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Topic: Book Cover Design
| Author | Message |
| upstategal | Posted – 6/18/2007 10:04:03 PM | show profile I recently graduated from a design program and although I am really looking to put some and really any experience under my belt, I would eventually like to consider going into book jacket design. What would be the best course of action to get there? Should I stick to doing editorial design work? Would you simply contact book publishers with your portfolio? Do they hire freelancers or do they usually have a in-house designer working on the covers? Thanks. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 6/19/2007 11:20:24 AM | show profile | email poster You might want to reach out to self-publishers -- perhaps look for people with websites for selfpublishers and for firms that specialize in printing for selfpublishers. They also need other things designed, such as postcards for their books, bookmarks. If you have a website, I would have a page for stuff just for self-publishers, and put up some samples you design up. Make 'em nice, like the best ones out there instead of some of the cheesy things self-published people end up putting out. THat's my biggest beef with self-published stuff - -- it LOOKS self-published. These printing companies charge people to design the cover, and many of them look like crap, and the author assumes they just can't afford a good looking cover so they have to suffer with crap. I would definitely recommend branching out into this. I am a writer working on a couple self-published titles and expect to use my design background to design my book cover, just as I have designed all my business cards, post cards, etc. However, most authors don't have the first clue. Also -- look at self=published authors websites and contact them -- you may be able to improve their next book. Just an idea. Good luck! |
| upstategal | Posted – 6/19/2007 4:37:48 PM | show profile Thanks for your reply. Contacting self-publishers is a good idea and I also been looking to contact small, independent local publishers. I often wondered though if very little or any budget is put towards design, as you said it does look very "self-published". I guess I'll just have to hit them with my portfolio and see. I wonder if any big publishers hire junior designers and even interns? Thanks for the suggestion. |
| nandy | Posted – 6/30/2007 9:04:46 PM | show profile Book Cover Design Definitely they hire freelancers. BUT you have to have a creative portfolio to get your foot in the door. Most publishers have a small staff of cover designers who handle some work in house and manage the rest of it through freelancers. Just take a look at the jacket flaps of books you like for the design credit. I'd say a large percentage of them are done by freelancers. Even if your portfolio is made up of comps (I've seen some great beginners), if you've got the chops for it (great typography, smart color use, imaginative imagery), you'll get work. That said, the person hiring you will want to try and match your style to a book. So it may take a while before the right job comes across their desk. I recently started working with a designer who sent me several mailings before I got the right job for her. Each sheet she sent had about a dozen covers which showed her "style" and her range. And it was obvious that not all were the final cover design...she sometimes showed a "rejected" comp as well as the final one. Be careful if you do that, as it can backfire if the reject really is awful. But if it happens that you do two or three REALLY good comps for a book, there's no harm in showing the ones that did not get used. |
| nandy | Posted – 6/30/2007 9:13:10 PM | show profile Also wanted to say the difficult thing about being creative in mainstream book publishing is the amount of people your work has to be approved by before it gets printed...editor (often, more than one), marketing person, art director (ironically, sometimes their say has the least weight). I've also known some editors who were so undecided they let their assistant make the decision for them. So you might want to try some university publishers which tend to be very lean staffed. The smaller the publisher, the fewer the people who have to approve your work, therefore, your ideas may be less altered. |
| upstategal | Posted – 7/3/2007 1:50:30 PM | show profile Thank you so much for your insight and suggestions nandy. Great suggestions and info. I'll keep working on my portfolio and take on book cover projects. |
| cheryl11 | Posted – 5/14/2008 7:08:44 PM | show profile | email poster Book cover design Start picking up books with great covers and looking at the credits. Get to know who the players are in the industry. Get involved on DesignRelated and be a part of the many conversations on book design. Integrating with the publishing and design community, and being able to speak their language will give you a distinct advantage over the average graduate. Good luck! Cheryl | www.thedesignworksgroup.com |
| cheryl11 | Posted – 5/14/2008 7:28:20 PM | show profile | email poster PS ...Side note to what I just posted, I would NOT recommend using DesignRelated or similar networking sites to try and get work. It's considered unprofessional, and a misuse of the site. It is, however, a great place to learn what speaks to the heart of book designers and publishers alike. Cheryl |
