The world of book cover designing

The cover of Vivek Shanbhag's 'Ghachar Ghochar' designed by Bhavi Mehta (inset) was much appreciated. The ideating and designing process of Manjula Padmanabhan's 'Getting There' took Bhavi more than two years.

Manek D’Silva had to bring the book’s goofy characters to life on the cover for ‘Jero’s Journey’.

Mugdha Sadhwani 

Manek D'Silva

Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is a famous saying. But it’s true that many pick up a book for its eye-catching cover. Experts who have designed award-winning covers say a lot of work goes behind making the face of the books appealing.

Bengaluru-based Manek D’Silva’s work for graphic novel ‘Bonabyl’ is a traditional painterly style paired with ornamental motifs. It was widely appreciated. He enjoyed working on ‘Jero’s Journey’ as he had to bring the book’s goofy characters to life on the cover.

Each part of a design should contribute to a cohesive whole, says Manek. “Similar to puzzles, the beginning is always the hardest. I put one or two pieces together — a reference for an illustration, a font, or a colour palette — and see if it works. As you go further, it gets easier as other puzzle pieces are already in place,” he adds.

Delhi -based Mugdha Sadhwani believes it’s important to understand the core of the story, its protagonists, and its target audience.

‘Achanak Ek Kavita’ by Vishvjit, ‘Hum Tum aur Woh Truck’ by Mo Yan, ‘The Everyday Eco-Warrior and Imperfectly Zero-Waste’ by Srini and Shubhashree, and ‘Silences by Gulzar’, are some covers which Mugdha has been appreciated for.

Mugdha says, “One can use contemporary typefaces if the story is set in present times and classic typefaces if the story is set in earlier times.”

The strict canvas size is a challenge, says Pune-based designer Bhavi Mehta. “Essentially a rectangle, a designer has to reimagine the space within this strict parameter,” she says.

Bhavi has been widely appreciated for her designs of ‘Ghachar Ghochar’ by Vivek Shanbagh, ‘The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali’ by Uzma Aslam Khan, ‘Stories of the True’, and ‘The Good Muslim’ by Tahmima Anam.

A cover must be true to the story it represents. “Often, good covers get shot down for being ‘too clever’ or ‘too good for this book’ by the editorial or marketing teams, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from experimenting,” Bhavi explains.

Design process

Manek starts his designs with lengthy discussions with the author. “I make at least four-five unique concept sketches. The most exciting idea is picked, is refined and polished for the final result,” he explains.

“The publishing house plays a crucial role here,” points out Bhavi, adding, “Some give designers the freedom to be adventurous while others just want a new version of the old cover or go with current market trends.”

Bhavi further breaks down the design process. “After an initial chat with the author or the editor, a cover brief is shared with the designer. It then takes about one to two rounds of drafts or more to arrive at a cover design,” she adds.

Meeting deadlines

Manek has created designs in a few days, but his “process benefits from the luxury of time”. “I like to do everything manually, like detailed illustration and custom lettering, as it is fun to create all of it from scratch,” he says.

A standard deadline of one month is given to a designer. “To be honest, the time depends on approvals. Sometimes the cover gets approved at the first shot and sometimes it takes months,” says Mugdha.

Bhavi feels it can range from a few weeks to a couple of years. She recalls, “One cover which is close to my heart is the rejacket for Manjula Padmanabhan’s self-deprecating, travel memoir set in the 1970s called ‘Getting There’.”

She tried including Manjula’s own illustrations, polaroids, collages, photographs, and typography but nothing worked. “One day, I found a photo my husband took of a bicycle leaning against a yellow wall in Copenhagen. I knew it was just right for the book. After struggling with the cover for years, the job was finally done in five days,” she adds.

Changes over years

Manek believes that a lot more experimental book covers are coming out nowadays. He focuses a lot more on humour and narrative storytelling now.

Bhavi feels covers now are a bit repetitive, and more marketing-led than they used to be. “There was a certain sense of purity and rawness in older designs,” she adds.

Earlier book covers used to look formal, says Mugdha. Designers now try to make them look like a piece of art, she believes. “My focus has always been on how to lend a tactile feeling to the cover,” she adds.

Tools and techniques used

Manek works on his iPad and uses Procreate to create handmade art-like paintings, illustrations, or lettering. After this, the work gets exported to Photoshop on the laptop, for design work or typesetting. For Mugdha, her 27-inch iMac loaded with different software, and the Wacom pen tablet, are daily essentials.

Bhavi’s basic go-to software are Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, and Photoshop. “I also like to use old school art and craft techniques like cut-paste, sponges, charcoal pencils, and crayons for experimenting,” she adds.

Favourite book cover designs

Manek: Covers of the Harry Potter series. Covers by international artists like Dave McKean and Yuko Shimizu, and Indian artists like Chaaya Prabhat are his favourites.

Bhavi: Covers by David Pearson, Jan Tschischold, John Gall, Helen Yentus, Jon Gray, and local Indian artists from the 60s and 70s are top picks.

Mugdha: Covers of books written by Ruskin Bond, and Devdutt Pattanaik, and books that are regularly rejacketed “because everyone loves to read them”.