A book cover is the first thing a reader sees. IT’S a book's best discoverability.
I visited my local Barnes & Noble in search of examples of eye-catching book covers.
Here’s what I learned.
01
Don’t underestimate the allure of pretty graphics. If you have ‘em, show us the goods in all their glory.
02
While the previous image had one central bold graphic, this is beautiful without it. I think it’s in the extreme though subtle detail of the art.
04
These are simple symbolic covers but they’re pretty and it’s immediately obvious that these are fantasy books.
05
This cover immediately caught my eye. Say what you want about simplicity, but it works.
06
Each element is simple on its own, but when combined with the other, it tells us so much with so little.
07
Nothing screams "vampire book" better than blood. The gloss detail on matte background enhances this simple cover.
08
I searched for examples of illustrated covers of books that aren’t feel-good contemporaries. Found it!
09
I noticed that on illustrated covers bulky, handwritten fonts look better than fancy serifs.
01 Color-code your book by genre/theme
02 Simple and bold stands out
03 Symbolic graphics can be beautiful too
04 Use different fonts for illustrated covers