#85 - Beginner's Reflection(51) - Analyzing a Book(III) - The Cover

Hello, everybody!

Happy Thursday!

What is the first thing you would notice of a book? For example, you are at a bookstore and exploring all the books, what would immediately get your attention?

For me and most people, the cover of a book is the first thing to catch our eyes, but why?

There are two reasons:

1. Human beings are visual animals. We are easily attracted to beautiful and interesting things and the cover of a book functions for attracting people's attention.

2. There are too many books there and we don't have that much time to know every one of them, so just like we taste cookies, the cover of a book is like the first bite of a cookie, if we don't like it, we won't continue to bite it again.

Maybe you would ask: Who are responsible for the cover of a book?

Of course, the author is one of many people who involve in the design of the cover. Since most authors are not designers, so covers usually are designed by professional designers working for book publishers.

For a book, the author gives the designer some information about her book and what she wants the cover look like, and the designer draws some sketch and then show the sketche to the author to get some feedback. Eventually, They are in an agreement on what the cover should look like.

Now, let's see the main goals of the cover of a book:

. Tell the reader what this book is all about.

. Express the main theme of the book artistically.

. Attract attention.

As a study case, let's examine the cover of the book "Belong" and see how it achieves these goals:

1. Tell the reader what this book is all about.

. The very big title "Belong" and slight below the subtitle "Find Your People, Create Community & Live a More Connected Life" tell the reader what the book is all about.

. The name of the author is placed at the bottom of the cover, which tells the reader who wrote this book.

. Below the name, there is a short phrase giving more information about the author, "CEO & Co-founder Daybreaker & Co-founder THINX".

2. Express the main theme of the book artistically.

. The main color of the cover is yellow. Color is the most important element of visuals, different color makes people have different feelings. For example, red makes us feel energetic, active and exciting; Blue makes us feel calm, professional; Yellow, like the sun, makes us feel warn and full of hope, which is what the book wants us to feel.

. In the center of the cover, there is a opening door and a woman wearing a hat, who is the author, and she is raising one of her hands high in air, which seems that she is greeting someone.

Here, the door means a door to a new world or a new life, which is the main purpose of the book, "Find Your People, Create Community & Live a More Connected Life".

Behind the woman, the light, from the inside room, shines through the woman, casting a big shadow on the ground. This shadow is not dark, it is very colourful, like a abstract painting, which means hope and happiness. The world at the other side of the door is a heaven for people who are lonely and isolated.

Alright, from today's analysis, we have learned that the cover of a book is extremely important, we have to design it very carefully. The cover of a book not only convey the information about the book in words, but also in artistic ways to catch eyes.

Thanks for your time and let's improve our artistic sense!

Be weird and be a surprise!

^