The Best of Cover Design

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Introduction

You can’t judge a book by its

cover, or so the saying goes.

We beg to differ.

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f course, people shouldn’t judge things by their

appearance, but it happens just the same.

We’re exposed to several thousand messages a day,

creating an environment where the sheer mass of infor-

mation can overwhelm us. After a while, it all looks the

same. Between advertising, guerilla campaigns, product

placement, and social media, it’s become extremely

difficult to get noticed, much less remembered. To be

successful, covers not only have to stand out amongst

all the clutter, but they also need to make a connection

with us. In just a few seconds, they need to communi-

cate what they are, pique our curiosity, or simply make

us smile. They need to engage us through inspiration.

Designing covers isn’t an easy task. It’s a minefield

of requirements, constraints, and subjective opinions,

oftentimes resulting in what we like to call the

“design-by-committee pit of despair.” The CEO’s daugh-

ter doesn’t like orange, change it. Make the logo bigger.

The sales team begins art directing. Welcome to the

land of mediocrity. We’ve all been there, and it requires

ninja-like skills to traverse and emerge in one piece.

Despite the challenges, some covers clearly rise to the

top. You can’t help but pick up the magazine, open the

brochure, or buy the book. They draw you in through

their cleverness, simplicity, or boldness. These are the

covers contained herein.

While judging the entries from around the world, the

team at Altitude Associates saw everything from

furniture catalogs to poetry books, annual reports to

textbooks. In each instance, consideration was given to

the intended audience, the competition, and the envi-

ronment in which the piece had to stand out. A crowded

magazine rack is a completely different situation than a

sales meeting. A children’s book has different readership

than a brochure about a luxury hotel. Even with these

variables, there was still one common goal of all covers:

inspire us to pick it up.

I once sat in a meeting where several annual reports

were being discussed. One in particular was designed

by Cahan & Associates, our competitor at the time. The

head of marketing said she didn’t like Cahan’s work, and

others nodded in agreement. As I watched, they picked

up, flipped through, and discarded various annuals.

Many were left on the table untouched, but every single

person picked up the report Cahan designed and spent

time with it. The cover was captivating, it stood out from

the pack, and had an easy-to-understand message. It

was the most successful annual of the bunch. I consid-

ered pointing this out to the CEO, but kept my

mouth shut.

It’s not hard to question the future of print, given the

rise of the digital. The next generation is adapting to

new technologies at an astounding pace, making the

rest of us feel prematurely old. Who can argue with in-

teractive magazines, or a device that holds 1,500 books

at your fingertips? Still, as more things go digital, people

begin to yearn for the tangible, the physical. Just look

to the rise of the DIY and craft movements for your an-

swer. And remember, when everything is digital, printed

pieces will have a much greater importance and impact.

I have tremendous respect for the firms and designers

included in this book. Cover design can be a difficult,

and sometimes heart-breaking endeavor. These folks

not only had amazing concepts and designs, but were

able to carry them through to final production. I hope

the selection inspires you as much as it inspired us.

If you’re reading this, then we’ve done our job.

O

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212-BIG-BOLT

3group

Alexander Egger

Bob Delevante | STUDIO

Boccalette

Communication Bureau Proekt

Company

Concrete Design

Design Ranch

DWR Design

graphische formgebung

Liedgren Design

MDM Design

Pentagram Design, Ltd.

Sensus Design Factory Zagreb

Werner Design Werks, Inc.

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