Chantelle: No one wants to start, so I’ll start. *laughs* From a design perspective, after learning actually how hard it is to design a book cover, I think it should still reference and symbolise the themes and subject matter of the book but not give too much away. And, um, it should serve its purpose well in terms of the form of the book. If it’s a manga cover, it should look like one, you know . . . if it’s a fanfiction book . . . but that can also be really debatable too because all those books are so different.
Serena: Yup. I absolutely agree with Chantelle, and I won’t lie, guys, I purchase for aesthetics. Sometimes, I will purely buy something I know will look good on my bookshelf, and I’m not proud of that. I’m not proud, but I’m a material girl. Please quote that directly in your article, Mel. *laughs* I’m a bit like Liam – if it’s a nicer cover, I will buy it, but I only buy it if I have . . . if I own the secondhand copy – and I’m not in love with the secondhand copy cover – and I really did enjoy the book or I know I’m going to enjoy the book from what I’ve heard about it. And I will tend to buy a nicer-looking, um – I was going to say firsthand *laughs* – just a nicer-looking new cover rather than the secondhand book, because the majority of the books I have are just Penguin Classic covers that I have purchased secondhand, so I will buy for the aesthetic most of the time.
Zara: Also, can I just flag spines. I feel like if it doesn’t look good . . . like, sometimes a book will have such a nice cover and then they ruin it with an ugly spine that I don't want on my shelf. And I feel like you’re more likely to be looking at the spine the majority of the time – more than the actual cover – so why don’t we put more care into making our spines look good when that’s literally what we have to look at 90% of the time?
Serena: This is true. I also love nice little touches, like a little bit of embossing or something metallic. *Serena notices Erin’s Shrek background* Erin I only just realised! *laughs* But yes, I love a bit of embossing or a nice little detail on the cover that just makes it that little bit extra special.
Erin: Yeah, so speaking on the embossing, I love the clothbound books ‘cause they have a little bit of that 3D aspect to them, something tactile. Like, especially . . . *looks over to bookshelf behind her* Dorian Gray’s over there so I’m not going to go and get him, but Dorian Gray’s a nice cover, and it goes back to what Chantelle was saying about nice symbolism – it has a symbol from the book that I think gets mentioned at the start. *Sees chat talking about the Shrek background* *laughs* Yeah, Shrek is really nice, Reg.
Liam: I have two hot takes. My first one is that people on covers should not happen. I don’t like faces, I don't like bodies – anything like that, no thank you. Do not put anything on there. One exception, which has been noted by people before, but, Know My Name by Chanel Miller: fine, I take that. Everything else, I don’t want to see a face. I find that destroys half the book because now I already know what you want me to think. And so I hate it. Also, The Vanishing Half cover is awful. I feel like putting something in paint and mixing it around does not count as a cover, so I hate that. My second point is that the new design of covers where they're three-fourths and they have the little tab that isn't the front but is the second page? I’m like, what is this? Like, why do that? Like, *sputters* I want a full cover. I don’t want three-fourths of a front-page because it looks awful. I know you see the spine most of the time, but it just looks awful. And I can already see it happening. It happens all of the time with the new releases when they go to their small size–
Mel: Are you talking about stepback covers?
Liam: Yes, stepback covers. That’s disgusting. I hate that.
Serena: I don’t own one personally, but I’ve seen so many of them, and some people are obsessed with them, like, they LOVE them. And on my Instagram explore page, it’s so random, but it’s literally all books and then steak. Love steak, so it’s all steak cooking videos and then books. People are raving about these covers like, ‘Oh, I love them, love this new design.’ And I personally don’t own them . . . obviously when I travel with a book I would be terrified of that second page. I don’t know, something bad could happen to it if it had that stepback cover. But yeah, I don’t love the look, but I don’t hate it either. I guess I would need to own it first and see how it went.
Reg: I’d personally think the worst type of book covers are the film adaptation covers. *ahh of agreement from Liam* I think that’s the worst; the movie, I know, is going to be shit, like, *group laughs* I don’t need that on the book cover. I think the only cover that is nice that I can think of is Call Me By Your Name. *murmurs of agreement from group* I thought that was nice, like, that was a really nice cover; it had angles, it captured the vibes, you know what the book is about. I thought that was really nice. But anything else, no. No.
Chantelle: It all goes back to the decline of movie poster design – back in the day, or even in some countries now, they put in a lot of effort into designing movie posters. Now it’s like . . . HEADS FLOATING. BIG ACTOR. And then they do the same for the book adaptations. It’s like, what’s the point? Like, a lot of people have a really strong attachment to these characters, and you're seeing them on screen. ‘Oh, that’s not what I envisioned.’ ‘Oh, it’s so ugly, like you really just did the bare minimum, like I could do that on Pixart, bro.’
Zara: You know what I think the worst current book adaptation cover is? The one for Six Of Crows *Liam agrees loudly* I despise that cover.
Liam: Awful.
