Book Jacket Design
With Anna Green - Designer at Siulen Design
“A love of reading is obviously important, but also the ability to be creative under pressure, an eye for beautiful typography, and a knowledge of print processes & graphics software will all help too!”
The book cover design is all about enticing you in and making you pick up (or look up!) a book – it plays a big part in the visual marketing of the book but is also a lasting part of the overall reading experience. The cover designer’s job is to read, research, and then try to convey just enough of the ideas/themes/feel of the book without giving too much away!
We work closely with the book’s editor to pin down a direction for the cover approach, creating a selection of visuals that are discussed in cover meetings along with the sales and marketing departments. Once we have a cover approved by the author, the layout is designed and artworked and sent to the printers in conjunction with the production department.
I got into publishing through a work placement after uni, and was lucky enough to get offered a job afterwards. Most of the bigger publishers have proper work experience application processes now, though smaller ones may be a case of emailing direct. A love of reading is obviously important, but also the ability to be creative under pressure, an eye for beautiful typography, and a knowledge of print processes & graphics software will all help too!
Special editions designed by Anna Green @SiulenDesign