Friedlander, J. (2012, January 9). 3 Secrets to e-Book Cover Design Success. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
With the quickly-growing market of eBooks and digital reading, there lies a prominent difference in the criteria of a successful cover design. Because eBooks are everything but tangible, the cover must be intriguing, but simplistic, re-sizable but strategic. Graphic designers have had to shift the way they layout a cover. In this article, Friedlander defines the top three changes designer should take into account when working with this new medium. These “secrets to success” are keeping the design simple, small, and strategic.
eBook designs rely more on pictures/graphics than typography/writing due to the small viewing sample on most eRetailers, thus the tip on remaining simplistic. Again, re-sizing plays a key role in marketing eBooks, as well. There are many dimensions that the book may be presented in, but the viewing size is constantly changing. This being said, Friedlander reminds us that the design must still convey meaning and be cleanly executed, i.e well-positioned lettering.
“Unlike print books, which we can pick up and examine, e-books don’t exist in any physical reality other than as a computer file.”
“But more than anything else, designers and do-it-yourself self-publishers have to address the challenges of this new form in a way that helps them sell books.”
The author, a self-published author (indie author) as well as an award-winning cover designer is quite qualified to speak on this subject, as he also judges the e-Book Cover Design Awards. This article defines the constantly-changing nature of digital books and their need for constantly updated design techniques. It raises the question: Would designing and marketing for tangible books be more cost effective because of it’s relatively stable formatting? I believe so.
The growth of ebooks has been a very prominent and very popular one, yet one thing that has never crossed my mind as as a fellow print enthusiast, has been altering the covers of these ebooks. The front cover is essentially everything they can give the reader so he or she can make its mind up in whether to purchase it or not. These small adjustments that have to be made with the result of advancements are most times overlooked but clearly just as crucial as the content in the book. It is so scary to think just how manipulated we are by marketing everyday.
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