Do(n't) judge a book by its cover

"Don't judge a book by its cover".

This is sound advice, and there are good reasons for it. However...

The design of a cover is a story in itself, as it portrays the spirit of the book in one visual flashcard but it is often too removed from the content or the purpose of the book.

What looks like a simple task and a superficial need, cover design is the product of conscious and unconscious choices.

Editors, publishers, authors (sometimes), marketing, perception, bias, deceit, stereotyping, trends, good and bad design skills, categorising, culture, demographics: all this and more influences the design of a book cover.

It works well for the industry otherwise, there wouldn't be cover designs, but often it misses the mark because of the subjectivity (or objectivity) of the recipient: the readers.

All that said, a successful design is a sizeable factor in book sales in the cramped confines of bookshop shelves and table displays.

The covers I've picked here are the ones that caught my imagination and/or satisfied my graphic design parameters. Everybody has different tastes and sees different things, so there is no right and wrong, only what works best on average for the biggest audience. Of course, there are masterpieces as well as massive failures and abject executions and that's probably down to poor skill or decisions and often a misinterpretation of the target audience.

The following covers would have also made me want to buy the books and, as I have read a few of these and would love to read the rest, they are not just satisfying my design buds but also my literary taste: