45 Beautifully Designed Book Covers
Posted by Andrew Lindstrom / Lists / June 11th, 2009
I would imagine that nobody hates the expression don’t judge a book by its cover more than an actual book cover designer. Obviously, the metaphor isn’t really about books – but still, that’s gotta sting a little.
Let’s face it, if people didn’t actually “judge books by their covers”, there would be a lot of graphic designers out of a job. The need for company branding, attractive packaging or promotional material of any kind would be non-existent; thus leaving the lowly graphic designer nothing short of obsolete.
So in the spirit of judging books by their covers, I’ve compiled a list of 45 beautifully designed book covers that I find inspiring. Did I miss any that inspire you?
Moral Relativism – Source
The Brief History Of The Dead – Source
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Source
The Microscope and the Eye – Source
Lowboy – Source
The Kiss – Source
Who Is Conrad Hirst – Source
The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams – Source
Spade & Archer – Source
When You Are Engulfed In Flames – Source
Send Me – Source
The Separation – Source
Payback – Source
A Monster’s Notes – Source
The House of Sleep – Source
The Annotated Nose – Source
Death in the Andes – Source
Day In Day Out – Source
The Tax Inspector – Source
When We Were Romans – Source
The Customs of the Kingdoms of India – Source
Kafka on the Shore – Source
Forgetting Things – Source
Strawberry Fields – Source
Obsession: A History – Source
On Seeing and Noticing – Source
Before The Big Bang – Source
Sea of Poppies – Source
The Humbling – Source
Leviathan – Source
Sedaris – Source
Freakonomics – Source
City of Thieves – Source
Bodies – Source
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Source
The Error World – Source
Faraway Places – Source
Cool It – Source
The Gum Thief – Source
Company of Liars – Source
The Good Rat – Source
The Murder – Source
In The Cut – Source
American Nerd – Source
How To Speak At Special Events – Source
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References
Yo, I'm Andrew Lindstrom. I am a freelance web designer based in Vancouver, Canada. When not geeking out over design, I'm likely geeking out over film, technology or pretending to play the guitar.
well, a good design certainly make a good product looks even better!
Sedaris is my favorite
i likes this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0981261205/sr=8-1/qid=1256324632/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1256324632&sr=8-1
but i also think the publisher’s logo is fantastic: http://theworkhorsery.ca/TheWorkhorsery/HOME.html (at the top of the page)
[…] un showcase de 45 couvertures qui valent le détour sur le site […]
Fantastic collection, I’m not really a book person. But I sometimes almost pick up books that look amazing, although I’ve never really seen any as good as these.
Did the covers sell more books than some other cover would have? Sorry folks, but in the end it is about the book.
wow! amasing… love it, yeeees
incredibly cool cover!
Although one should not JUDGE a book by its cover, no one ever said one should not CHOOSE a book by its cover. Some of my favorite reads have been so chosen….
I absolutely loved all of these. Gave me plenty of new design ideas.
Nice, I’m big fan of books so this was a good post for me. (By the way, came in from Stumble via your post on getting blog traffic for $20, so this is one stumble guy who stuck around!)
I particularly liked ‘The Brief History of the Dead’
A great list. I think Blindness by Jose Saramago should be included too.
I’ve seen alot of books with much better covers than what was shown, some of them weren’t even that interesting but thanks for your attempt
that is why i always judge a book by its cover
Moral Relativism is my favorite
that’s another reason why i judge a book by the cover
I used to think there was no excuse for having an unread book but now I’m not so sure. great design
Very nice about the designed bookcovers..Its very useful to designers to design a book covers..Nice collection.Thanks for sharing
I really am partial to Sea of Poppies, the colors appeal to me.
Hey. Post more!
I love books where the cover design is as attractive as the content.
Thank you, great covers. I especially love the simplicity of some of these covers.
I agree those are good cover’s ..
Wonderful Thanks for sharing! I love it when publishers reprint classics with beautiful book covers and i like the bodies one 🙂
D: okay, I admit, most of them are pretty creative and clever, but NOT beautiful. Not for me anyway. 😡
hello there!.. A good web design certainly make a good product looks even better and stunning!
great compilation!
And I found this one inspiring too 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Monsters-Novel-Chuck-Palahniuk/dp/0393319296
[…] Source. […]
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[…] Bookcoverarchive.com: an excellent source. 1stwebdesigner.com wellmedicated.com […]
These are some very good book cover designs!