Basic questions when designing covers
Design considerations on creating the covers for Gyldendal Gymnasiematematik, a series of 11 textbooks
By Magnus Gaarde, Head of Design at 2K/DENMARK
The Client
Gyldendal, a Danish publishing house, was founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of books including fiction, nonfiction, textbooks, and dictionaries.
The Task
We were commissioned to create a series of 11 mathematics textbooks designing both cover and internal pages, producing the technical illustrations and equations, as well as the general layout and typesetting.
In this article I will present our preliminary considerations on the series and cover design, and the challenges in creating 11 covers in one go.
It might be worthwhile to begin by answering some basic questions:
Why design covers at all?
Experience
The cover art should visualize the content and the level of difficulty, but at the same time motivate the student’s curiosity and interest.
Marketing
The covers have to appeal to both the decision makers (often professors or schools) and the users of the textbook (the students).
Profiling
The books in a series should reflect the publisher’s house style in order to consolidate the positive perception of the entire publishing house.
Why do series design?
Coherence
Establishing a strong identity will give the -series an instant recognition as a unified collection.
Differentiation
Publishing different editions, on the other hand, mandates an inherent logic in the design, thereby keeping the different editions distinguishable.
Supplementation
Series design nudges consumers toward buying more products, as it appeals to the “completionist” in us all: If I have got one or two, I would probably want them all.
What is the strategy of the design?
Strategic design is about achieving goals under uncertain conditions. It is about using design to influence customers’ behavior in the market. When an overarching launch strategy has been identified, the design of the series must:
Positioning
Stand out from the other product lines in its category.
Identity
Adhere to certain norms and conventions and, on the other hand, secure easy identification of product category.
Value Proposition
Communicate the values and benefits to the consumer by defining the product’s usp.
What are the tactical design requirements?
Identity
The design must clearly communicate product name, product line, product type, and product owner (publisher).
Navigation
The design has to provide easy navigation of the product line — both for retailers, customers (schools or professors), and users (students).
Supplementation
Ideally, the design should also differentiate the usps of the products in the series, nudging customers toward buying all editions.
To recap a good cover design should
• be easy to understand and remember
• balance familiarity with innovation
• reflect and make understandable the features of each of the books and the book series