Zara: So bad. Truly awful.
Liam: When we were at Kino . . . I literally thought the ones that were like ‘Now on Netflix’ or whatever it was, ‘Coming soon on Netflix’, were the worst. Now they have ‘As seen on TikTok’ and I hate that. That’s even worse.
Chantelle: That’s embarrassing. *laughs*
Liam: That is so embarrassing. And this one was embossed. It wasn’t a sticker, it was in the cover. They had purposely gone and been, ‘As seen on TikTok’. Like, no I actually didn’t see that on TikTok, I just want to read this damn book.
Lovina: I hate that too! And when it's a permanent thing, you can’t get rid of it ‘cause it's not a sticker. I feel like seeing the ‘As seen on TikTok’ or ‘As seen on Netflix’ lowkey makes me not want to buy it. AHAH
Serena: When we saw it in Canberra in that bookstore, or was that a different occasion? ‘Cause I know we saw the TikTok sticker and then – maybe Erin pointed it out to me – I wasn’t sure what book we saw it on, but um, I don't know . . . it’s not like I like the sticker. I'm not a fan of it. But at the same time, publishing is a dying industry and that’s the only way they can advertise and get that traction and get people really, really purchasing those books, even if people don’t read them but they want them for the TikTok hype and want to say they own them. Like, do your thing, publishing industry, ‘cause other entertainment/media/arts industries have to do things like that to get the money they need to survive, I suppose?
Liam: But I would love to see a stat that tells me that a sticker increases sales. Because, I don’t know, I feel like . . .
Serena: We won't get stats like that for a while.
Liam: No, I'm just saying. ‘Cause, you know, they already put it on the TikTok table. I don't then need to see it on the book. As Lovina says, that’s permanent. That’s not coming off anymore. It should just be a little sticker you can peel off. Now, it’s embossed into that front cover. I’m always going to remember TikTok. I’m like, bro . . . how am I meant to get my 1000 book collection and be like, ‘Wow, look at all these books,’ and then I pull one out and it’s literally like, ‘Oh yeah, Tiktok.’ Nah. I’m not even taking it seriously.
Chantelle: Show your grandchildren. *old voice impression* ‘Oh, let me pass this important book from TikTok.’ *laughs*
Zara: It might go up in value, Liam. When TikTok’s deleted and it’s not around and it becomes like Vine. It's like a relic, you know.
Liam: Nah, if there was one that said ‘As seen in your latest Blockbuster rental’ . . . I don't think that’s gone up in value. If anything that’s gone down.
Chantelle: Because it’s always the very same books that get the same hype circulation. My BookTok is different from other people's BookTok, like, I've curated it to be diverse people. For me, it’s the for you page. Like, I don't want to talk about Sarah J. Maas *laughs* I don't wanna *sputters* like, PLEASE! *laughs* PLEASE! The grip that she has, and people are praising her like it’s high lit, and the covers are always cut off at the neck, you know? Like okay, no face. But on the good side, there are really well-illustrated covers where there are textures there, you know? Not like the flat, ‘I trace pictures and I sell them on Etsy’.
Liam: I WAS LITERALLY GOING TO BRING THAT UP. *laughs* That was literally my next point. I was literally gonna say, the blank face images of random people.
Chantelle: All the romance novels.
Liam: Ugh. Literally all of them.
Chantelle: If I were to choose between the really bad photoshop romance novel covers versus the cartoon-y ones . . . I’ll let it fly. But they feel offensive as a designer too, when we’re all about bringing the mark-making and texture and bringing part of the story to life whilst not giving too much away.
*silence for several seconds*
Liam: Was that only the first question?
*group laughs*
Chantelle: The original Six of Crows cover because it’s just the wings of the bird and the city. Like, Gestalt Principles right there – the technical name: fluctuating figure and ground. And it has the texture and grit of the vibes of the book, of the heist, so it really looks nice. I love it a lot.
Serena: I’ve got one right here. I had it in my bag right next to me. But Piranesi. Frickin’ love it. Like, it's so sexy, it’s embossed, you can feel the textures and the layers. And it just gives that little bit of . . . I don't know what to say. And then, obviously, the metallic tones as well, and it’s just so nice to touch. And it’s a bit off-topic – now I've looked at all my books – I cannot stand books I own like this (Sorrow) that are quite big, which is kind of annoying . . . ugh, stupid background, I'm just going to turn it off. I love being in The Office but it’s not helping right now. Yes, there we go. That size difference annoys the crap out of me. I know that a lot of books will be released and come out in this (bigger) size and you have to wait a while to get this (smaller) size. And it’s fine, I will still buy it if I really want to read it as soon as it comes out, but yeah, the size frustrates me a lot. But Piranesi is one of my favourites by far.
