Laura Ackerman-Shaw
Miss X, author of book Y, wishes to disassociate herself from the jacket of her book.If there is anything in publishing that everyone has an opinion about, it is the cover of a book. In a session filled with insight and humor, Rich Hendel, design/production manager and associate director of the North Carolina University Press, and Steve Renick, art director of the University of California Press, shared their experience with nearly 40 designers and publishing professionals at a BBW education seminar.
--from a personal column, London Times
Beautiful artwork does not necessarily sell a book, and ultimately a book's success is measured by how many copies sell. Given the proliferation of bad jackets on books that sell, it sometimes seems that there is no correlation. Jackets actually were not an issue until the 19th century, and it was not until the early 20th century that covers had typography and design aimed at marketing a book. In the years since, the challenge for designers has increased. Until recently, only trade books had highly designed covers; now it seems all books do.
Now the cover is used to entice the bookseller because it is available long before the book and is used by reps to promote sales. Devoid of a famous author, a book needs to grab the reader in other ways. A cover also has to stand out in the piles of books that reviewers receive.
The more cooks, the worse the stew.Whose cover is it anyway? Both speakers believe the cover ultimately belongs to marketing. What often occurs in publishing, where many opinions are involved, is a form of shuttle diplomacy, with negotiations among disagreeing parties. As art director, Steve has the right of cover approval and works closely with marketing. When he receives a design, he determines if it meets the needs of the design memo; if there is more than one option, he will select just one to route. He reviews the cover with the marketing designer first, and, if they agree, the process continues. Setting up a routing works to everyone's benefit with reasonable control-at UC Press it is the art director, marketing director, acquisitions editor, publisher, marketing, editor, designer, and production coordinator. Renick doesn't let anyone out of house see it until it's approved. Issues of personal preferences and prejudices are problematic-it should not be whether or not someone likes blue, but whether blue is appropriate for the market.
--old cliché
Do not use an image, use Helvetica type, make the title 1" high, make the author name no less than 1/2" high, use primary colors, and by the way, here's the sketch.How do you get the cover you want? For the designer the most crucial part of the design brief describes what the book is about and what the publisher expects. Steve and Rich agreed that it is not uncommon for a designer to receive no more information than the number of colors, author name, title, and due date. For Rich, doing three book jackets a week for 20 different publishers means he doesn't have time to read all all the books or have a thorough understanding of the content.
--from a cover design brief for a book on good sex
It is the art director's responsibility to
ensure that needs of the cover design are clarified and communicated, which avoids reworking the cover multiple times. Often designers present two solutions to a cover and there are ideally three rounds of review: original, revision, final. When a jacket risks being designed to death, stop and take stock. Cobbling together a cover with parts from different designs does not work. Trying to link the cover design with the interior usually doesn't either (often a great title page design is a lousy jacket).
Who owns the design? A self-described design evangelist, Steve sees the major problem facing designers as their personal investment in the design. Everyone's opinion is valid, but there are different levels of decision making within each publishing house. The speakers advised designers: If you receive criticism you disagree with, have the courage to ask why; don't view design as a win/lose situation; and know your own strengths and weaknesses.
In working with the "my book" syndrome, ask questions of the following four areas as you prepare a design brief:
Author: What is the author's vision? Does the author have an appropriate image? Are there personal preferences or prejudices?
Acquisitions: Where does this book fit into the academic or reading public's scheme? What is the editor's view of what this book is or how it should look? What is the author really like?
Marketing: What constitutes the market? What is the target? How should the cover look compared to the competing books and why? Does marketing's vision of the book fit with acquisitions? How important are the editorial elements to the final rendering? Is type or image dominant? How many colors will be printed?
Design: What constitutes validity in the information provided by the above? Is the information clear and complete?
Rich and Steve shared slides of covers from best-sellers to scholarly texts. While there are some trends to the retro look of the '50s and '60s, many of the interesting covers have unusual typographic treatments. Some publishers have a "look" to all their covers. Unexpected things make covers more interesting: odd trims, uncoated paper, metallic inks, spot gloss, and matte laminates (about the same cost as adding another color). Sometimes even a mediocre photo can be made interesting with color, scale, or cropping. Rich feels strongly that cover designs should not tell readers the whole story; rather they should tempt. He finds mass market paperback covers generally too explicit.
Jacket and cover designers are the "exterior decorators" of our books. A jacket really works like a poster: the cover carries over to the flap (don't make it white, it interrupts the flow of the jacket to the interior). The colors on the front can be replicated, and there is a carry-over motif. It should work both flat and wrapped. For covers done inhouse, Steve often does the mechanical with dummy copy for the entire jacket at the same time.
What about the ubiquitous bar code? Even a Ferrari has a place for a license plate.
Spines seem to be an afterthought in the design process, but most books live their life spine outward. Integrate the spine with the front cover. Like the cover, the spine should convey what the book is about and outshine what's on the shelf next to it.
So, determine market needs, communicate clearly, hire a good designer, ask printers questions, and you will be well on your way to successful cover and jacket design for today's competitive markets.
When preparing a design memo for covers/jackets, include the following information: