Impactful Book Cover Design: An Art Director's Perspective

A course by John Gall , Designer and Creative Director

Designer and Creative Director. New York, United States.
Joined March 2021

Learn how to design meaningful book covers that capture the attention of readers alongside an award-winning designer

100% positive reviews (40)
1,752 students
Audio: English
English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

Learn how to design meaningful book covers that capture the attention of readers alongside an award-winning designer

Award-winning designer John Gall believes that a book cover is like an advertisement—it is the reason we pick up a book or leave it forgotten among the shelves. John has designed book covers for authors like Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, and Don DeLillo, and has received over 50 awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

In this online course, John teaches you to create eye-catching book cover designs that work as a window into the author’s work. Learn how to translate words into a visual statement that connects with potential readers.

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What will you learn in this online course?

14 lessons & 23 downloads

Book Cover Design
7 minutes, 18 seconds
Book Cover Series Design
5 minutes, 48 seconds
Reading the Manuscript
5 minutes, 44 seconds
Designing the Cover
13 minutes, 19 seconds
Designing a Series
10 minutes, 47 seconds
Designing the Spine
10 minutes, 44 seconds
  • 100% positive reviews (40)
  • 1,752 students
  • 14 lessons (1h 38m)
  • 23 additional resources (5 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: English
  • English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
  • Level: Beginner
  • Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

Design an eye-catching cover series that reflects the essence of the books.

Projects by course students

Who is this online course for?

This course is perfect for people who are interested in graphic design or book cover design.

Requirements and materials

Basic graphic design knowledge and experience with design-based programs like InDesign and Photoshop are required.

To take this course, you only need access to the software mentioned above.


Reviews

1,752 Students
40 Reviews
100% Positive ratings

John Gall

A course by John Gall

Teacher Plus
Designer and Creative Director

John Gall is a designer, artist, author, editor, and teacher. He is currently the creative director of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. His design and illustration work for Knopf, Vintage Books, Abrams Books, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Criterion Collection, and Nonesuch Records has been recognized by the AIGA, Art Directors Club, Print, Graphis, and American Illustration. Known for his book cover designs for authors like Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Egan, and Vladimir Nabokov, his work is featured in the books By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design, and Graphic: Inside the Sketchbooks of the World's Great Graphic Designers.

John has written about graphic design covering an array of topics from the history of Grove Press to contemporary skateboard graphics, and is the author of Sayonara Home Run! The Art of the Japanese Baseball Card. He has also been the editor of two bestselling design books: Pretty Much Everything by Aaron Draplin and Sunday Sketching by Christoph Niemann. John is an internationally-exhibited artist and published a book of his personal work John Gall Collages 2008-2018 in 2018. He has served on the board of AIGA/NY, as an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts, and is a frequent lecturer.


Content

  • U1

    Introduction

    • About Me
    • Influences
  • U2

    Book Cover

    • What Is a Book Cover?
    • Book Cover Design
    • Book Cover Series Design
  • U3

    The Research

    • Project Evaluation
    • Reading the Manuscript
    • Additional Research
  • U4

    Designing the Cover

    • Generating Concepts
    • Designing the Cover
    • Designing a Series
    • Designing the Spine
  • U5

    The Book Cover Presentation

    • Mock-ups
    • Presentation and Handling Feedback
  • FP

    Final project

    • Impactful Book Cover Design: An Art Director's Perspectiv

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • Learn at your own pace

    Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

  • Get front-row seats

    Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

  • Share knowledge and ideas

    Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

  • Connect with a global creative community

    The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

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FAQs

Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.

All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.

The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.

You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Impactful Book Cover Design: An Art Director's Perspective. Design course by John Gall

Impactful Book Cover Design: An Art Director's Perspective

A course by John Gall
Designer and Creative Director. New York, United States.
Joined March 2021
  • 100% positive reviews (40)
  • 1,752 students