The ever-changing face of book covers - Part 1

During our Indie Authors Scotland ‘How To Self Publish’ courses we stress the importance of cover design and how it influences a potential reader's perception of a book.

One of the areas we consider is making both the typeface and the image relevant to the setting of the book. However, a cover is not only a reflection of its contents, it is also a reflection of the time it was created.

Over this post and next week's Friday post I am going to look at the evolution of cover layout over the past 75 years by showing you a variety of designs from different eras. The book I have chosen is one I know very well and is the perfect example of how a book cover evolves to suit contemporary tastes.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler was first published in 1939 and is firmly rooted in that period. So how has the look of its cover changed to stay true to the original story while reflecting the changes in taste?

1930’s/40’s

The book is a re-working of a number of short stories first published in ‘The Black Mask’ magazine. That publication fitted into the category of’ Pulp Fiction’: cheap and often shocking fiction designed for the mass market.  This cover reflects that heritage perfectly with the shocking sight of a man in the bedroom of a naked woman who wasn’t his wife, who is the image of a femme fatale as she protects her dignity with a gun. It would have been enough to titillate and thrill potential readers who would have immediately understood that there was a mix of sex and violence within the pages.

1950’s

This cover I believe is from the fifties or early sixties. The colours and fonts hint at that time frame. The image combines details from various points in the story to great effect and is quite striking. The use of the skull is an obvious icon of death and the orchids hint at the fragile beauty of Carmen Sternwood, the woman who is being blackmailed in the book. It also indicates the scene in the Sternwood's greenhouse where Marlowe is persuaded by Carmen's father to take the case. The cover is playing a key role in attracting the reader while staying true to the trends in design at the time it was created.

1960’s/70’s

The art and music of the late sixties and early seventies became more avant garde, books and films were more violent and these covers show those influences on cover design. The green cover has a illustration of a man who wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Spaghetti Western rather than showing the urbane, witty private eye that is Philip Marlowe. The other two designs are so abstract they could just as easily have been books on philosophy or art theory rather than a crime novel. No attempt has been made to communicate the contents of the book to the reader, it seems like the designer has replaced the writer as the most important contributor to the book - Chandler's name doesn't even appear on the bottom two. This is all to the detriment of using the cover to start to tell a story. Personally, I really don't like these covers and they would not have inspired me to buy these books at the time.

Next week I will have a look at how modern designers are taking on the challenge of producing something fresh and original that reflects both the story of the novel and contemporary trends in cover design.

You can learn more about our Cover Design training course at Indie Authors Scotland.