Today, the 22nd of November is the third day of the “Rainbow Blog Challenge”, if would like to know more about this week long challenge, check out the post detailing all necessary information linked here!
The prompt for the day is “Because I’m happy” in which I will be discussing what characteristics make a great book cover. In fact, I’ve made a post about my favourite book cover trends in the past, so this is somewhat of an extension on that. Enjoy!
The first thing that makes a great book cover is one without a person on it! I can’t stress this enough that when there is a picture of a “character” on it, I’m automatically turned away. Very rarely a publishing company can pull this off successfully, a prime example of this is the Mara Dyer Trilogy.
This is purely because the focus isn’t on the appearance of the model, instead, it’s on their graceful movements and the stunning dresses in the water. If designers could finally realise us readers aren’t a fan of the people on the cover, hopefully, we can dodge another catastrophe that was the original covers for the earlier instalments in the Shadowhunter Chronicles.
Secondly, a huge trend I’m such a fan of is simplistic backgrounds with stunning typography. In my previous post, I mentioned my love for a large, flowy piece of cursive, but when it’s paired with a plain background, I’m sold. The US cover of Ruined is absolutely stunning compared to the tacky cover that was oh so luckily chosen for the UK/Australia.I mean, can you honestly fin a fault with the eye-catching yet submissive artwork behind the title. It’s letting the point of interest dominate, yet still adding something a little extra to the overall piece. The same could be said with Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy. Although it takes a completely different look on the trend, the background is still very simplistic and aids the focal point, which in this case in the stunning illustration of the dangerous rose and the font. The gradient is much more effective than just the one colour as it draws the attention towards the centre rose and the colours are complimentary to the cool blue tones.
And finally, potentially the best and most controversial, I love when book covers have reviews from fellow authors! I find the concept absolutely adorable, but that’s not the reason I decided to discuss this. I love reading a small little review about a novel before I buy it, and if there is one conveniently place on the front cover, even better for me! I know that many readers despise the sentence or two as sometimes designers can go a little overboard with the sizing and colour, I will admit that, but I have nothing left to fault. Perhaps, more books should have some reviews to possibly boost sales, who knows, but we should definitely be more forgiving!
Thanks for reading about what I believe makes a book cover great and takes it to the next level! Leave me a comment below telling me what your favourite characteristics are, and make sure to check out my first installment! I hope you guys decide to join us on this fun little challenge and feel free to tag me in your posts because I would love to read your interpretations on the prompts!
See you next time,
Rachel
Rach with books 