Seth Godin, modern guru of change, maintains a blog of his creative endeavors @ The Domino Project. I find many of his posts informative, even helpful, none more so than this one on book cover design. I'm going to quote him here, hopefully to spark discussion:
The purpose of a book cover is to remind you of a book you’ve read that you liked.
I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. I understand the appeal in following this logic, and the blog post identifies many of the tweaks designers enunciate and manipulate. I sort of personally recoil at the idea though -- that RBE should simply repeat what was liked before. Of course, it is risky to go outside of, beyond, the 'likes' (especially in this age of total visible social liking), but if we don't, if creators do not create, what does that leave us? Replication, simplification, stultification. I totally agree when Seth says "the eye is discerning." I definitely know the difference between the real and almost real. And the totally unreal. It has often made the difference in which cover of a book I buy, and even, sadly, whether I buy a book at all.
Art is art. If I wouldn't restrict the written art RBE publishes to what reminds me of that which I liked before, why would I do so with the colorful art that adorns it? Any cover artists, designers, publishers, marketers, or others care to chime in?
If you enjoy the words of Malcolm Gladwell or Simon Sinek, you will enjoy following Seth.
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