Welcome to Covers 101

We know the saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, but there isn't anybody who isn't slightly influenced by covers. From everything from articles to short stories to poems, a good cover image is the first draw to a reader. As a gateway to your story, a great cover can be a game-changer, and the idea of choosing a cover puts many writers off. Our aim in this article is to give you a few practical steps to build your skills and help you design covers that are sure to win readers over. 

Relevance to content: Your cover should give a sneak peek into the content of your story or article. Make sure it accurately reflects the main theme or subject matter. Use images, colours, and fonts that align with the general tone and message of your piece so interested readers can spot your work in the crowd. 

Cover Design? Keep it simple: Sometimes less is more, and with covers, you want to cut to the bone of things. A clean and simple cover design is often your best bet. Try to avoid overcrowding your cover with too many elements; choose an image with great definition if you’re using a picture. 

Fonts:

We know everyone has their favourite fonts oh, but with covers, we recommend choosing fonts that are easy to read, even in thumbnail size. Plis ignore the voice telling you to choose that complicated font that you hope will make your article come off as “mysterious”; that font may be hard to decipher. Experiment with font sizes and styles to highlight important elements such as the title or subtitle. 

Consistency:

Think of us; we’re very big on Teal and White no?

If your story or article is part of a series or is associated with a brand, maintaining consistency in design elements such as logos, colours, and fonts is a great way to go with your cover designs. You’re a brand, and maintaining consistency will help build brand recognition and make your content easily identifiable. 

Emotional Appeal:

Consider the emotions you want to evoke in your audience and try to incorporate elements that resonate with those emotions. Your choice of cover image, tones, colours, and fonts should be in line with the emotions you intend to evoke. 

Experiment and get feedback:

Don't hesitate to try different designs and layouts of your covers to see what styles or moods attract more eyes, or turn your friends and fans into an ad hoc focus group by asking them which would capture their attention on a bookshelf. 

Inspiration is all around you. Graphic storytellers, artists, and creative peers are everywhere. If you want to take a crack at it yourself, Canva is an excellent free image editing tool.

 With the help of the Iko community, you can learn, tweak, and improve upon your covers until you've reached perfection. 

Cheers, 

Iko Editorial Team.