Zara: I think that books that size should just be banned. It's just so infuriating. Like, I just want one level on my shelf. It’s really annoying. I’ll just jump in since I’m already ranting. I started – wait, let me just take you to my bookshelf – collecting Oxford Classics, Oxford World Classics I think they're called, because I saw a BookTuber that had a whole shelf full of them, and I was like, that actually really goes with her aesthetic and whatnot. And I was like, okay, if I have a house in the future, I would want . . . they're just all white-spined and I really like white spines because I feel like they're neutral, they’ll go with anything and it’s not too offensive if you have a shelf full of white spines. So for me, I started collecting them for that reason. ‘Cause I was like, this is something I can see myself holding onto for a very long time, and it's something I'd be happy to have in my kitchen or, like, a house or something. So yeah, A+ for design.
Chantelle: This (Almond) caught Reg and Liam’s eyes, and I love the handwriting on it. Everyone uses the same basic calligraphy I used to use back in Year 9 on covers now. So if your typography is really nice– Like, this is obviously scratchy handwriting because it suits the vibe – it’s about a teenager in Korea so it suits it. And it is very simple, but it’s not giving Etsy illustration, you know? And I like the shapes. Even the back, if you pay attention to all sides of the cover, that’s what makes it good.
Liam: I have two. East of Eden, in this particular– I don't know what they call this. There is a name for these. Penguin Orange Collection but not the normal Penguin Orange Collection, it’s . . . I don’t know [spoiler: it is actually Penguin Orange Collection]. I hate the normal orange Penguin ones, but I like this one because it's . . . I don't know, graffitied almost. And I feel like it speaks more to the story because that’s my issue with the orange classics: they are all the same, and they have the most interesting stories but their covers are all the same. Whereas this actually has designs on it that speak to the story.
Zara: Can I make a point about that?
Liam: Yeah. Do it.
Zara: That is why the red spines are so much better. They actually have some sort of detail. Or the Oxford World Classics have a picture that relates.
Liam: Yeah, I agree, and so that’s why I refuse to buy them. But in this particular case, I bought it. My other one is Transcendent Kingdom. I love this one so much. Like, I don’t know what it is, but the design – and this is what I mean by ‘I don't want people on the cover.’ I would rather see a really nice design that actually speaks to, like, the fact that this is heavily rooted in African culture. And you can get that from the cover, and you can understand that. And so, I just really appreciate that. And this is what I want to see from a book because this makes me interested in picking up the book. ‘Cause I actually care about the characters before I start reading.
Erin: This one’s a bit of a random one, but I just remembered it because I liked it. It’s my Wizard of Oz. This one, the Wizard of Oz one, it’s a hardback. So if I dropped it on my head it might hurt me. But the spine is really nice, and it has these cool details where it’s almost sparkling, and it has the green pages. I love when books have coloured pages (sprayed edges). And then it has illustrations, so even though it has like little people on the front . . . because it’s a kids book, I feel like it gets away with it. Like, it’s cute. And then my other ones that I liked, not so much because of the covers but more so the relationship they have with each other ‘cause it’s a duology . . . I’m sure Chantelle will appreciate this; it’s The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic. We have this cool red centrepiece along with the ribbony effect . . . And on the back there’s fighting. So it’s all around, all encompassing. And it’s the same with The Dragon Republic. We have the same motif, which I really like, and it has the cool fighting as well. So I just like it and don’t listen to what other people say.
Chantelle: Everytime I see that I’m like, *gasp* trauma.
Zara: Serena, what's wrong with you, saying you’ll take an orange Penguin Classic over the modern box set???
*disapproving sounds from Serena*
Liam: It’s so ugly. They’re very ugly. I think the typography is awful.
Erin: I agree.
Serena: I think they just degrade the books.
Zara: I disagree strongly. There’s nothing uglier than an orange Penguin Classic.
Serena: Like, obviously, I don’t love the orange Penguin Classics, but I would take them any day over the modern sets because I also feel like the modern set only has really, really short books. Every single one of the books is tiny and thin, and it just feels like I'm holding one of the catalogues that you’d get in primary schools . . . they’re just really ugly, that’s my thought.
Chantelle: Yeah, the purpose of the orange Penguin Classics is, like, capitalism and for books to sell more; if you own those it’s like, ‘Wow, I read’ . . . but do you really read??
Erin: Exactly. That’s what Walter Benjamin was hitting up against. I had to read him the other day. I think the term is ‘pseudo-individualisation’ or something; essentially when it’s the same thing just repackaged to make it seem better. That’s why we’re conditioned to buy when the new edition comes out – ‘Ooh, I need to get it ‘cause it's a limited edition, it's a hard cover, it’s gold.’ And when Liam bought Song of Achilles . . . why? Capitalism.
Chantelle: I think you guys will appreciate a Penguin book interrogating this exact topic called The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. The cover is literally a reproduction of each of Penguin’s spines. It’s commentary on capitalism and the reproduction of art, which obviously relates to book covers.
