South African Website Design Company

// Giving the Internet a make-over since 2006

Graphic Design Book Cover Design

We professionally design book covers (and covers for other things), using photos and design elements, as well as fully illustrated book covers. We never use AI.

Book Cover Illustration and Design

Professional Book Cover Design

We are told not to 'judge a book by it's cover'. We all do though...literally and figuratively, so it's important not to skimp on cover design. If you've written a book, or produced a film or album, and you want to maximize sales, then you need the cover designed, and you need it designed well, because the way a product is presented often times more important than the product itself. A cover design has the ability to do one of several things:

  • A well designed cover may not appeal to absolutely everyone, but it attracts the correct target demographic, and makes them feel satisfied that the product is legitimate and of a high quality (even if it's not). You have a much higher chance of a sale if the customer is targeted and feels at ease.
  • Bad cover design either attracts the wrong target market, or no one at all, and makes anyone that looks at it suspicious of the trustworthiness or quality of the product. So even if you have the literally the best product, if the cover design doesn't reflect that, you will unfairly, but inevitably lose sales to inferior products with better cover design.

Let us design your book cover:

As professional book cover designers, here's what we'll give you for your money:

Book Cover Design Quote Preparation

First we'll consult with you about:

  • What your book is about and who your target market is.
  • What your idea for the book cover is and whether you require a fully illustrated cover, or photo editing and manipulation, or if you require designed graphics.
  • Additionally we'll need an idea of the final book size. Not necesarily the exact dimensions but, we need to ensure that we are designing to the right proportion and resolution.
Book Cover Design Pricing

Our book cover design pricing is fairly standard, but in some instances, there are potential extra/reduced costs...

  • If you require only ebook cover design, the cost will be slightly cheaper because we only need to design the front cover, instead of also the back cover like we would with a paperback cover design.
  • If you require a hardcover jacket as well, we'd charge slightly more because we'd need to design the inside flaps as well.
  • We'll also need to know whether you need interior layouts and formatting done. With ebooks this step is less important, but even with a simple paperback novel, there's formatting that needs to be done to make sure the gutters are the correct dimensions, that the font is free to use, and that the page headers and footers are displaying corerctly. This is an extra cost based on page count, and also if there are images or graphics needed to be laid out on the internal pages.
  • If you need an editor, we can add a small fee to comb through the manuscript and fix any obvious spelling and grammar issues we find, or if you want a pofessional book editor for more complex issues, we can direct you to someone we've used successfully before.
Book Cover Design Creation

We then design a professional book cover based on your needs and desires, as well as your target market. We'll send through 'WIP's (Works In Progress) to make sure you are happy with how the concept is going, or need to request tweaks before finalisation. We'll also do simple book cover mockups with appropriate fonts to see what looks most appealing.

Book Cover Design Finalisation (ebooks/paperbacks/hardcovers)

The final book cover design will be made up according to the exact dimensions (including spine width) and specifications provided by your book printer or book publisher. If you're self publishing (e.g Amazon Self Publishing), we'll need the final manuscript to work out the spine width of the book.

Book Cover Mockups

Finally, we also do a 3D looking book cover mockup which you can use for promoting your book in adverts and social media, and as graphics for your website.


Cover Design Examples

Below are some book covers we have previously designed:


SciFi Book Cover Design
SciFi Book Cover Design

This book cover was a commission for a ScFi novel for Kindle. The client provided a description of what they wanted, and our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted it, and also designed the text.
 


Western Book Cover Design
Western Book Cover Design

This book cover was a commission for a Western novel. The client provided a description of what they wanted on the front, back and spine, and our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted it, and also designed the text.
 


Christian Book Cover Design
Christian Book Cover Design

This cover design was for a non-fiction theological book. The pastor had a basic idea of what he wanted to see. We conceptualized the scene using 3D object, and photo-manipulation for the cover.
 


Book Cover Design for an Adventure Memoir
Biography Book Cover Design

This cover design was commissioned for missionary couple who compiled these memoirs, detailing their travels. The client provided some photographs, which we manipulated, and then we designed the cover for this non-fiction autobiography.
 


Book Cover Design for an African Poetry Collection
Poetry Book Cover Design

This cover design was commissioned for an African poet for a collection of her works. She provided a scanned personal drawing, which we redrew digitally and inverted, so that we could place it on a black cover. We also deep-etched (removed the background) her author's profile photograph for the back cover.
 


Book Cover Design for a Novel
Fiction Book Cover Design

This cover design was commissioned for a novelist. He provided the idea of what scene he wanted for the cover. We conceptualized this with a photobashing technique (compiled using many disparate photos, and manipulated into one cohesive scene).
 


Book Cover Design for a Novel
Fiction Book Cover Design

This cover design was commissioned for a novelist. They provided the idea of what scene they wanted for the cover. We conceptualized this by illustrating a flat silhouette design and then manipulating it with textures and lighting. We also provided a blue version as a special edition cover.
 


Theological Book Cover Design
Theology Book Cover Design

This cover design was for a non-fiction theological book. We designed the logo for it and conceptualized the desired theme using a mixture of photographs, and illustration.
 


Self Help Book Cover Design
Self Help Book Cover Design

This cover design was for a non-fiction advice book. We conceptualized the scene via photo-manipulation of purchased stock imagery.
 


Corporate Planner Cover Design
Corporate Diary Cover Design

This cover design was for a corporate planner. The client provided their logo, their brand identity guidelines, and a rough idea of what they wanted it to look like. We then sourced free stock and designed the cover in accordance to their branding material.
 


Classic Fiction Book Cover Design
Classic Fiction Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'animal'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted this underwater scene of the classic 'Moby Dick', and turned it into a mock book cover.
 


Mystery Novel Book Cover Design
Mystery Novel Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'detective'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted her idea of Nancy Drew and turned it into a mock book cover.
 


Fantasy Novel Book Cover Design
Fantasy Novel Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'high fantasy wizard'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted her idea of Belgarath the Sorcerer and turned it into a mock book cover.
 


Romance Novel Book Cover Design
Romance Novel Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'romance hero'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted her original character in an island scene, and turned it into a mock book cover.
 


YA Horror Book Cover Design
Horror Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'vampire'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted the caricature, and turned it into a mock book cover.
 


Dark Western eBook Cover Design
Post Apocalyptic Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'cowboy'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted the cowgirl character, and turned it into a mock book cover for the horror western genre.
 


High Fantasy eBook Cover Design
High Fantasy Book Cover Design

This book cover design was for an online book character challenge. The theme was 'sorceress'. Our illustrator, Roxane Lapa, painted the mage, and turned it into a mock book cover for David Eddings' Polgara, The Sorceress.
 


Let us design your book cover

for an obligation free quote for your book cover design (or cover design for another product). We respond quickly to emails, and are happy to answer any questions you have about the process. If you approve the quote, you can expect regular updates so that you are part of the whole process. We know your book is important to you, and we want to give it the best chance of succeeding by creating a breathtaking book cover for it.

Book Cover Design Cost

Typically R1950 / $135, but depends on complexity required. Final cover provided in format required by publisher, as well as a promo book cover mockup for social media advertisng.

Email Us

If you have any questions about our cover design process, or would like an obligation-free quote please drop us an email:

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