While interior design tries to be a transparent medium for the author's words, the designer will influence how the text is read. You probably can remember reading a book with a design that felt clean and elegant, and the experience was a pleasure. Conversely, you probably have read books in which the design jarred your eyes and burdened your comprehension. Interior book designers are not always cover designers, and visa versa. But often they are.
All book design is a specialty.
A good brochure or ad designer at the local commercial printer, or a fine artist might not be able to give a publisher a book or cover design that fits industry standards and competes on the shelf with other books in the genre. And publishers take great risks with a book's chances for commercial success when they use non-book designers, or, worse, when they attempt to do this work themselves without a background in typography or book design. In this column, I will discuss issues of good book and cover design so publishers will be able to work knowledgeably with professionals. Should publishers decide to design books and covers themselves, we'll discuss topics that will help them make their books more attractive, effective and saleable. I will also try to address reader questions about design.