You've got 2 seconds to get noticed!2 seconds is exactly how much time you've got to impress your audience. Regardless of what you are selling, the average attention span of a regular person is only a couple of seconds. Think about it, when you're in a library, how much time do you spend on each book when browsing through the countless titles available? Not much, is it? How about when you're browsing online on sites like Amazon or Barnes & Nobel where the books thumbnails are quite small? Your attention is always caught by the witty, unusual designs - they make a great book gorgeous.
How to recognize good design
A short lesson in styleSo you've just finished your latest novel and you're looking forward to getting it published. I can already feel the excitement growing as you're thinking of seeing your work proudly standing in the book shelves of major libraries around the world. It's such an amazing feeling for a writer to have, isn't it? Now all you need is a gorgeous book cover that will enhance your book, make it glow, stand out from the crowd. Think of a book cover design as the author's business card - it is essentially the liaison between the book and the reader.
Good, professional book cover design will always stand out. Attention to detail, being able to "narrate" the whole concept with just a pair of illustrations is paramount and you're sure to recognize these characteristics once you see them.
As a rule, cheap design is not going to get you far. In fact it will turn a wonderful piece of writing into a fail, because it will miss the most important "ingredients": time, research and proficiency. An experienced book cover designer will make sure to research the field in which a certain book will be published before developing a unique concept. Time, skills and a vivid imagination cost money, so choose wisely.
Less is more: if you enjoy the minimalist style you can opt for a special kind of book cover design - one that will attract thanks to it's subtle approach.
Finding a professional book cover designer and starting your project
Creating your unique book cover designFinding unique ideas isn't an easy task - quite frankly it is the most challenging especially in today's over saturated market. Before deciding to work with a designer you should check their portfolio to see if they can deliver the quality you're looking for. A professional book cover designer will provide testimonials of their clients which will help you in making the right decision.
When starting a book cover design project you should be given a brief by your designer. In this brief you'll be asked a couple of questions regarding your project, such as book cover size, number of pages, favorite color themes, favorite book covers, favorite style etc. These will act as guidelines to help the designer to better understand what the client is looking for. Once this step is done, your designer should provide a couple of different concepts from which you can choose the one that best represents your book. Giving feedback is crucial to the easy development of the project, so don't hesitate to support your creative!
Wrapuping up your project and getting your book publishedThe last step is receiving the final files for print. You should pay attention to these files because they must comply with the printers' guidelines. You should receive an Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign file, complete with bleed and trim lines, as well as a full colored, CMYK and 300 dpi Adobe PDF file especially for print. Should your printing press ask for more file types, these can and should be provided bu your designer.
So, now that you've caught a glimpse of what it really means to design a professional book cover, I hope your next book cover design project will hold less secrets for you.If you're looking for professional book cover design, visit me at books-design dot com