8 Tips + Questions You Should Ask Yourself to Find The Perfect Typeface for Your Book Cover
As a designer, finding a versatile, beautiful typeface that fits perfectly with the project at hand is like finding the Holy Grail. Maybe you decided to take the design into your own hands, maybe you are collaborating with a designer and don’t even know where to start and, maybe, you probably already reached the point of pulling your hair out because you can’t find what you’re looking for. The truth is, if you’re reading this post, it’s very likely that you won’t settle for just any typeface, and the first one you try, won’t convince you… nor the second one. Do not despair, that’s a good thing!
Now, how do we make it easier? What families can we rule out? I wrote a series of tips and questions you should ask yourself to make the whole process easier for you and it will help you narrow down your options and (hopefully) lead you to find: The Perfect Font for your Book Cover.
The first thing I always recommend for any questions you may have about your future book cover is: Go to a bookstore. That’s rather easy, isn’t it? Browsing through book covers from an online Publishing House website or taking a look at the #bookstagram tag also works! To be honest, though, nothing equals going to a bookstore for research. Books are (usually) arranged by genre, so it is way easier to distinguish and learn what kind of cliches and resources use the covers of the novels according to their genre.
Surely you have found yourself in front of the Thriller/Mystery shelves, and you’ve noticed that there are plenty of black and darker covers. Or a lot of colour around the Fantasy/Science Fiction shelves. Aha! That’s it! The covers follow a pattern. I’m not here to quibble over whether the genre cliches are right or wrong (I’m thinking I might write a post about that tho…), but anyway, it’s a good starting point.
So let me share a few tips and questions you should ask yourself that will help you sort out where to start:
001
WHAT GENRE WOULD YOU CATEGORIZE YOUR NOVEL IN?
There can be more than one, the truth is that most novels do not fit into a single genre. As I stated before, it’s a very good starting point to see what elements other books of the same genre use (as well as what they DO NOT use). In addition, it’s a perfect opportunity to find what elements you like best and which ones you’d rather not use. Take a look and learn from them.
For example, notice how Science Fiction usually uses thin fonts, no serifs, open strokes or wide tracking. Those resources may be used to refer to the wide world and outer space. Then compare the Sci-Fi shelves with editions of books for children. They tend to use wider, rounded typefaces that are usually built with warm, friendly strokes.
002
WHAT OTHER ELEMENTS ARE GOING TO COEXIST WITH YOUR TEXT?
Photography? Illustration? A flat colour? Maybe there are several elements around it, or maybe there’s a lot of white space to fill. These are questions that you have to ask yourself so that the background and the title of your cover get along and coexist. If the background is complex, choosing a thin font with a lot of detail may not be the wisest idea, as it will make it difficult to read. If that’s the case, choose fonts with no serif, no exaggerated stroke contrasts (bye, Didonas!), and no complex letterings. If, on the other hand, your background is friendly or has a lot of white space in it, then go ahead! Choose riskier fonts: letterings, thin strokes, huge contrasts.
003
HOW LONG IS THE TITLE & AUTHOR NAME?
There are fonts that were made to be headlines and it is difficult to read them if the title is too long, therefore, it needs to be smaller to fit on the cover. The last thing you want is for your readers to be unable to recognize the title of your novel. Think about what is going to happen when your cover appears in a smaller format, i.e. Ebook Libraries or Online Catalogues.
If, on the contrary, the book title and author name are rather short, you can go for more complex or radical typefaces. The important thing here is to make it easier for the reader, legibility is the key.
004
SHOULD I GO WITH LETTERING & A HANDMADE SCRIPT?
It can be a very good option! Try to be careful tho, it has to be right for your novel or genre, and completely legible. Some lettering or hand-scripted typefaces, depending on the title, can make it difficult to read. The more intricate the lettering or calligraphic work is, the easier it will be to confuse the letters and end up reading something entirely different that has little to do with the title of your book. If the title is too long, it can get confusing: make sure that it always helps readability and gives it enough space to breathe and not annoyingly overlap with the other elements of your cover.
005
HOW DO I SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH TYPOGRAPHY?
The title and message of your novel are crucial, and the typeface you choose can say much more about it. Is it an introspective book? Is it a protest book? Typography can help strengthen the message of the title and the tone of your novel. The size of the typeface, as well as the character it conveys, can add a lot of information to the cover. Just by looking at it, you can communicate the message within its pages. It can be a quiet typeface, whispering. It can be ExtraBold and scream. It can be strange and bizarre or feel scary. Dare to use it to your advantage!
006
YOU DON’T WANT TO ADD MORE THAN 3 TYPEFACES TO YOUR MIX
As with any graphic project, typeface pairing is an art itself. Be careful and cautious when mixing typefaces for your cover and back cover. Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said: “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Adding too many typefaces may confuse the reader, look unprofessional or not well-cared enough. So that’s a total no! Most covers work with one or, ideally, two typefaces paired together.
007
RUN FROM THESE TYPEFACES
I’m not even kidding here. Run. Do some research before settling on your choice. There are some typefaces in the design world that are, literally, meme material. I’m looking at you, Comic Sans and Papyrus. Avoid them at all costs. Some other typefaces, mostly handwritten or serif fonts, look too naive and unprofessional to use on a book cover, and they will make your book look like so. They will cheap your work and we don’t want that!
008
BE AWARE OF MARKET TRENDS & CHOOSE WISELY IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THEM
My last recommendation when looking for the perfect typeface for your novel is to refrain from turning a deaf ear to your story and genre and letting yourself be influenced by the flashy trend of the moment. A few years ago, all of a sudden, every new release used lettering. That’s what trends do! They oversaturate the market. Choose wisely if that trend is working for you or against your work and target. Trends will expire. Take a sec to focus on your story and the reader it is targeted to, and you’ll be fine. Your book will give you the answers you seek.
I hope these questions and tips helped you get a clearer idea of where to start. Feel free to check my other resources about Self-Publishing and Book Cover Design. If you still feel lost about your path of bringing to life the book cover of your dreams, do not hesitate to reach me! I also offer one-to-one consultations, so if that is something you’d be interested in, drop me an email or contact me through our client application form!
