15 Book Cover Design Ideas to Grab Readers’ Attention in 2024

The old saying goes, "Don't judge a book by its cover," but when it comes to selling books, that's exactly what potential readers will do. Your book cover is often the first—and sometimes only—thing that potential readers will see, incorporating essential design elements such as cover art and typography.

Book covers give readers a glimpse into your story. It’s a shortcut that helps them determine if they like your work and if they can trust you with their valuable reading time. Book covers are the critical element that sells your book, and it's essential to ensure that your cover is professional, eye-catching, and reflective of the book’s contents.

15 Best Book Cover Ideas for Inspiration

When looking for book cover design inspiration, start with the bestselling books within your genre. Readers have specific expectations for book cover designs, and most genres already have a formula guaranteed to work. But don’t be afraid to experiment with other unconventional book cover ideas to stand out from the competition. 

1. Minimalism

Minimalist design is always popular because it conveys the book’s main point elegantly and profoundly. The clever use of whitespace helps the book stand out from cluttered book cover designs. Minimalist book cover design can be used in a broad genre of books, from non-fiction business books to sassy fiction books. 

Minimalist Book Cover Art by nskvsky

Katrina (nskvsky) is an expert cover art designer on Fiverr, check out her gigs or request a custom offer for your design.

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Famous Examples of Minimalism

Timur Vermes’ Look Who’s Back isn’t afraid to stand out with lots of whitespaces and a clever illustration that hints at what the book is about. Darrell Williams’ In Pursuit of Grit uses a compelling image and clean typography to convey the book’s message. 

2. Clever Typography

If you have a clever title, you can turn it into a powerful typography that conveys an image related to the title and the book’s contents. Typography can be intertwining text, big and bold fonts, or carefully organized fonts that create stunning imagery and includes both the book and author's name. The clever use of colors can also enhance the typography’s visual look.

Hand-drawn book cover illustration of a female character. Made by mitxeran

Famous Examples of Clever Typography

Karan Mahajan’s The Association of Small Bombs drives the book’s point by representing the spaces of the vowels as connected bombs. Eric Wilson’s Against Happiness uses clever typography and whitespace to communicate the book’s purpose. 

3. Silhouettes

Silhouettes are ubiquitous book covers because they grab readers’ attention. A talented designer can create a unique take on this popular trend to make your book stand out. 

Silhouette book cover design by jjkjeky

Famous Examples of Clever Silhouettes

Han Kang’s The Vegetarian uses a classic silhouette that lends the novel a mysterious aura and gives the reader a glimpse of what to expect. Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s The Girl of Ink & Stars combines silhouette, contrasting colors, and handwritten font to grab attention and convey the book’s mood.

4. Real Photos

Real-life photos aren’t only used for biographies. They can become attention-grabbing cover art depending on how they’re treated. 

A book cover design featuring a real photo by rebecacovers

The artistic treatment of a man’s photo captures your attention and draws your eyes to the gripping tale of this book by J. Edward Gore. The same technique is used in the book cover design of HC Michael’s The Girl Who Never. 

5. Hand Drawn Covers

Hand-illustrated covers scream originality and is versatile enough to work with any genre. A talented book cover designer can create these unique covers.

An illustrated book cover design by luisagalstyan

Famous Examples of Clever Hand Drawn Covers

The book cover for The Great Gatsby allows the Y to be used as a wineglass and convey what the protagonist goes through in the book. Joanne M. Harris’ Runemarks stands out with colorful and intricate hand illustrations. 

7. Photo Collages

Recent innovations in photo manipulation give book cover designers the ability to create exciting photo collages that grabs attention and gives your book a modern look.

A Photo collage book cover design by davidcolonfilm

Famous Examples of Clever Hand Drawn Titles

The clever use of photo collages creates a unique look to Joshua Cohen’s book. This book design idea is possible with the creative use of photo editing software. Evie Wyld’s After the Fire, A Still Small Voice immerses the title with a collage of photo illustrations that capture the reader’s interest.

8. Big Bold Typography

You can’t go wrong with using big and bold fonts as a book cover design. It’s not a new trend, but it has remained successful, as evidenced by the number of books using this book cover idea throughout the years. This design screams at the reader to grab the book or miss something great. It instantly stands out in a sea of book thumbnails since bold colors are also used alongside bold text. 

When using this book cover idea, you shouldn’t go for subtlety, as being loud is the aim of this design. 

Big typography book cover design by printok

Famous Examples of Big Bold Typography

Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One instantly stands out with its contrasting colors and bold fonts. The Godfather by Mario Puzo remains a timeless classic with its bold fonts and contrasting colors that immediately grabs attention.