Reg: Speaking of spines, I had never really thought about spines until Zara brought it up, but that’s such a good point. Like, I have The Memory Police, and the spine is embossed here as well. It’s really nice, I really like it. And then this is Little Women – I bought this one because the cover is really nice and the spine is really nice. When you look at the cover that’s the first thing you see, but when you put it on your shelf you see the spine. I never really thought about that before.
Mel: Did anyone have any comments about that last one, or should I get into the next question?
Liam: Yeah, omit everything Zara said about the classic edition modern thing.
Serena: Yeah, they’re hideous. I don’t know what Zara’s on about.
*group laughs*
Zara: I love the fact that it gets to have new art and that artists get commissioned for that, and you get to see new interpretations of the work, and often they draw the characters on the inside of the cover, so I love that. But I think I have to lean more towards the overrated side because it makes book lovers feel bad about themselves and it forces people to buy multiple copies of a book when they don’t actually need it. And sometimes people can’t afford to – and especially living in Australia, it’s really hard to afford those books. And it can make people feel really bad about themselves, especially with BookTubers when they have whole shelves of, like, embossed hardcovers. And then you’re like, ‘Why can’t I have an embossed hardcover?’ And then you’re like, ‘Holy fuck, they’re spending so much money on books.’ And they might not even read it or like it. And it’s kind of like, what are we buying these for? But the art aspect of it, I love. I just wish that art could be more incorporated into the first release anyway.
Chantelle: They’re very saturated, and a lot of it is, like, smut boxes. A lot of crates are that specific area of fantasy. Recently, they’ve been trying to diversify the book boxes so that we can have more than just fantasy – to have that fanart. Because a lot of contemporary fiction doesn’t get fanart. It’s usually a het couple in a fantasy series that gets candles and pins and merch that comes in the box.
Liam: I think there was a box that WithCindy got once, and it had dick soap in it. Like, soap in the shape of a dick, and it’s, like, fairy dick. It was so interesting. Like, I could never imagine any other type of book being like . . . yeah. It’s so interesting how that world works. Because I’ve not bought a crate, but I have bought an edition from a crate. I got this edition of Our Violent Ends from Fairyloot. And the reason I got it was because it was signed. I’m a sucker for that. BUT I also got the exclusive edition of this book (Beautiful World Where Are You) because it was yellow instead of blue. I don’t know if this version of All the Light We Cannot See counts as an exclusive edition because they’re calling it the ‘American Modern Classics’ and they have different designs. But the only reason I got this edition was because I hated the one with the city. Erin called me out earlier, I did get the gold edition of They Both Die at the End–
Serena: I am sorry to interrupt you Liam, but that’s where I have qualms. I feel like they are appropriately rated – the exclusive book covers that get designed – but they can’t be so lacklustre. Like, all that is done is a colour change, no added silver, please–
Liam: I got this for $3 at Big W.
Serena: No. Don’t believe you.
Liam: So like, this was a steal. And when I got this edition, I passed on my other one, so it was good. Now this one – the Madeline Miller one (Song of Achilles) – this one is my favourite one because it is just amazing. And it was special because of the fact that it wasn't made a year after the release, it was made ten years after the initial release, so it came with an author’s note at the start about the impact of the book for her personally. So I like that edition. I function very well under capitalism because I really do love the exclusive editions. So if they release them, I will buy them under any circumstance, unfortunately.
Lovina: ‘I function well under capitalism.’ I'm quoting that from now on.
Serena: You’re just telling us: it is how it is. Like, you’re not going to change, you have no intention of changing, this is just who you are.
Liam: If I don’t like the book, I won’t buy it. But if I like the book . . . what’s that one . . . they released the exclusive edition for . . . what’s that book Erin hates?
Erin: Addie La Rue?
Liam: Addie La Rue!
Serena: Oh, I saw Imogen, one of our members, purchase that. And I think it was on their TikTok account. But it did look beautiful. It was a white cover with this kind of silver embossing, and there was obviously art on the first two pages and the last two I think. It looked really, really nice.
Liam: Yeah, but see that's interesting. Are they doing that to change people’s opinions about the book?
Serena: To be honest, I think that was just mainly to have something to make a TikTok video about.
Zara: Going off what Chantelle was saying about how it’s usually fantasy. Yes, that is such a big point. Like, why? But I feel like that kind of speaks to general book life as well; fantasy is given such a platform. I did pay, I think, over $120 for this (How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories), and it’s not even the actual book. It’s just literally this – and I know Serena didn’t even like The Cruel Prince that much – but this is the short story for The Cruel Prince series.
Serena: I didn’t mind the trilogy but–
Zara: Don’t talk to me. *laughs* I don’t want to talk about it.
Serena: I might re-read them . . . I think that listening to audiobooks sort of hindered me, and there were a lot of things I missed. And I listened to all three within less than three or four days. And they were all at a faster speed. And I was really engrossed in them, but I think I gave them 3 stars. But I’ll re-read them at some point, Zara, I promise. I’ll borrow your copy.
