends. People like to see book cover designs that are trendy in terms of use of colors, typefaces, style, concepts, and such other elements. Like other trends in graphic designs, book cover design also undergoes rapid changes with the time. Many book cover templates come and fade away after a few years. In fact, each year witnesses some new changes in the cover design as each book cover is mostly designed to compete with others in the markets.
That single piece of design serves an important role as the face of the book. Through a combination of type and imagery, book covers can pique readers’ interests, convey complex ideas at a glance, and expose just the right amount of the story without giving it all away.
We’ve collected 10 remarkable book covers ideas that throw the old ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ out the window and they are:
1. Typography that bears a message
A book’s title and author name can be so much more than mere information to be reported. In some book covers, the typography becomes a living, breathing book cover design element. It morphs, tilts, skews, and glides around the page, telling a visual story with little more than the letterforms themselves.
2. Hand lettering implies honesty
Hand letter typography can carry the marks of a pen hurriedly jotting down a note, or the precision of a trained calligrapher’s stroke. This personal and intimate quality complements book covers that delve into the tribulations of the human psyche, or alternatively are written in an honest tone, like a heartfelt message to a friend.
3. Ornate geometric patterns for a classic look
Geometric patterns are reminiscent of the early days of bookmaking, giving off a classical, vintage feel. This style of a book cover template can be used to mark iconic titles as esteemed, or to set the book cover in a certain historical period, giving off a sense of grandeur.
4. Abstract forms call for intriguing interpretations
Abstract book cover designs have a way of communicating a message while leaving it loose enough to be open-ended. With nothing but shapes, interesting color palettes and clever compositions, these book covers can conjure a mood or hint at a certain idea without crossing over into the explicit. Harnessing the subtleties of image making, abstract book covers are attuned to nuances such as a slightly more rounded corner or a somewhat sharper edge, which can greatly impact the derived meaning.
5. Photography brings in real world imagery
Photography is an extremely broad discipline, encompassing things as far apart as stylized photoshoots and photojournalistic snapshots. As a result, there are many different ways in which photographs can be used on book covers.
6. Iconography distills ideas down to their essence
If book covers are meant to capture the intricacies of a book’s content in one communicative visual, then book covers that use iconography uphold that role as their official mission statement. Their simple - albeit deceivingly simple - graphic language doesn’t make for the type of cover that you’d pick up for close inspection.
7. A lone source of light creates a dramatic effect
A play on light and shadow can add a sense of drama to book covers. A single luminous beam can focus readers’ eyes on a particular element that’s of relevance to the plot or its main characters.
8. Edge to edge illustrations tell a story
An illustration that fills up the cover and spans across the whole page (known as full bleed) can lure readers into the plot with an eye-catching visual, before they’ve even read a single line of the book. These book covers present colorful and detailed illustrations that generally portray one of the book’s characters, or the environment in which it takes place.
9. Minimal color palettes leave a powerful impression
A book cover can be just as interesting with very little use of color. In some instances, a limited palette only reinforces the book cover’s design and messaging, especially in today’s highly saturated literary market. Limiting the number of colors can strengthen the remaining elements on your page, allowing them to express a certain concept all the more vividly.
10. Silhouettes put characters at the forefront
Books leave much open to the reader’s imagination. In line with that notion, book covers tread the line of depicting an enticing visual, without forming too particular of an image in the reader’s mind. One way of going about this is by using a silhouette. The contours of a character can elicit many associations, from a missing element that feels vacant, to classic Victorian portraiture. No matter the style, a silhouette draws our focus to the book’s main character while leaving plenty of room for personal interpretation.