13 Fabulous Book Cover Designers from USA

All of us are taught not to judge a book by its cover, isn’t it? Yet most of us are guilty of doing just that in real life. If you take the meanings literally, every time we go out to buy a new book, we tend to pick up the ones with vibrant colors or something intriguing to catch our attention. It does not have to be loud or too busy on the cover, a clean minimalist design can also feed our souls with thought-provoking information about the book. It is true that the success of a book does not rely on the book cover only but a good sales rate might have a lot to do with how it is presented to the readers. If it can pique their interest to a reasonable extent, your book is sold.

Book cover designing is a specialty within the graphic design and illustration realm. Some do it grand but most could be average. To give their book jackets a distinctive look despite the pricing, something that a customer will be happy to invest in, is what all writers aim for. That is why they search for a designer who would not only understand the requirements of the book but also the vision of the writer and then translate that into a book cover using his own imagination. In a time when e-books are gaining popularity and the youth is drifting away from hard-copies, book cover designers need to unleash their creative genius and get the job done in favor of the writer.

Moreover, a book cover not only has to be unique and interesting, it has to represent the genre of the content within. A book contains secrets, mystery, thrill, and excitement for a reader, but if it’s boring, you could still sell it using an amazing façade. So, in a way, breaking the rules could also be your key to creating an exciting book cover. Here are some designers based in the United States who are doing it right.Mostly, these are designer portfolios from New York City, but you will find plenty more all over USA. You have got to see their work and send your feedback to show how much you liked their work and what can they improve upon.

1. Anna Dorfman

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Anna is a graphic designer and an art director from the New York City. She believes in Vignelli’s idea of fighting against the ugliness. That is after all, the purpose of a designer’s life, isn’t it? She is at the moment working as a senior designer at Simon & Schuster. Her blog Door Sixteen is all about different aspects of design from nail art to interior design.

2. Gabriele Wilson

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Gabriele owns the GWD studio based in New York City. It is a multidisciplinary studio where they fulfill various kinds of design needs for their customers. Their services include everything between publishing design to logo design and web design. Previously, she has worked at the Alfred A. Knopf as a senior book jacket designer. She has notably been a speaker, judge, and guest lecturer for the American Association of University Presses.

3. Isaac Tobin

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Tobin earned a BFA in Graphic Design Degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in the year 2002. Now, he is a senior designer at the University of Chicago Press. He specializes in book cover design and typography design and enjoys his work immensely. Based in Chicago now, he has previously worked as a Book Designer at Beacon Press and then worked Freelance for a year in Buenos Aires.

4. Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich

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Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich currently runs his own design firm in New York City, offering services such as restaurant design and branding as well as publications. He has authored many books featuring personal art projects, one of which namely To All Men of Letters and People of Substance, got selected as one of the “AIGA’s 50 Best Books of 2008”.

5. Charlotte Strick

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An extremely talented book jacket designer, Charlotte Strick, compels you to judge a book by its cover. She has been a designer and an art director at Faber & Faber, Inc and the paperback line at Farrar, Straus, Giroux. She is also the designer and Art Editor of the world famous Paris Review magazine and her writings on design have been published both by The Paris Review and The Atlantic.

6. Catherine Casalino

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Another award-winning Art Director and Designer based in New York City, Catherine Casalino has worked in-house at Simon & Schuster and Random House. Currently, she is working as an Art Director at Grand Central Publishing where she oversees the Twelve list. She is a recognized designer by AIGA, the Type Directors Club, Print Magazine, Eye Magazine, Communication Arts, and The New York Book Show.

7. Gregg Kulick

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Gregg Kulick is a Brooklyn based graphic designer and art director working for the Quirk Books in Philadelphia. His art direction projects are creative and full of life; same is the case with book covers. The bold colors and design compositions of the book jackets make the readers to actually want to pick them up and read. You can witness the fine technique in his work for the Penguin Classics.

8. Jen Wang

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Based in California, USA, Jen Wang is young, enthusiastic, and living life as it comes. She holds a Sociology degree but has been gaining work experience as a photo lab assistant and an animation assistant. Her love for book jacket designs is evident from her own designs which consist of soft colors and beautiful sketching.

9. Ben Wiseman

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One of our extremely talented illustrators and book cover designers is Ben Wiseman who is currently based in Booklyn, New York. In 2007, he graduate from the Parsons School and since then, his art work has been recognized by the likes of AIGA, American Illustration, and ADC Young Guns 7. His clientele includes the prestigious New York Times, WIRED, Le Monde, The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Random House, etc.

10. Connie Gabbert

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Connie earned her BFA in Illustration and Design in 2008 from the Cornish College of Arts. After that, she decided to work as a book cover designer and illustrator for the Faceout Studio and stayed with them for several years. Currently, she is based in Bend, Oregon, with her husband and two cutie daughters where she is running her own freelance business. She is a humanitarian designer involved with charity work for community and uses her earnings to help in various causes.

11. Darren Booth

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Darren Booth is one of my personal favorite Book Cover Designers whose finesse of technique and beautiful colors will inspire you to take a deeper look at art. You will not be too surprised by this statement when you check out the client list he has secured over time. It includes Disney, Coca Cola, Steve Martin, The New York Times, among many notable others. His work has been recognized by The Society of Publication Designers, AIGA, American Illustration, The Type Directors Club, etc.

12. Christopher Brian King

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King is yet another graphic designer and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently working as an art director for an independent literary publisher called Melville House. He has, however, worked with many others such as, Random House, Riverhead, St. Martin’s Press, Doubleday, Nike, The Criterion Collection, etc. So far, he has enjoyed recognition from numerous publications including the 50 Books/50 Covers exhibition as well as the Print Magazine.

13. Darren Haggar

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For Darren Haggar’s introduction, it is enough to tell that he is currently the art director of Penguin Press in New York. His art on book covers has decorated the shelves in bookstores for years. The power and eloquence of his images have proven him as a skilled creative and we can’t but love all that he brings forth in his publication design.

These are obviously just some of the best publication design artists we brought to your notice from the United States. There are many others, especially, in the e-book industry that are creating amazing graphic design and illustration works which we will feature sometime soon, for sure. For now, we hope that the art of paperback and hard cover book jacket design does not get extinct in the wake of the modern era that denounces “deep reading;” a practice soon to be lost as people become used to skimming more and reading less.