9. Interactive and Immersive Typography

This book cover idea integrates the title into the imagery or scenery depicted on the cover. Sometimes, it may involve obscuring parts of the title, but that’s typical of this cover design idea. Mystery and suspense books utilize this trend to help readers get a glimpse of the scenes in the book and pique their interest in the rest of the story. 

Immersive typography book cover design by okomota

Famous Examples of Interactive and Immersive Typography

This cover interpretation of Erica Ferencik’s The River at Night already gives readers a sense of the thrill and suspense that reading the book will bring them. Rebecca Schiff’s The Bed Moved may be hard to read at first, but upon closer inspection, curious readers would see that the typography was used to tell the story. 

10. Handwritten Typography

Seeing handwritten letters on a book cover design makes the book feel quirky and fun. It’s a popular trend for Young Adult fiction where readers expect to see lots of personality within the page.

Hand drawn typography book design by strike80

Famous examples of handwritten typography

John Green’s The Fault in our Stars instantly stands out with its handwritten typography that promises readers a warm and unique story. Rachel Cantor’s Good on Paper promises a contemporary and friendly read based on the handwritten title.

11. Double Exposure

Double exposure is a technique that uses a big picture as the backdrop and mixes it with the outline of a compelling image. The method can create surreal and frightful imagery, making them ideal for suspense, thriller, and horror books.

Double exposure design made by joeghaly

Famous double exposure examples

Patrick Logan’s One Wilde Night successfully conveys the gripping tale inside the pages with its suspenseful book cover. The same is true for L.T. Ryan’s End Game which combines double exposure with splashes of bold color. 

12. Retro Look

Don’t be afraid to go back in time with retro looks, especially if your book took place in a specific period. Retro touches are making a comeback and can be interpreted in different book cover ideas. 

Famous examples of retro look cover art

Stefanie Snider’s Little Games gives off a classic vibe that certain book lovers of this genre would find appealing. Kurt Schlichter’s Inferno uses classic illustrations reminiscent of the 1980s in this book set in that period.

13. Whimsical and Charming

If you’re writing a children’s book, it goes without saying that your book cover design must be whimsical and charming. Illustrations work best with children who will spot your book and ask their parents to buy it for them. It also conveys that the book is child-friendly. 

A charming illustrated children book cover design by luisagalstyan

Famous examples of whimsical and charming book covers

Judith Kerr’s classic children’s book The Tiger Who Came to Tea conveys precisely what a kid would expect from the story. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is another classic children’s book with a literal but charming cover.

14. Contrasting Colors

Contrasting colors are always helpful to add life and draw attention to a book cover. For dark thrillers, this is a time-tested technique that conveys gritty and suspenseful endings. If you’re writing a mystery book, stick with dark contrasting colors that set the tone for moody and dramatic stories.

15.Sizzling Images

Romance books follow a somewhat strict convention featuring sizzling scenes or handsome guys. But you can also experiment with tone and bright colors depending on the setting of your book. Contemporary romance might use more brilliant colors, while period romance usually involves darker tones. 

A sizzling book cover designed by germancreative

Do-It-Yourself vs. Professional Book Cover Design

As an author, you want your book to look its best. After all, this is your chance to make a good impression, and your book sales depend on a fantastic book cover design. Both have pros and cons that you should carefully consider. 

Designing Your Own Book Cover

It’s easy nowadays to create your own book design using tools like Canva and Photoshop. You may explore this route if you lack the resources to work with a professional designer. You know your book better than anyone else, which gives you a major advantage when designing a cover that accurately reflects the book’s content. It's also usually cheaper to create your own cover than to hire a professional. 

However, book covers are harder to design than they seem. Creating an eye-catching and effective book cover takes more than slapping text and an image on a template. Also, your cover might not be as high quality as one designed by a professional.

Hiring A Professional Book Cover Designer

Authors now have several options for hiring professional book cover designers. You can expect to pay anywhere from $10 to $500 for a book cover design depending on the artist’s experience, the intricacies of your design, the time the project takes, and the options you want to choose from. Covers can also take an average of three weeks, depending on the designer and subsequent edits required from the initial output.

When you work with a book cover designer, you're guaranteed to end up with a high-quality, professional-looking book cover. A good designer can incorporate feedback and make changes until you're 100% happy with the final product. You also don't have to worry about any of the technical aspects of design, such as file types, sizing, etc.

It may be more expensive than designing your own cover but working with a professional is an investment that pays off. Professional book cover designers have developed the expertise to create an attention-grabbing book cover that generates sales.

Wrapping Up

Book covers are the first marketing tool any author needs to sell their work effectively. Creating eye-catching book cover designs may seem complicated, but with inspiration from conventional and trending book cover ideas, you can arrive at the cover design you want. 

A professional book cover designer can help you achieve your vision and create an attention-grabbing cover. Secure the success of your hard work by investing in a professional book cover design.