Obvious graphic design question from a novice: if you’re a book cover designer building up your portfolio, is it ok to use existing books?

Replies27

  • Sure. If the creative idea and / or design were made by you, you are absolutely free to include them in your portfolio to promote yourself through what you have already done. But be careful, some agreements may bind you to secrecy and, for these you may not be so free.
  • I presume you mean already published and designed books/covers? If so then yes it's fine to do as long as you're clear on that. You need to build up a portfolio and unless you get comissioned spec/mocked up work is the only way to do that. Good luck.
  • I don't know what you mean by "existing books". InDesign has templates for book covers, and is what the author would recommend. I'm sure you could find something similar through Google if you put a little effort in.
    Mr. Mockup also has some free stuff that might give you ideas.
  • @ɐɹoᗡ ɐuu∀ ˥ @Sean Jordan � There is nothing wrong with specialising and marketing yourself as a specialist - in this case, a book designer. It's something nowhere near enough designers do - preferring instead to layer themselves with multiple titles and failing to advance in any of their supposed skill sets. There's nothing about specialising that stops you working in other fields, and clients will approach you for what they need regardless of how you present your practice. But it lets you focus on what you want to do.

    While it is tempting to dismiss logo designers - a) as branding is a much broader specialism than just a logo, and b) because logo design makes up the bulk of amateur design within the branding industry. Whether you believe it exists, it does - as does book design, web design, etc. These are different roles that require, mostly, unique skills. There is overlap. For instance, book design and branding both require very strong market research skills, but they are distinct. While all fit under the umbrella of graphic design, the needs of the clients in each are different and not necessarily something a designer who hasn't focussed time on certain disciplines can answer.

    Ultimately, you define yourself how you wish. But part of that definition is the work you want to attract. Your question focussed on book design, and if that's what you want to focus on then there's little point in spreading yourself over multiple disciplines for the sake of saying you can do them. As a novice, it might be best to focus on a range of design skills to build yourself up. But if you want to be a book designer, you want to market yourself as such. It doesn't stop clients looking for other work from you nor you offering other services. But there is nothing wrong with specialising, there's no great disadvantage in focussing your workflow, and specialists most certainly exist and succeed.

    You've received a lot of advice in this thread - some good and some bad - and part of your process as a designer is parsing that and deciding what you want to take on and what you don't. But I know a lot of book designers, the only thing they work on is book design - because that's what they want to do - and they're very good at what they do. I know a lot of general designers, too, and you hand them a book design brief and they don't know what they're doing. This stuff isn't easy and you can't just pick it up because you're good at another aspect of the design industry. However your define yourself, to be a book designer means having to focus for an extended period on developing as a book designer.
  • @Sean Jordan � Sure Sean. I mean like today being a designer means first and foremost being able to think on a certain way and being able to translate it visually. In respect of this there is no such a thing than 'cover designer' 'logo designer' 'website designer' etc.. It's good and natural to specialise but if you are a good designer you can solve a design issue outside of your expertise. By defining yourself as a book designer would take away from the idea of being a diverse talent and able to think as a designer.

    The answer for the other part if it makes sense to have a book designer portfolio goes back to the same thing even if that's your expertise you are missing out to don't show anything else just cover designs. And on the top of that as you sad it doesn't pay well and it did not even when there were no digital alternatives for books.

    Hope it's more clear now? I'm really saying it just to save valuable time for others as I wasn't aware of this in the start of my career.
  • @ɐɹoᗡ ɐuu∀ ˥ can you expand on that? There clearly are designers who do book cover designs as part of their work. If you’re saying it’s a small market and extremely competitive then yeah I hear you.
  • You could, but you'd be totally missing out on easy money. There are zillions of self-publishing authors looking for cheap, good cover art, on Fiverr for example. Run off a few quick commissions for them, offer some free deals if necessary, and there is your portfolio!
  • If you mean redesigning existing books as a concept, absolutely. As long as its clear it's not a comission or existing work.
    If you mean passing off someone else's design as yours... NEVER Ok!
  • It’s NEVER okay to pass someone else’s work off as your own, HOWEVER it’s perfectly okay to show how you would have done something differently. It’s also okay to change your own work from what a client ends up using as well as introducing work that wasn’t commissioned- it’s all in how you present it to prospective employers.
  • Yes definitely. Try and show a mix of known classics (and how you could bring a contemporary spin to them) and also some well recognised titles (so you can show how you would use your style to reinterpret them).

    For example - showcase 3-4 Sherlock Holmes covers (people know the stories but may not instantly think of an existing style) and then 3-4 Harry Potter novel covers (people will likely have a very clear idea of what previous cover art has looked like).

    It shows how your style can flex to be both inventive and reinterpretive. Personally I always like to see a series of covers to see how that art direction can move across titles in a trilogy / theme / author etc.
  • It's fine to use existing books. The important thing is to show your own personal design style. This is the main criteria of what people will be employing or commissioning you on. As others have said in this thread, design is largely down to personal taste. You won't please everyone so be true to what reflects you.
  • Remember it is all subjective. You will face people telling you their subjective opinions as though they are universal fact or industry expectations. Reality is some art directors will appreciate your reinterpretation of existing works. Others may cringe.
    I’d say be true to yourself and represent that in your portfolio. If you want to do existing books, do so. As you will struggle to make a portfolio to suit all tastes.
  • Yes, unless you put your own spin on it. use existing titles, preferably fairly well known titles, so that the person viewing your portfolio knows what it is about, and give your own expression to how you would do it. this interpretation of the existing book and therefore story gives you plenty of room to showcase your talents. i would say GOGOGO
  • I do not agree to use existing, you can use the book as a be refference to you
  • Taking as existing book and designing it your way is a great way to bolster your career.
    Take on an author, say Ian Banks (or whoever writer you really like, and know) and design 6 titles. Publishers do this all the time with older (5 years) books.
    Redesign the cover of the Bible, The Book of Kells.
    All the best book covers were designed by somebody who deigned more than books.
    Think Saul Bass, Milton Glasser et al.
    Go for it!
  • I would use any brilliant book cover designs you have done in your portfolio and maybe send a simple PDF of your recent samples to all the big book publishers in London. It shows your proactive and open to new projects and commissions. I would always make sure you have permission to show your selected examples.
  • As long as the covers of these existing books we designed by you. A more creative solution might be to choose a few classic book titles (say, six) in genres you want to work in and design mock-ups of how YOU would have designed the covers had you been given the original brief. If you are going for an interview, why not mock-up a cover for a book on the list of the imprint/company that is interviewing you :)
  • I'm not an experto on graphic design, but I would say yes. Use the ones that you think are the most interesting and inspire yourself on its
  • Yes. Using exisiting books can help people focus on your interpretation of the design. Choose a title you like and go with that or, better still, something you don't like and see if you can still deliver a quality solution.
  • 100%!! Reimagining established work is a huge part of creative exploration and showing what your own style and tone of voice would bring to a project is really helpful for an employer. It shows initiative, appreciation for what has gone, but a keen enthusiasm to push forward.
  • Yes - as other people have said, use a good mock up and balance it out with non-spec (not speculative, aka real-client-projects) work so that you have some "real" projects in your portfolio too.
    BUT, pro tip - Don't go for a book that everyone else has done. Viewing portfolios can get repetative when everyone has the same book designed up (this happens particularly if it was part of a student competition that year), even if your design is great, it can make the idea seam unoriginal.

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