Posted by What makes a good cover for a picture book?
Chad Richardson, Author & #BlackCreatorsinKidLit member
Chad was generous enough to let me quote him for this blog post. As I’m beginning to think on this myself, I’ve decided to combine some resources to also get authors and illustrators started. Book cover design is part of the illustrator’s job (unless you are self-publishing author hiring someone or trying it yourself), however, it might be helpful to understand what makes a strong cover.
The common themes I’ve seen in all these resources are book covers must: indicate genre (so Children’s and Picture Books, in my case), make a promise about the story that intrigues (provide setup, a character, a mood), be designed well (is it readable from a distance, what’s the focal point) all helping sell your book or get it off the library bookshelf! [Disclaimer: This definition may change over time.]
Children’s Book Cover Resources
Tips for Children’s Picture Book Cover Design: illustrator Natalie Merhab has a really informative article that hones on on picture books and provides a lot of visual examples.
Ghastly Ghost Book Cover Design: author-illustrator Ken Lamug goes through the process of designing his book cover while folding in some teaching.
Design Tips For Making a Great Picture Book Cover: Illustrator Will Terry breaks down cover tips.
Illustrating a Book Cover in Procreate: illustrator Anoosha Syed walks us through her process of designing a children’s book cover.
Give This Book A Title: author illustrator Jarrett Lerner shares some alternate book cover designs with some thoughts on why the final design worked out on Twitter. Update 12/12: Jarrett goes into more depth on his blog post.
Mock Chapter Book and Middle Grade Covers: agent Christy Tugeau Ewers briefly covers elements that make books in those genres shine.
General Book Cover Resources
Book Cover Design Basics: This article covers basics for the front, back, and spine by Chris Pine from 99Designs, a book marketplace.
Inside Random House: The Art of Cover Design: This brief video interviews creatives involved to get their take on book cover design. This does not specifically focus on #kidlit, but for books for all ages.
Book Cover Design: although aimed at general book cover designers and self publishers, this article has some helpful tidbits. My favorite tip, “Don’t forget to look at the small version of your final book cover product. When designing your book cover, you absolutely must look at your design in the size Amazon (and other sites if you’re using them) will show your customer when they are shopping.”
Bonus Resources
Designing Books Are No Laughing Matter: Chip Kidd’s TED talk that covers his philosophy of book design. Part humor, part heart, and a lot to think on.
The Public Doman Review, on online literary and history online journal, posted The Art of Book Covers (1820–1914). Obviously, this doesn’t reflect current trends, but the history geek in me finds this so fascinating.
Keep an eye out on later posts about book covers. I plan to dive into some analysis of successful covers!
Thanks so much for sharing these resources Melissa!
As a picture book illustrator, this will be so helpful with strengthening my book cover design skills.
You’re welcome!