Instead of rings and dragons, what if the poster of the bestseller, “The Lord of The Rings” was designed as a beautiful valley with flying butterflies? Also, what if the cover of the world-famous novel, “Pride and Prejudice” had depicted roaring monsters with fiery flames of fire? Imagine the shock the readers would have experienced, in case they had gone through the novel and found out that there was not a single strand of similarity between what was depicted in the cover, and what was presented as content.
Although the above-mentioned scenarios are hypothetical examples, however, if the cover of a movie or a novel does not match the theme of its content, it would shatter the expectations that the viewers or readers would be having after watching the cover, since, the very first graphic display of the overall content is reflected in the cover picture, and as we all know, it does have a lasting impression in the human mind.
In the rapidly evolving domain of literature and information-oriented publishing industries, thanks to modern-day technology, the traditional paperback books are nowadays being replaced by their digital soft copies. However, the importance of designing appropriate and matching covers has not only remained as important as it used to be in the earlier days but has increased even more, when the present-day bookworms and bibliophiles started transitioning from printed books to ebooks.
Not only it becomes horribly misleading to the ebook readers, but an incorrectly crafted ebook cover also spoils the efforts put by the writer(s) in compiling their work to be presented before readers. Despite knowing the famous quote that says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, it is an inevitable fact that the minds of the readers will have a certain set of expectations after viewing the first look of the ebook, and in case the cover is not designed in accordance to the plot or content, it attracts bad reviews and poor feedbacks for both the cover designer and the content writer for not synchronizing their thoughts and their works. We wouldn’t want the above-mentioned nightmarish situation in our lives, would we?
Therefore, to match the expectations of the readers by designing a head-turning cover, and to create excellent first impressions of ebooks to the book lovers, let’s have a look at some of the best methods and approaches used by modern-day ebook cover designers, for creating eye-catching covers which encompass the essence of ebooks in them:
In Order To Be The Best, First Study The Rest
- Before you begin scratching the surface of ebook cover designing, it is always crucial to have a thorough study about the global market of ebooks, the contemporary writers and the type of designing styles used by other reputed cover designers about how to design ebook cover.
- Observing and going through the designing styles of different books on the same subject is also helpful in developing ideas for designing covers for contents of a similar genre. Looking into the works of other designers also helps in imagining the ebook cover design from their point of view, and their perspectives can then be used as an inspiration, which when combined with your ideas and skill, will lead to the creation of a unique cover design that will have the best features and will definitely draw the attention of the readers.
- Reputed agencies providing satisfactory ebook cover design services always stay updated with the latest cover designing trends, ways to implement them and improvise their designs. The greater your knowledge about the works of your competitors, the more it helps you to stay ahead of the rest!
Textual Information Also Plays A Key Role In Ebook Covers
- Proportion: Probably the most subtle, yet one of the most unnoticed detail in every art form. Imagine putting all your efforts into developing a stunning ebook cover design, and you succeed in conveying the theme in the cover itself, but how will the readers identify this book, unless it contains some context such as title, writer, publisher and other relevant information?
- It is not only about the design but also about figuring out what to write on an ebook cover. Therefore, there needs to be a fair proportion of writing in the cover design as well, which helps the readers to identify and locate the ebooks which they search for.
- For example, we often search the books written by our favorite writers, so it helps, if the cover page bears the name of the writer, isn’t it? Similarly, if we wish to read award-winning books, we can identify them by searching for books that have their accolades mentioned in the cover design.
Spare No Expenses, When It Comes To Editing
- Unless it is fiction, usually ebook covers contain photos and images from real life, along with visual effects. The touch of animation varies, based on the styles preferred by ebook cover designers and the theme of the ebook.
- Now for creative graphics and top-notch finish of the cover, one can implement customized styles that can be created by editing tools and websites. Several software products are made solely for the editing purpose itself, which also lets you choose your preferred picture selection for your cover design from their vast archives and collections of high-resolution photographs.
- Moreover, to make sure you create your own signature style of editing and designing, it is important for you to explore the editing sites and applications to experiment and come up with your ideas of graphic creations as ebook covers. Getting yourself habituated with these editing tools will also make you prepared and comfortable to use them for cover editing purposes in future as well.
To Make Your Work Recognizable, Create Some Fixed Designs
- The greatest desire of every artist is to have his/her work get global recognition and acknowledgement. However, since the name of the ebook cover designer is not mentioned on the cover, it is important to fix on some designing techniques for specific genres, or for specific writers.
- Since writers have multiple books written by them, hence, specifying a certain set of backgrounds, themes, font selections for specific writers will prove to be instrumental in helping the readers search and find the upcoming books of their preferred writers or genres, since, they would have been familiar with the similar designs used for the same writer as well, thereby, identifying the work of the ebook cover designer with just a glance.
- For example, although the famous writer Dan Brown brings a new story in every novel, the cover designs on his novels bear the same typeface and same design: a style which even when seen from a distance, will make the booklovers identify the writer and his works, even without watching the title of the ebook, or the accolades mentioned in the cover design.
If Viewing The Cover Of A Printed Book
- Just because an ebook is the electronic version of its traditional printed edition, it does not mean that it can be presented in any way different than that of a traditional book. Noting down the dimensions of the actual book, getting the specifics correct and remembering the aspect ratio are absolute essentials before beginning the design of an ebook cover.
- Agreed that an ebook can be zoomed in or out as per the convenience of reading, but unless the cover and the ebook entirely resemble the paraphrasing style, orientation and dimensions of the actual book, it will not give the readers a satisfactory experience and the joy of reading it. Hence, it is better to avoid any kind of experimentation with the dimension (the 3:2 ratio is a commonly used aspect ratio for paperbacks and hardbound copies) and aspects of an ebook.
- In some cases, even if a cover design resembles that of its printed edition, it bears a risk of the words and images getting disorganized when opened on a tablet or a smartphone. Therefore, leaving some space for the margins is also a smart approach for designing ebook covers, because it has been seen that the same ebook when opened on different devices have slightly varying appearances.
The role of designers providing ebook cover design services is much bigger than creating a graphic picture. It serves as an introductory bridge between the mindset of a reader and the contents enclosed in the ebook. Furthermore, the illustration of the cover needs to be unique, yet appealing enough to shine amidst the crowd of ebooks of similar genre.
Imagining an ebook from the reader’s point of view provides a great deal of clarity about ebook design. That being said, following the aforementioned guidelines and sticking to the instructions will surely pave the way for coming up with impressive and noticeable ideas about how to design ebook cover irrespective of any genre of the ebook, giving the readers a memorable double treat: an ebook that’s worth reading, and a cover that’s worth watching!
