Cover It - Some Basics for Cover Design

Now We're Cozy and Warm

Book jackets aren't very popular on Wattpad anymore. People used to get them made to display at the top of a chapter. On Wattpad, when you're creating a book wrap from someone you're usually working with a cover they already have that was probably made by a different designer. The challenge is to create a seamless look with that existing image. 

You definitely don't want  to end up with something like this one

The background image on the back cover doesn't match up with the front cover. The large wolf dominates the cover and draws your eyes away from the summary, which blends partially into the wolf's ear. The front and back covers do not flow and it gives the appearance of two different covers

Of course, if you're creating the book jacket at the same time as the cover it's much easier to make things flow. 

When you're designing with a cover that is already final it makes things a little more difficult to get it all together seamlessly. 

I made this jacket for another Wattpad user a while back:

Her front cover faded from color to black and white. In order to make the back and front appear as if they go together I ran the black and white onto the back and then faded it back to color. The difficult part was finding a forest image that appeared to flow from the front cover.

This is what you want to happen. You want things to appear as if they were made at the same time. It takes dedication and a lot of work to design. If you aren't willing to dedicate the time to create a design you're proud to show off then you'll never improve.

Now, here's a better version of the wolf book jacket -

This version flows better. The image on the back cover has been blurred slightly to give the illusion it's still the same forest. The wolf is no longer dominating the back cover and the summary is easier to read.