Principles of Visual Design LCC 2720 Instructor: Brian Schrank Book Cover Design

1. Principles of Visual Design LCC 2720Instructor: Brian Schrank Book Cover Design

2. Lecture Overview: Book Cover Types …color manipulation in Photoshop

3. Generic Book Cover Template

4. Just do the front cover

5. … but do not follow the generic template!

7. “Book design should be matched with book conception. The designer should understand the book content totally and represent it visually.” —Jianping He

8. “A good book cover is like an honest smile and a firm handshake.” —Joe Marianek

9. “A good book cover is one that strikes a balance between presenting the experience of the book and capturing a particular vision or essence.” —Brett Phillips

10. Six Book Cover Types

11. Six Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic • - • Brand • Packaged

12. Six Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic • - • Brand • Packaged

13. Brand Cover • Double Purpose: • promoting individual title • promoting brand (or series)

14. Brand Cover

15. Brand Cover

16. Six Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic • - • Brand • Packaged

17. Package Cover

18. Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic • -

19. Documentary Cover • Representative image of what book contains • “What you see is what you get."

20. Documentary Cover • Photographic • Literal

21. Documentary Cover • Not a cover… • Like a first page

22. Documentary Cover • Portal • Stage

23. Don’t Doa Documentary Cover

24. Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic

25. Evocative Cover • Express emotions through forms, lines, shapes • 100 Thumbnails Project • Phenomenology • Synthesthesia

26. Evocative Cover • Abundance • Energy • Splash • Neo-Retro • Trashy

27. Evocative Cover • Feelings • Associations

28. Evocative Cover • Mood • Memory • Body images

29. Evocative Cover • Uncanny • Strange effect • Body images

30. Evocative Cover • Shock • Body images

31. Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic

32. Conceptual Cover • Represent book's content through an amusing: • visual allegory • pun • paradox • cliché • Seeing it causes a "smile in the mind” • “This book has a witty cover: I recognized its wit because I'm intelligent.”

33. Conceptual Cover • Tiny “aha” moment

34. Conceptual Cover • Universal Memory • Cultural Cliché • (Unexpected Design) • So bad it’s good • Like high school

35. Conceptual Cover • Symbol • Super obvious • Children’s Book • Worn wood grain texture makes it interesting

36. Conceptual Cover • Self-referential • Referential • Atlas

37. Conceptual Cover Take photographs...

38. Conceptual Cover Take photographs...

39. Book Cover Types • Documentary • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic

40. Typographic Cover Text Integrated with image (irony)

41. Typographic Cover Text as Image (encyclopedic knowledge)

42. Typographic Cover Text as Image (emotional bits)

43. Typographic Cover Text as Metaphor (quantum physics is counter-intuitive)

44. How’s a book coverlike a logo?

45. Good Logos are • Distinct (from other logos, simple) • Innovative (clever use of line, shape, text) • Versatile (can be used in real world) • Evocative (of company’s concepts/emotions)

46. Good Book Covers are • Distinct (from other book covers) • Innovative (clever use of image, type, form)

47. Good Book Covers are • Distinct (from other book covers) • Innovative (clever use of image, type, form) • Evocative • Conceptual • Typographic

48. Now some Photoshop tips…