Fun with Fonts: Designing Better Book Covers

I took an online class over the weekend on typography, and I loved it! But then, I’ve always been a sucker for a well-placed font. Take a look at the before and after for my two book covers for Universal Forces:

Before:

 

 

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

 

Besides the addition of the milky way graphic, notice the following changes to the typography:

I put the title in italics to show movement (force)
I put the beginning letter in a different font –  the addition of “cursive” telegraphs the concept of romance more effectively
I changed the color of the font to orange so that it would pop from the blue background (opposites on the color wheel)
I changed my name and blurb to a blue font, to make it more harmonious – however! – because it’s blue, it doesn’t compete with the “hotter” color of the title
I framed the milky way between the two title words
I added a drop cap to the title to elevate it from the busy graphic behind it

By playing with color, leading, font styles, and framing, you can give your title a starring role. Give it a try! If you’re sick of all the boring fonts on your computer, try Font Squirrel, my ABSOLUTE favorite font website.

And, because I love strong typography design, I’ve decided to take pictures of eye-catching signs, titles, etc. and send them up to Evernote. In fact, I have a whole “design file” on Evernote that I use to keep track of great covers, websites, etc. It’s like a writer’s notebook, but for book design.

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Your turn… Want to share examples of a compelling typography design? Want to talk about fonts? They can make or break a project, as far as I’m concerned. What do you think?