45 Beautifully Designed Book Covers

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

moral-relativism

The Brief History Of The Dead – Source

brief-history-of-the-dead

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Source

curious-case-of-benjamin-button-and-other-jazz-age-stories

The Microscope and the Eye – Source

the-microscope-and-the-eye

Lowboy – Source

lowboy

The Kiss – Source

the-kiss

Who Is Conrad Hirst – Source

who-is-conrad-hirst

The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams – Source

collected-poems-of-tennessee-williams

Spade & Archer – Source

spade-and-archer

When You Are Engulfed In Flames – Source

when-you-are-engulfed-in-flames

Send Me – Source

send-me

The Separation – Source

separation

Payback – Source

payback

A Monster’s Notes – Source

a-monsters-notes

The House of Sleep – Source

house-of-sleep

The Annotated Nose – Source

annotated-nose

Death in the Andes – Source

death-in-the-andes

Day In Day Out – Source

day-in-day-out

The Tax Inspector – Source

tax-inspector

When We Were Romans – Source

when-were-were-romans

The Customs of the Kingdoms of India – Source

customs-of-the-kingdoms-of-india

Kafka on the Shore – Source

kafka-on-the-shore

Forgetting Things – Source

forgetting-things

Strawberry Fields – Source

strawberry-fields

Obsession: A History – Source

obsession

On Seeing and Noticing – Source

on-seeing-and-noticing

Before The Big Bang – Source

before-the-big-bang

Sea of Poppies – Source

sea-of-poppies

The Humbling – Source

the-humbling

Leviathan – Source

leviathan

Sedaris – Source

sedaris

Freakonomics – Source

freakonomics

City of Thieves – Source

city-of-thieves

Bodies – Source

bodies

Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Source

breakfast-at-tiffanys

The Error World – Source

error-world

Faraway Places – Source

faraway-places

Cool It – Source

cool-it

The Gum Thief – Source

gum-thief

Company of Liars – Source

company-of-liars

The Good Rat – Source

good-rat

The Murder – Source

murder

In The Cut – Source

in-the-cut

American Nerd – Source

american-nerd

How To Speak At Special Events – Source

how-to-speak-at-public-events

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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.

80 Responses to This Post. Leave Your Own.

  1. well, a good design certainly make a good product looks even better!

  2. Sedaris is my favorite

  3. […] un showcase de 45 couvertures qui valent le dรฉtour sur le site […]

  4. 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.

  5. Did the covers sell more books than some other cover would have? Sorry folks, but in the end it is about the book.

    Nelson Cauthen / April 5th, 2010
  6. wow! amasing… love it, yeeees
    incredibly cool cover!

  7. 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….

    Virginia / May 16th, 2010
  8. I absolutely loved all of these. Gave me plenty of new design ideas.

  9. 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’

  10. A great list. I think Blindness by Jose Saramago should be included too.

  11. 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

  12. that is why i always judge a book by its cover

  13. Moral Relativism is my favorite

  14. that’s another reason why i judge a book by the cover

  15. I used to think there was no excuse for having an unread book but now I’m not so sure. great design

  16. Very nice about the designed bookcovers..Its very useful to designers to design a book covers..Nice collection.Thanks for sharing

  17. I really am partial to Sea of Poppies, the colors appeal to me.

  18. Hey. Post more!

  19. I love books where the cover design is as attractive as the content.

  20. Thank you, great covers. I especially love the simplicity of some of these covers.

  21. I agree those are good cover’s ..

  22. Wonderful Thanks for sharing! I love it when publishers reprint classics with beautiful book covers and i like the bodies one ๐Ÿ™‚

  23. D: okay, I admit, most of them are pretty creative and clever, but NOT beautiful. Not for me anyway. ๐Ÿ˜ก

  24. hello there!.. A good web design certainly make a good product looks even better and stunning!

  25. great compilation!

    And I found this one inspiring too ๐Ÿ™‚
    http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Monsters-Novel-Chuck-Palahniuk/dp/0393319296

    elizabeth medina / September 21st, 2010
  26. […] Source. […]

  27. […] Bookcoverarchive.com: an excellent source. 1stwebdesigner.com wellmedicated.com […]

  28. These are some very good book cover designs!