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    net/publication/342246718

    WHY IS BOOK COVER DESIGN AS IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT AS EVER


    TODAY?

    Article · May 2020

    CITATIONS READS

    0 2,261

    1 author:

    Beatrice Ubbiali
    University of Milan
    4 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS   

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    STUDENT: Beatrice Ubbiali

    WHY IS BOOK COVER DESIGN IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT TODAY?


    An exploration of the ever-stronger relationship between design and the publishing industry in
    modern times.

    It happens to the best of us. F. Scott Fitzgerald judged his own timeless classic
    “The Great Gatsby” by the cover while he was still far from finishing it. He was
    so transfixed by the floating eyes on the jacket that he incorporated them into
    the novel in the form of a bespectacled billboard with a god-like aura. Almost a
    century later, it is the most iconic and widely disseminated jacket art of all time.
    Fitzgerald’s state-of-the-art cover was an anomaly back then; nowadays,
    however, the tie between aesthetic design and the publishing industry has
    solidified under the blows of digitisation and e-book readers. On the one hand,
    the emphasis on design has led to books turning into lovingly arranged,
    collected, fetishised objects. On the other, dust jackets have become powerful
    means to convey messages in memorable and gripping ways.

    "The Great Gatsby" by Francis Cugat, 1925.

    Social media -specifically Instagram, which promotes a meticulously staged, pastel-coloured, glossy look-
    gave a major boost to the publishing industry, forcing it to break free from the deep-rooted artistic inertia that
    had generated hoards of forgettable grey covers. The reading public is not immune to the “aesthetics frenzy”
    and the resurgence of the book industry rests primarily on the principle that what is beautiful is also “post-
    able”. This stems from the social-media fuelled belief -also called “halo effect” by sociologists- that
    attractiveness corresponds to other good qualities. Therefore, design influences how people feel about a
    product and how much pleasure they get from it. Best-selling author Elena Ferrante is proof that ugliness
    backfires, as her latest novel “The lying life of adults” was bashed by online users, who took to Twitter to
    claim they wouldn’t buy it because of its ugly cover. Books might almost be regarded as decorative objects
    nowadays, but emphasis on design ensures that readers will not be witnessing empty book-shelves in the near
    future.

    Bookstagrammer Emily Klump pleads guilty to buying


    multiple copies of the same book because every
    makeover is better thank the previous. In the era of
    consumerism and capitalism, readers expect usability
    and functionality by default, which is something digital
    books will never be able to progress past. For this
    reason, despite being initially pummelled by the rise of
    e-books and kindles, which reached peak performance
    in 2014, physical books are now outselling their digital
    counterpart. In order to save the paperback from
    Harper Collins’ new covers also display a caption stating downfall, publishers turned books into appealing and
    “Bella & Edward’s favourite book”. coveted objects, relegating the e-book to the status of
    simulacrum. The tactic paid off as sales increased by
    8% within the next two years, whereas digital sales
    dropped by almost 20%. Publishing company HarperCollins successfully re-designed literary masterpieces
    like “Wuthering Heights” and “Jane Eyre" to match the style of the Twilight and Hunger Games covers to
    lure a specific portion of readers -that is, teenagers- back to the classics. This change is evidence of a new
    focus on originality and design as key factors to stay afloat in a volatile market.
    In addition, cover art plays a key role in shaping the first impression of
    a book’s content since it serves to set a precise horizon of expectation.
    A book’s identity is tied to both its plot and genre, which the cover
    should originally hint at in order to stand out in a sea of equally
    beautiful volumes. As the publishing scene is catching up with the
    times, stereotyped jackets featuring stock pictures or trite femininity
    tropes have started to put readers off. The recently revealed cover for
    “The Testaments” -sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale”- is a step in the
    right direction for the “chick lit” genre. The cliched use of female
    silhouettes is justified to convey that in Gilead women are defined only
    as a negative imprint. The cloak is no longer red but acid green, while
    hidden in its folds is the
    figure of a pleading girl
    encircling the handmaid’s
    neck with her arms.
    Moreover, as if the spine
    of the book was a mirror, a
    similar shape is printed on
    the back of the book, but
    this woman is wearing a
    ponytail and earrings
    instead of a bonnet.
    Pink, high-heels, red lipstick, silhouettes and white Whether she is a vision
    women facing the beach are permanent fixtures on from the past or from the
    women’s fiction covers.
    future, the reader
    understands she is free.
    “The Testaments” cover by illustrator Noma Bar, 2019.

    A corny book cover devoid of any originality or underlying meaning is the


    perfect formula to mislead and drive clueless readers away. The U.S.
    covers for Elena Ferrante’s best-selling tetralogy “My brilliant friend” have
    been compared to $4 romances found  in gas stations and even to Viagra
    ads. In fact, they look like any tired chick-lit cover, especially as the cover
    for the latest instalment “The Story of the Lost Child” doesn’t make the
    smallest allusion to the stagnant Neapolitan slum where the two
    protagonists live and whose centripetal force they desperately try to escape
    all their life long. Even though Ferrante’s editor claims the vulgarity and
    sickly sweetness of the jackets are an ironic play on the popular perception
    of low-classes as tacky, the covers still seem too generic and the readers
    are left out of the joke. The outcome is the alienation of great part of the
    reading public, from male readers to women who don’t want to be caught
    reading “cheap” literature. It’s a known fact that people will judge a book
    by its cover, but they should also be put in the position to be able to
    understand it.

    Traditionally regarded as containers -which they indisputably are- books


    are now placed in a historical context that values form over content. The
    Cover for the fourth and final instalment of publishing industry cannot survive without design, as cover art is the only
    Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan tetralogy “My tool capable of counteracting the constant threats posed by technology and
    brilliant friend”. of quickly striking the public’s fancy as well. The fundamental rule of all
    readers is to never judge a book by its cover, but sometimes it’s hard to
    know whether to read a book or place it in a shrine to be adored.
    Bibliography:

    • H. Connolly, 'Is social media influencing book cover design?', The Guardian, Internet
    edition. 28 August 2018. Available online: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/
    aug/28/is-social-media-influencing-book-cover-design [Accessed 5/5/2020].
    • M. Barry, 'Why Are “Feminist” Book Cover Designs Still So Sexist?',
    EyeOnDesign.com, Internet edition. 10 December 2018. Available online: https://
    eyeondesign.aiga.org/why-are-even-feminist-book-cover-designs-still-so-sexist/
    [Accessed 5/5/2020].
    • E. Barnes, 'Jackets required: why cover art matters', The Guardian, Internet edition. 3
    August 2017. Available online:https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2007/aug/
    03/jacketsrequiredwhycoverart [Accessed 6/5/2020].
    • D. Kean, 'Cover versions: why are UK and US book jackets often so different?', The
    Guardian, Internet edition. 26 September 2017. Available online: https://
    www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/26/cover-versions-why-are-uk-and-us-book-
    jackets-often-so-different [Accessed 6/5/2020].
    • J. Goings, 'The Importance of Your Book Cover Design: An Interview with Pamela
    Webber', goinswriter.com [Podcast]. Available online: https://goinswriter.com/cover-
    design/ [Accessed 7/5/2020].
    • D. Murphy, 'Seven must have qualities for a book cover that sells’. 9 April 2016 [Video].
    Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzmZqbb_np0&feature=youtu.be
    [Accessed 8/5/2020].

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