 This book cover uses modern-looking layouts and digital compositing to update a historical look. |
You should have an idea before you begin looking for cover art, like what emotions or concepts you want the imagery to convey. This will help you narrow down the types of images you will be looking for and also help keep the design relevant to the content of the book. It is easy to be distracted by a great image that might look visually interesting; but not connect to the book’s content. If you start with a list of criteria for the photo, you can double check that your selection will meet your goals.
Some designers find an image that captures the content of the book well, but feel like it needs lots of additional elements and customization before it's ready. This can cause the cover to be over-designed, too complicated, or confusing. An image with simple text elements often works well for the cover design. Just make sure the picture or you have picked is compelling and precise enough to express your concept.
Another issue that might come up is that an historical image may make the cover design look old and uninteresting even if it matches the content of the book perfectly. A simple way to avoid this issue is to use modern colors and design elements with the image to contrast the historic imagery. This contrast between old and new elements will create a visually intriguing design. Additionally, since a historical topic has most likely been covered before by another author, modern elements will give the impression that your book has something new to say.
