After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
After reading The Guardian’s recently-published ‘Well-dressed and distressed’ by Rafqa Toma, we thought we would focus this blog post on book covers exploring the lives of women in their 20’s and 30’s. Novels following women navigating their lives and relationships have topped best sellers lists for years, making their book cover choices particularly interesting. Toma explains that designs have evolved from the more illustrative design to a reliance on photography, showing well-dressed women slumped in despair or exhaustion. While this can be seen in book covers such as She is Haunted by Paige Clark, Love andOther Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp and Kokomo by Victoria Hannan, illustrated abstract cover designs continue to be widely used in this genre.
However, we have found some book covers that stray away from the despair ridden and helpless archetypes that often leave women bound to the same narratives in history, literature, and art.
Illustrative covers
Covers such as Sally Rooney’s Normal People or Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with me use colourful and geometric designs and give an approachable and easy-to-read feel. They do this without conveying too much about the books’ subject matter while standing out from more minimalist book covers.
This recipe continues to be successful, pairing attention grabbing fonts and an emotive and bold use of colour combinations to arrest the reader’s attention. While the article by The Guardian suggests book covers are moving away from this type of design, there are a number of books released last year which rely on this design style.
Detransition, Baby, with a cover designed by Penguin Random House designer Fritz Metsch, focuses on the stories of three women. Using warm green, orange and pink tones, Metsch grabs your attention, enticing you to pick up the novel and find out what is hiding behind the eyes of the women on the cover.
Photographic covers
The use of photography on book covers has always been a powerful tool; however, designers seem to be rediscovering the strengths of photography in building an emotional connection with the reader, as well as giving hints about the book's plot. Book covers using photos of the protagonists convey messages of loneliness and frustration that many of these novels touch on. A good photo, colour graded properly and paired with well-adjusted typography is powerful.
Open Water presents this kind of emotive photography with a twist and instead of focusing solely on the faceless and contemplative women, it reveals both narrators, a young man and woman. Shot by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Campbell Addy and fashion, beauty and celebrity photographer Regan Cameron; the images immediately compel the reader to open the book and find out more about these mysterious individuals.
Moving away from fiction focused on young women navigating relationships, we see book covers playing with experimental, forward-thinking designs including horizontal covers, brutalist landscapes and loud maximalist designs. When it comes to love and life however, we seem to be following a successful and frequently used template. As bookshop owner James Ross mentions in The Guardian article, cover trends “tend to shift with one ground-breaking or indefinable book”. It will be interesting to see how book covers in this genre change throughout 2022; a move away from the well-dressed, stylish but depressed woman would certainly be welcomed.
