As I am exploring design ideas for my novel, a simple plot loaded with crazy amounts of symbolism, I wonder – what is the best way to communicate what is inside the book with an interesting cover? Do you use symbolism to entice the reader, make them question what is inside – or do you more or less tell them what is inside? As I was researching approaches, I came across this blog: The Book Designer: Practical Advice on How to Build Better Books and a topic titled, “Book Cover Design and the Problem of Symbolism.” In this article, the blogger argues that authors simply, “know their books too well” and get wrapped up in symbols or themes that they cannot let go and they demand MUST be on the cover – making for a cluttered and confusing design.
Referring to authors and cover art, book designer/blogger Joel
Friedlander states:
“What
I mean is that when you wrote the book, you invested it with lots of meaning,
and perhaps you wove in symbols throughout the story to make it that much more
enticing. But when it comes to the book cover, professional designers know that
usually, less is more.
The
problem is that authors are so attached to their own symbolism or to an image
they have lodged in their mind that would be “perfect” for the book cover, they
lose sight of the role their book cover is intended to play. One of the
quickest ways to kill any good effect of your book cover is to include too many
elements. In fact, this is one of the most common failures of amateur
designers.”
To sum it up, he argues that keeping it
simple is (most often) the best route to a successful cover. Additionally, he notes that what readers are really looking for is an indication of what kind of book it is, what genre, and a sense of the tone.
I could see this struggle happening to
the designer as well, who has spent so much time reading and decoding a book to
understand its meaning - wanting to bring the art of the book to life. Ultimately, it is our job as designers to figure out
how to best communicate and appeal to the potential reader, with the end goal of driving the reader to a purchase. I guess my
question is, how do you feel about this passage? Do you have examples of books
that are horribly overdone? Or have you seen symbolism done correctly? Have you been faced with a similar issue before or
now?
Giving nod to the topic at hand, and
for fun, here are two examples of someone’s take on, “The Five Worst Book Covers, Ever.”
"Anyone for Princess Buttercup as a wild
shaman with a bird on her head and snakes coming out of her backside? And why
are there so many skulls? I’m willing to bet that illustrator Ted CoConis’s
take sold loads, though. Because, y’know, breasts."
"After a storm of complaints over its
50th anniversary edition of Sylvia Plath’s novel of Ivy League despair, Faber
and Faber released a statement saying they were aiming the cover at readers who
had never picked up Plath before. “Our intention for this cover was that the
image of the expressionless woman ‘putting on her mask’ and the discordant
colour palette would suggest ambivalence and unease,” they said, before
helpfully pointing out: 'The copy on the back of this edition makes reference
to the narrator’s depression and suicide attempt.' Oh. Good?"