Zara: It’s okay, you don’t have to reread them, I think it’ll be the same outcome for you. *laughs* This has gold foil edges, and the reason why I bought this was because I wanted to put a Cruel Prince shrine up in my room, and I was making this the centre. But now, I actually can’t remember what happened in The Cruel Prince, so I haven’t read this yet because I need to remember what happens in the main one before I read the prequel. Since Liam did a haul, I now also want to do a haul. I only have two books though, so I have one more (to show) because unlike him, I curb my spending habits a little bit. *laughs* This is The Night Circus 10 year anniversary edition or something. The reason why I got this: The Night Circus is the best. It also came with other goodies. It is signed. The pages (edges are black and white bars) – I feel like that’s so inventive. I haven’t really seen that much and it’s very Night-Circus-y . . . Nice cover. It has a little message, kind of similar to the Madeline Miller one. I feel like they repeated these formats, which is what they do a lot. Things I don’t like: there was no art in this, and I was kind of like . . . there’s hardly any art of the two main characters for this book as it is, so I would have loved some art.
Serena: I’m just going to scroll through my Goodreads super quick.
Zara: I believe this just had a cover redesign, and I just heard someone on BookTok the other day say they hated this cover and they were waiting for the new cover, but I love the cover for My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
Reg: I was going to say that too! I was going to bring that up, I really like it as well. Yes.
Zara: It is just perfect. I love the typography. Like, it’s not straight, it’s a good font. I’m loving the italics in the name, and the swash of pink is so eye-catching. And it’s obviously got the painting, which just makes everything so damn good. And then the back isn’t just plain – it keeps going and . . . it’s such a good cover! And the fact that I saw BookTok slander this and that people were excited for the redesign – I was like, ‘Are you crazy??’ And the redesign is just really bad.
Reg: I wanted to get the book purely because of the cover. I didn’t know anything about the book, but I was like, I really like this cover, and I wanted to read it. But then I heard people say, ‘Oh, it’s not that good,’ but I’m like, the cover is good so I’m still interested! So I think a book cover really does help gain interest, and I heard people not really liking it, but I really like the cover and I’m really interested in it.
Serena: I’d be interested to hear what Liam has to say – like, obviously, it’s a painting, but it’s still a depiction of a person – and Liam’s take was no-go on people on covers. So what is your opinion on that Liam? I’m curious.
Liam: Is it a painting or is it a photo?
Serena: It is a painting of a lady.
Liam: I feel like that’s passable then. But is it a non-fiction?
Zara: No.
Liam: Then I hate it.
Chantelle: It’s a legitimate painting though, like a historical painting.
Liam: Oh, if it has history, fine. *laughs* But was it painted for the purpose of this book?
Zara & Chantelle: No.
Liam: Well then, if it has history then, yeah, it’s fine. I do like that cover. I do think it’s one of the better ones.
Reg: I agree with you, Liam [on people on covers]. I think, if it’s their full face . . . like, The Bell Jar has her whole face. And I had it sitting on my desk, it was cropped off, and I went to sleep, so when I opened my eyes it was staring at me. I was like, ‘Ohmygod I gotta put it away.’ SHE WAS STARING AT ME.
Chantelle: There was the era in maybe 2014 where the YA books were just ‘girl looking fiercely, hair blowing in the wind’ and half of the face showing.
Liam: I have a book for this! Rodham. This is awful. AWFUL.
Reg: (Showing The Bell Jar) Imagine THIS staring you in the face. Dude, this is scary at night. This is too much. This is too close. This is too close for comfort.
Liam: Maybe I need a little asterisk for when I said I hate people on books. Maybe it’s when there’s no artistic emphasis on why they’re on there. This is just Hillary Clinton on the cover of a book. Like, I get it, the book is about her, but I don’t really care. Like, I don’t want that? So yeah, that’s my take.
Erin: This is my favourite book cover–
Serena: It’s going to be Fifty Shades. It’s going to be Fifty Shades, I already know.
Erin: You think it’s going to be Fifty Shades? Hedge your bets. Ladies and gents, it is actually . . . Control of Government Action!
*laughs*
Erin: Kidding, kidding. That’s not my fave.
Serena: I went and grabbed a few, and I realised that I am really in a red phase at the moment. But Emotional Female, I just love how angular it is. The colour palette, ugh, it’s so beautiful. I love it. It’s not like the font is anything special, but I don't know, I just like the layout. I was a bit sad because I don’t have any special editions but–
Zara: No.
Serena: What do you mean no? You don’t like the cover?
Zara: No. Not of Emotional Female.
Liam: No, it’s kind of ugly.
Serena: Don’t talk to me right now. Don’t talk to me right now, guys. I was a bit sad because I thought I didn’t have any special covers, but I realised I have The Alchemist 20th anniversary, but I think everyone has this one. Then I like Exciting Times, so like I said: red. I like the toothbrushes, it’s cute. I’ve heard it’s pretty crap, which is a bit sad. I’ll still read it, but I’ll decide for myself. But I like it. And finally, I think The Stranger is so cool, also known as The Outsider, I think it’s so cool. Honestly, If I were, like, a model, I would use it as an accessory – walking down to the airport with The Stranger in my hand.
