“You should never judge a book by its cover”, is how the saying goes. But a cover is the first thing that attracts us towards a book. The magic of the book lies in its pages, but the ticket to the magic show lies in its covers.
History of Book Cover Design
In the beginning, in the traditional publication of books, the book covers were made leather-bound, ready to perfectly fit in the library. The Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements at the turn of the 20th century brought in a modern renaissance in book cover design.
The cover design of the magazine ‘The Yellow Book’ by cover artist Aubrey Beardsley is considered as the first example of cover art. The concept of book cover design became immensely popular when Penguin invented the paperback in 1935.
The Art of Cover Design at Penprints
At Penprints India, cover design is treated not as some aesthetic aspect of the book, but as the face of the book. The cover is treated like an identity of the book. So, a lot of care and thinking goes into the making the identity of books – the book covers. Every individual from the cover artist to the author is actively involved in the making of the cover. Penprints tries to make a lasting impact with their book covers. Rhododendrons by Sreetanwi Chakraborty features a hand painted illustrations of rhododendrons on the cover, created by the author herself. Invincible City which is a photobook by Rajib De and Sohini De has the image of a young boy with curious eyes as its cover. At Penprints, there is a constant attempt to establish a relationship between the reader and the book, using the book cover as the medium.
Economic Aspect
An eye-catching book cover is creatively praised, but a strategic marketing also fuels it. A book cover design has the potential to make a book a best-seller. In online modes of buying, the book cover acts as a stimulus to generate a click. Even in offline markets, books with great cover design get the best placement in the display tables.
Impact of Social Media
With the heavy popularity of ‘Bookstagram’ books are put into categories based off their covers. The popularity of a book also depends on the aesthetic value, the shareability and how trendy it is. Book covers are now the face of a reel, a YouTube thumbnail or a random post.
A book cover gives the reader an idea of the content. The book cover is the face of the artistic beauty that the author has put out in the world. A book cover is much more than just a cover; it is a mark of the book’s uniqueness.
