Premium Book Cover Design Case Study for A Novel Approach

Today we want to share the process of our new service – premium book cover design.

This service boasts a wide range of advantages for authors. It includes a consultation with our creative director, two book cover design concepts to choose from, free book promo images, and discounts from our partners. 

Also, the premium design includes heavy photo manipulation, 3D modeling, and digitally painted elements that will bring your book’s fictional world to life. 

Get ready to enjoy our book cover design for a multicultural romance A Novel Approach by Nicole Pomeroy.

The story of the book

• Title: A Novel Approach
• Author: Nicole Pomeroy
• Genre: Multicultural Romance
• Plot: Anna Cassidy is a woman from the mountains of Montana. After losing her husband to an illness, she finds her love of writing and writes a story for the actor Xiao Chen whose dramas and movies have helped her start to live again. They strike up a long-distance friendship which finally becomes up close and personal when Anna is invited to Beijing due to the story she wrote being turned into a movie and nominated for many awards. Upon arriving in Beijing, she doesn’t meet up with Xiao Chen. She ends up meeting with his brother-in-law Wei Xian who, having lost his wife, is also recovering. Through adventures and mishaps, both men fall for the American author and try to keep her safe from Xiao Chen’s ex-fiancee and Anna’s stalker, who followed her from Montana.
• Settings: It’s 2027, primarily set in Beijing, China.

How did we see this book cover?

While working on this book cover, we focused on the leading characters because the story revolves around their love triangle. After analyzing all the author’s answers and comments at the initial stage, we made two mockups. They weren’t the final book cover design but helped to understand the right direction.

Book cover concept #1

General idea

The first version includes realistic images of the leading characters that let readers imagine what the heroes look like. 

Protagonist

We portrayed Anna in a large size to emphasize that she is the main protagonist. The author mentioned such an essential detail: Anna is a woman from the mountains of Montana. That’s why we added the double-exposed picture of scenic peaks. Also, we included skyscrapers to highlight the events occurring in the megacity. 

Secondary characters

Then we depicted Xiao Chen and Wei Xian as smaller because they are described as secondary characters. It allows readers to get a better look at their appearance. These elements balance the composition perfectly.

Typography

We chose a light and neutral background and readable sans serif fonts not to distract readers’ attention from the characters. 

Book cover concept #2

General idea

The second version is more stylized and contains more hidden meanings. All the elements form a complex vector composition. We depicted the main characters with silhouettes to let the readers visualize the heroes. 

Placement of the characters

Pay attention to the specific placement: Anna is at the top as the protagonist, Xiao Chen is a bit lower because Anna meets him first, and then Wei Xian goes. The vector tape also attracts attention and hints at the events described in the book, from the mountains and the city to the scriptwriter’s career and filming. 

Background and typography

The light background helps to concentrate readers’ attention on the main characters. We also chose a decorative script font. And the final touch was blending all the elements and adding some textures. 

What concept did the author choose?

Nicole Pomeroy has decided to go with the realistic book cover mockup #1 as she feels it best suits her book. Also, she is planning to continue this story with two more books and make a trilogy. The first version of the book cover design fits this aim perfectly.

What did the process of further work with the client look like?

So, we’ve found the right track and got some comments on how to make the book cover perfect.

Mountains

The author sent us a couple of sample photos of the Montana mountains. It helped us to depict the landscape as realistic as possible.

Font

The title seemed to get lost in the background a bit. That’s why we decided to highlight and change it with a heavier font and added brighter and more contrasting colors.

Scriptwriter’s attributes

It was essential to hint at Anna’s profession. The author also gave us a clue: The protagonist wins the Golden Horse Award in the book. So we included the image of this film award and added script pages to the background. 

What about the final result?

Obviously, there is always room for improvement, and the author’s word is supreme here. We were glad to do the tiniest corrections as we understand the importance of the book cover for the writer:

• Background. Nicole Pomeroy shared an excellent insight: Montana is called the Big Sky State, so it would be great to do a pale sky blue as the background instead of neutral white.
• Color correction. We change the hues a bit to avoid unnatural skin colors.
• Flare. We also removed some odd glow that goes across Anna’s face.

And now, we are ready to present the final version of the book cover for Nicole Pomeroy’s new book. 

What about marketing materials?

The premium cover design package includes 3 promo images at the author’s choice. The client can choose a social media banner, book release image, cover reveal banner, bookmark, ad image, or business card. The writer also can order more promo images at an extra cost.

In this case, Nicole Pomeroy has chosen 5 promo images. We use the final book cover version as a basis for all marketing materials. Let’s take a look at them.

Social media banners

Our designers prepared two different versions of the Facebook banner. The first one provides the images from the book cover.

The second version gives an idea how what hardback and ebook look like. We also add a book slogan here.

Book release banner

This promo includes a paperback image with the Montana mountains in the background. We added the book’s title at the top to draw attention and the tagline at the bottom.

Cover reveal banner

A cover reveal image is a powerful marketing tool that helps intrigue readers long before the book’s release. That is why we depicted a book wrapped in paper, where the book cover is barely visible. We also added the book’s title and logo.

Bookmark

A bookmark is an excellent bonus for readers and an essential thing when immersing in the story. We separated the forefront and background of the book cover to create a vertical, elongated design.

Summing up

We got a stunning book cover and eye-catching promo materials at the finish. The author preferred a realistic design that allows readers to imagine what the characters look like. We also added such elements as the mountains of Montana, skyscrapers, script pages, and the Golden Horse Award to hint at the events described in the book. The light blue background has a hidden meaning too: Montana (the protagonist’s native place) is called the Big Sky State. 

We absolutely love the final result. And what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.