Reg: I can see that, I can see that.
Serena: Yeah, it’s so beautiful! And it feels real nice. And I can’t believe you guys don’t like Emotional Female. What the heck? Why? Tell me why?
Erin: It’s too, like, I just don’t like the segments. I just don’t like the segments. What’s with the block colours? It doesn’t make sense. *Zara agrees*
Liam: Chantelle, what do you think as the person who’s studied book cover design?
Chantelle: There’s use of segments in modularity. That type of design is modular design. It’s based on a really set grid, and all the text would be in columns. It’s very typical Swiss design. It’s not ugly, just, other people are looking for something new. And when people think about an Emotional Female, like, where’s the emotion?
Serena: I’m a simple person, guys. I’m not a creative person, so I like the simple things in life.
Zara: Mel, for the record, can we talk about book redesign? Atlas Six was mentioned earlier, and the redesigned cover is so much uglier than the self-published one.
Mel: Like honestly, depending on how much content we have, I might split this into two separate articles. I think one of them is going to be on people picking this or that and the other one will talk about capitalism and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, like Chantelle, you will get your educational stage. *laughs from Chantelle*
Chantelle: I have one more. To rep the manga lovers because manga covers are amazing and they don’t get much love . . . when I say I love illustration: THIS. IS. BEAUTIFUL (The Girl From The Other Side). And I love how they always include coloured art in it.
Mel: Oh yeah, the colour pages!
Chantelle: My favourite is Blue Period because it’s about a delinquent getting into art. And the art is beautiful! It’s one of my favourite things. The back has art too! I love the art. The typography on the cover is painted on because they’re making art? Like, full circle. It’s very attentive to detail. The designer paid a lot of attention to what elements they wanted on there. It feels purposeful. I understand it even if I have no clue about the context. I can look at it and gauge what it is about.
Reg: Bringing it back to that point of characters on a book, I think it excludes manga.
Liam: Yeah.
Reg: Because I have Noragami. It’s one my favourite mangas and anime. And I love how each volume has the characters on it. I love the cover, love the art. Yeah, it’s one of my favourites.
Zara: What I was saying before is how I feel like self-published books always have some pretty good covers, and when they get a publishing deal the covers will turn really ugly. And right now, something I’m really angry about is A Dowry of Blood. I really like the self-published cover. It's really pretty and has gothic vibes. Just compare this to the redesign.
*general sounds of disappointment*
Zara: It’s not serving gothic horror, which is what this is.
Reg: The font on that looks really cool, especially on the word ‘Blood’.
Serena: Also, Zara, what’s that book you mentioned recently to me with the self-published cover that you had in your cart on eBay or Amazon or something like that?
Zara: That was Atlas Six. I had it in my cart ready to buy on Amazon, and I didn’t realise they had gotten a publishing deal. And they were changing the cover, and now the cover I was about to buy is going on eBay for hundreds of dollars. I was like, what?
Chantelle: The new cover is at Big W for $16. It’s not only ugly but also doesn’t give you the same sophistication as the first one. But knowing the book design process, it is not in the hands of the designer. It’s all the publishing higher-ups being like, ‘No, I like this.’
Reg: I just quickly remembered a cover I really liked, so I’m just going back to the other question. I really liked Crying in H Mart. I’m waiting to find that UK cover so I can buy it because I really like the noodles and the font and everything. I just really liked how simple it was.
Chantelle: Simplicity works because it has the crayon-y texture over the noodles. It matches well with the actual book. I also love Jbrekkie in general.
Reg: Yes!
Talia: I’m not technically part of this discussion, but I’m about to speak. *laughs*
Mel: *laughs* Speak, speak.
Talia: I have never even read these books, but I just really appreciated – I’ve seen this on Instagram a lot – the redesigns of the Cinder books?
Chantelle: Oh, the Lunar Chronicles?
Talia: Yes!
Chantelle: Oh girl . . . Mel and I . . . *laughs* I was very into that back in the day.
Talia: I never read them. I don’t know anything about them, but I remember seeing the cover art when I was in bookshops when I was a teen and being like, ‘That is disgusting. I’m never looking at that.’ And I’ve seen the redesigned covers and I really like them. I still don’t think I’ll read the books, but I like the redesigned covers.
Chantelle: I’d say amongst the saturation of really bad YA covers present during the time I read Lunar Chronicles, the original Lunar Chronicles covers were actually nice. They were very basic symbolic covers. Yes, it’s Cinderella because of the shoe. Yes, it’s Snow White because of the apple. But in terms of the new redesign, there was some stuff about whitewashing the black character in the art style. And one of the characters was portrayed very skinny, but she’s supposed to be curvy.
