BRANDING - BOOK COVER & MOCK-UP
Book Cover Design & Mock-ups
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Designing a book cover is an essential task for drawing in readers and conveying the essence of a story at first glance. In this project, I worked on creating a book cover and mock-up for The Garden of Secrets, a romance novel. This project focused heavily on photo editing, typography, and layout creation using Adobe Photoshop.
The goal was to design a romance novel cover that captures the theme of secrecy and intimacy central to the novel’s plot. The design was set in the 19th century and required a traditional aesthetic with a modern touch to appeal to contemporary readers. The project also included creating realistic mock-ups for client presentations.
BOOK COVER DESIGN
The book cover concept focused on conveying themes of mystery and intimacy through a darkened floral arrangement, with the title The Garden of Secrets subtly hidden among the petals. The challenge was creating a cover that both draws attention and hints at the novel’s romantic storyline.
– Skills Acquired: Photo manipulation (darkening, enhancing color contrast), Typography integration and layering, Conceptualizing visual themes, Color correction and blending
– Tools Used: Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop.
PHOTOSHOP MOCK-UPS
After finalizing the book cover, a 3D mock-up was created to simulate a real-world presentation of the novel for client or promotional use. This step involved refining the visual elements for display in both digital and physical formats.
– Skills Acquired: 3D mock-up creation, Layer management, Advanced layout for print and digital, Simulating real-world products for presentation
– Tools Used: Adobe Photoshop (for mock-up generation), Adobe Illustrator (for typography and layout touch-ups)
Year
2024
Project
Book Cover Design
Services
Branding
Software
Adobe Photoshop
DESIGN PROCESS
The design process began with selecting the appropriate dimensions and resolution for a standard romance novel, ensuring that it would meet professional printing requirements. From there, the project moved into the photo selection phase, choosing floral imagery that would evoke secrecy and romance.
Once the image was selected, I enhanced it using Photoshop’s color correction tools, darkening the background to create a more intimate feel. The typography was carefully chosen to reflect the 19th-century setting of the novel, and I experimented with placing the title so it subtly interacted with the floral elements. I also used layering techniques to mask parts of the text with the flowers, reinforcing the book’s theme of secrecy.
In addition to the cover design, I created the spine and back cover, expanding the artboard and ensuring a seamless flow of design from the front cover to the spine and back. The final step was creating a 3D mock-up of the book, adding drop shadows and dimension to provide a realistic representation of how the book would look in physical form.
This project provided hands-on experience in creating a captivating book cover and its corresponding mock-up, combining traditional design elements with modern photo editing techniques. The final design effectively captures the romantic and secretive themes of The Garden of Secrets and presents a polished and engaging visual product.
