Book Cover Design as Part of Your Personal Brand

If you are a speaker, or any kind of small business owner where your company brand is associated with your name and image, then self-publishing a book is an excellent way to really assert your brand. (Companies like CreateSpace and LuLu make this process a little easier than you would think.)

The most obvious way is that you can strengthen your area of expertise, and the perception that you are an expert. A book will give you opportunities to research and dive deeper into your subject matter. It will ground your brand in a point of view. I think this is particularly useful if you happen to be a public speaker. Perhaps you speak on the topic of ?Leadership.? By writing a book on how to become a strong leader, you quickly will establish the perception (or fact?) that you are an expert on this topic, and the angle you write from will convey your point of view. Maybe you have a unique and radical way that you look at leadership. Or, maybe you have a pretty traditional way to look at it, but that way was how you became a success, and you just want to relate your success story and study the process.

The second way is to associate yourself with other authors and experts. The single most effective way to do this is to write a book, and then to have others give glowing testimonials of your work. It is a common practice, and not that hard to accomplish. Testimonials sell more books than any other information on the back cover.

Those two points seem pretty clear. The third point, and the one I feel more qualified to comment on, is the most visual element: the book cover. This is the most instant way to relay to your reader, or potential reader, your personal or business brand. If you understand your customer, and you understand the market for your book, then you are in a good place to start. Then, of course, is the difficult task of branding your title. This is just as important as the visual design. Both of these steps are prerequisites before you begin working on the cover art. It is important to get support in this area, perhaps from a branding expert or a group of trusted colleagues. Really take your time with this step, because it will be your foundation. The book title and cover will need to be a stand-alone brand as well as align with your own brand.

From there, ideas will spring forth. Use a competent graphic designer to help you brainstorm, and keep in mind things like color, fonts and typography, clean visual balance, simplicity, and photography or illustration. These are the elements that go into good book cover design. I?ve designed a few covers in my branding career, and the way I like to start is by going to a bookstore and immersing myself in the section of the store that relates to the project I?m working on. Whether it be Self-Improvement, Business, Women Studies, Health and Fitness?keep to your subject matter. Narrow down your area for inspiration. I bring my notebook and take notes. What is the current trend in cover design? What colors seem to really pop out, or what colors are closely associated with your topic?

I worked on the cover design for The Seven Women Project. There were many decisions that went into the design of the cover, but the most important elements were the bracelet image and the font. We made a conscious, group decision to have the bracelet be a representation of the Seven Women (with seven beads), because it was feminine and simple. Then we played with the idea of an illustration and gave that a try. The idea to photograph the bracelet stemmed from a marketing idea : if we found a bracelet we could sell, then we could use that as part of merchandising and marketing the book. The font we chose was reminiscent of fashion magazine typography, and that was another important marketing angle for us.

As for Lori Siegel?s book pictured above, it was important for us to show Lori and make her the main focus. She was the expert, and she was also launching her speaking career. People needed to see her face. Portrait photography became a very important element, as did the color palate.

It takes 15 hours, on average, to design a book cover. The cost of a professionally designed cover ranges from $500 to upwards of $4,000. By working on some of the elements and issues presented here, you can really shave some money off that higher-end fee.

Source: http://www.360dpi.net/?p=958

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