Talia: That’s another thing about putting characters on covers. I don’t read as much YA now, but when I was actually a teenager reading YA every single day, I noticed – and this has been talked about by people critiquing the publishing industry – but the person they put on the covers would be this random pale white person even though the main character would be a person of colour. And I’m like, what is this? What is this?
Chantelle: Getty Images. That’s the thing. More than that, they need to diversify stock images and the quality of the stock images. Because the designer probably gets an assets folder and it’s like, ‘Work from here; sorry we’re not going to let you work beyond that.’ So it’s a systemic problem related to that too.
Talia: Mmm.
Chantelle: In terms of good redesign editions, I would say Percy Jackson US edition. There have been, like, two or three, and they’ve been pretty good. UK ones though, they’re still ugly. Why do we still keep the same boy-with-sword-and-the-mythological-beast? It looks really ugly. US editions get nice updates. They enrich it even more in the newest one. I’ve also seen the designer’s concept work, and the process is really cool. Greek mythology has so much symbolism so they work really well. So they should do that with the UK ones because they’re still really ugly.
Mel: Serena, did you have something to say? I think you raised your hand.
Serena: *laughs* I put my hand down because I realised how stupid of a comment it is. But I miss the good old days on Wattpad where, like, before each section, they would have screenshots of the random Google images of what the characters would be wearing in each section.
Chantelle: Polyvore?
Erin: The Polyvore!
Chantelle: Have I ever told you my origin story as a graphic designer? I helped design my friend’s Wattpad book covers.
Serena: That’s amazing. That’s amazing to know. I miss that part of it, like, you know, because I can’t visualise things [Serena has aphantasia]. I really liked that because it was a really nice visual aid for me, especially when I was reading on my phone or tablet or whatever. It was so fun to think, ‘Oh, that’s the outfit that they’re going to wear today at school!’ and ‘They’re going to flirt with so-and-so . . .’ And then when I stopped reading them, that’s when I got into my reading rut.
Reg: Also side note, I love how they added the actors as well. Like, actors that played the characters.*group laughs* Like, the Italian model? It’s always them. Yeah. Love that.
Zara: In terms of redesigns of books, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a redesign that I’ve liked. Like, genuinely, I don’t think I’ve seen a redesign and been like, ‘Damn, that made a massive change.’ Like, maybe it will make a small improvement but not enough for me to think it warranted redesign. Most redesigns, I find, go backwards, and they’re uglier. Like the Twilight books. Oh my god, that’s the worst redesign in history.
Mel: Chantelle brought up an interesting point that these redesigns are pandering to an audience from another time, so the style of book covers does change from when we were in primary to when we were in high school. It’s very different. And now we can see a lot of what Chantelle calls ‘Etsy/typography-based’ contemporary, you know? I think, in a way, the most annoying thing as a designer is when you’re told that you’re supposed to design something that fits within the system. You know, you want people to pick up your book because it looks good, but you don’t want people to notice that your book sticks out from the pack like it doesn’t belong there. So it’s really interesting. And it’s also interesting to say that you don’t like any of the redesigns, Zara. So does that mean that you preferred the original ones, or were you just indifferent to the first one and then kind of went, ‘These redesigns don’t do anything for it either’?
Zara: Um, I think I prefer the original or think the original is good. But it goes from bad to worse sometimes.
Erin: Well I know with Margaret Atwood, a lot of her earlier editions were from the 70s, 80s, so she has new ones. Her more contemporary editions are quite nice, like, Robber Bride is quite cool. Like you don’t have a person, it’s quite a nice purple colour, good contrast. I like the symbolism they’ve made with the redesign – the ‘O’ is missing like it's been robbed. So smart.
Serena: I just have beef with it all. There are SO many book covers I just want to be able to purchase, but the ridiculous price – literally with the American covers, the cost of delivery alone is triple the cost of the book, so it’s completely unattainable. So I know a lot of people overseas have the same issue where they’re trying to find books they want to read, and they just have to settle for downloading them illegally and not even having a physical copy. Like, we’re very lucky that we have a bookshop in any town/city we go to. But, just, I feel bad! Like, obviously, I feel selfish because I want a special looking cover, but people just don’t have those covers at all because of the lack of accessibility of actual hard copy books . . . and banned books as well are a real issue. In Pakistan, it’s a primarily Islamic state, so you wouldn’t be able to access queer authors like we are able to. So there’s really not too much you can get access to. So it’s really sad, but that’s a bit of a different topic. But yeah, there are plenty of covers I’d like to get but I can’t.
Chantelle: And it’s not just accessibility regarding the store, but, like, money-wise, things like capitalism but also space. Like, in the Philippines, you would not have enough space to actually have books there physically. So a lot of people overseas like my cousins would have to resort to downloading illegal copies because you can’t justify it in the wider picture in terms of what you prioritise buying with regards to multiple editions. But even with me, being good with your money and frugality is already really embedded in my culture anyway, so I’d say I’m very good with my money and with books. For the longest time, I didn’t buy any because I couldn’t justify it in the wider picture because I had other things in my life I needed to prioritise. Even though advancing your learning through reading is really important.
