On The Design Boat

Thursday, 28 August 2014

J U D G I N G B Y T H E C O V E R

Text: Hina Nitesh

The old adage goes, 'don't judge a book by its cover'.

This one is to be taken metaphorically, book lovers don't take offence. On the other hand it is the cover of a book that says or tries to say everything about it.

Image Courtesy - www.hackneycitizen.co.uk

Most of us who love to read and devour every printed word, probably also remember each and every detail about it including the cover. I used to be a book worm who could not have enough of books - that was some centuries ago. Today lets just say that I manage to read but have passed on the secret to the boys.

Image Courtesy - www.liveunchained.com

Books from my childhood would take me to the imaginary land of fairies, where everything began with 'once upon a time' and end with 'they lived happily ever after'. Or there were stories from the jungle where animals could talk. Whatever be the story inside, the expectations were raised by the cover. I would especially be intrigued by the gold engraved letters on those books.

Image Caption - www.artofnarrative.tumblr.com

Image Courtesy - www.babyzone.com

Image Courtesy - www. telegraph.co.uk

Image Courtesy - www.blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com

Even today two things are very important when it comes to picking up a book for reading. If the book has not been recommended or if I haven't read the reviews and I have to select something at random, then I go by the title – how interesting does it sound, and, the cover. If the two together have managed to catch my attention, I flip over to read about it.

Image Courtesy- www.designobserver.com

Image Courtesy - www.youthedesigner.com

Image Courtesy - www.bookriot.com

Image Courtesy - www.buzzfeed.com

Cover design seems a fun thing to do. There are so many elements that the designer can experiment with - fonts, colours, images, illustration, typography etc. to convey the theme of the book. Below are some covers which I am sure will make you want to flip the book open and read ...