Reg: This could just be me, because I’m, like, dumb, but if there’s multiple versions, I kind of find it confusing sometimes? There’s so many. I’m just like, ‘Why? Why are there so many?’ If there’s just one or two, then okay, I understand. It could be an updated version. But if there’s four different covers, I’m just like, ‘Why?’ Like, I love Normal People, but why are there six different versions of the cover?
Chantelle: The illusion of choice!
Reg: Yeah, that’s true.
Chantelle: If we’re talking about Crying in H Mart, going back to what I said about simplicity, but it has texture I liked in it. It’s not soulless. Whilst the one we have here in Australia, the UK one, it’s giving Etsy traced linework. It’s like, way to be very, very literal – it’s a girl that’s obviously been traced over a photo of her holding groceries. *laughs* Like yes, you are crying in H Mart. But the cover that we like [the US one], now that I hold the story close to my heart, you can further analyse just the noodles. It brings it back to the heart of the story and her life and what she's learned from her mum. It all ties back together. You have to be able to appreciate the cover before going into it, and then after having a more enriched understanding it’s like, ‘I can also interpret it this way as well.’ It’s a more holistic way of enjoying the book.
Liam: There are some cases where I do appreciate both. When I think of the Circe ones? Both of them are different, but they are giving me very different vibes individually. And so I like that I can’t choose. If I saw both of them in the store, I wouldn’t be able to choose.
Serena: I think we think that, but it’s also appealing to different tastes and different markets as well. Like in the lead up to this discussion, I was asking Erin if I needed to prepare anything for this, and at the same time I was frantically looking up articles that caught my eye and which I thought might be interesting about book covers. And in one I was reading, I found this excerpt from it: ‘One noticeable difference is that American covers don't shy away from portraying characters. Many British covers avoid this, giving the audience a chance to imagine their own versions.’ I feel like that’s very true. I don’t know if it’s mean to say, but with American covers, a lot of it is really simplified or tends to look really flashy to appeal to, I don’t know, the capitalist mindset, I guess?
Zara: I think what you’re saying is really true. Because I share Liam’s opinion that I like US covers more. But Jack Edwards came out with that video recently where him and Steph were doing UK vs US covers, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, US covers are going to smash the competition.’ And then the UK/Australian covers won, and I was like, ‘What the fuck?’ The covers they were saying ‘yes’ to, I was finding so ugly. They were like, ‘This UK/Australian cover is so niceeee! The American cover is so ugly.’ I was like, ‘No, the American covers are beautiful!’
Serena: I think we just want what we can’t have.
Chantelle: I was reading a reference today in my social media class, though I’d already read it before, called The Distinction of Taste by Pierre Bourdieu. It relates to that subjectiveness of taste worldwide. Beyond just the US and UK. Editions in Asia, covers in Asia, are really cool! That’s a major generalisation because Asia is the largest continent. But books from Korea and Japan – their typography system and design system is different, so the affordances in the cover are really interesting. But I wanted to show this book, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea – both of the covers are nice! This is the UK one, and I love illustration and it’s really nice and it wraps around the spine and the back. And it’s just full of life.
Talia: I like what you said about the Asian covers being cool. I was trying to find a copy of The Poppy War, because I just do not like the white covers. I just can’t stand white space. And I came across – I’m not sure if it was Malaysian, but it might have been Malaysian [it was Indonesian!] – the Malaysian edition, and it was just really, really nice. It was taking that orange that you have on our white background covers, and it was an illustration style that I liked more. I just wish we had access to those markets. I was literally like, ‘I’m going to buy this,’ then I realised the actual text itself was not in English. *laughs*
Chantelle: I know what you’re talking about because it is really, really nice. I get The Poppy War’s thing on white, because symbolically it has lots of meaning regarding where it’s set. In design, like in school, they always emphasise white space because it’s still very embedded in Swiss/Western/Euro-centric design. So they always don’t like crowded things, and they kind of delegate traditional – or anything with ethnic flavour – they’re like, ‘No. It’s just too much.’ You can respect the way you need white space to breathe visually, but sometimes it’s a very overwhelming thing to look at on a sensory level as well.
Zara: I have genuinely considered buying books that are just fully in Korean because I love the details of the illustrations they put on them. I want to feel fully immersed in the book when I look at the book cover. Like, I wish we lived in a country where detailed illustrations were the norm, because I love that.
Liam: That’s so true. I hate Convenience Store Woman, but that cover is so nice. There’s something about that cover that’s so nice, but I hate the book. But I like putting it on display because it has really nice covers.
*Everyone chooses imagery-based*
*Liam chooses spine, everyone else chooses cover*
*Group opinion is divided in half*
Serena: It was a pufferfish. *laughs*
Mel: Okay *laughs* Thanks guys, and goodnight!
