Custom Book Cover Design: The Control Series
Project Overview
Objective: Design a cohesive visual brand for a sci-fi adventure romance series
Client: Author John West
Duration: Approx. 5 months for the full trilogy
Work Details: Design ebook and paperback covers
Primary Challenge: Create images of the dystopian world depicted in the novels, over a decade into a zombie apocalypse
Locus of Control
While most of my custom book cover projects are designed based on details provided by the author, John West wanted more. So I read his debut novel, Locus of Control, and collaborated with him on the best visual marketing approach to reach the book’s target audience.
First, we discussed concept options and what each approach would say about the book’s content. For instance, the action-packed imagery in one of his suggestions as a possible design would’ve looked badass but wouldn’t have matched up with the slow-burn sweet romance he’d written.
Once we’d homed in on a few ideas, it was time to hunt for the right stock art.
When I found possible stock for our chosen concepts — generally between 5-10 pieces per subject — I bundled the marked images together and sent them to John in arrays or compressed in a zip folder. Once he made selections, I hit the drawing board.
The first rough concept sketches gave John a better notion of how the three primary ideas would look. In this case, I built out at least two to three variations of each concept, depending upon the number of stock selections.
Though rooftop options were our favorite ideas in theory, the street view of the heroes from the back ultimately was chosen to be the cover.
With the concept nailed down, I started trying out model pairings with temporary place-holder title and author text. Since the background image selection was desaturated, I also tried various levels of tinting and saturation.
Once we had model selections done, the next step was playing with typography. With a wide array of font options, I took the opportunity to test out variations of desaturation, colorization, and natural color against the backdrop.
Both John and I agreed the backdrop lacked character without color. So, since the project had plenty of room in the budget for extensive digital editing, I created detailed masks to colorize the buildings and ruins, which really made the cover pop.
The modular title treatment made an excellent theme to carry through the series, so I tried a few of my favorite font options in the grid.
For a recap of the digital editing process, see my digital editing page.
See how the final cover came together.
Losing Control
When starting the collaboration for the Losing Control cover, I already had a series foundation in place. The title and author formatting, along with the spine and back cover layouts, had all been decided with book one. So, all that remained was to craft the right image.
The primary challenge was to recreate the entrance to a critical fortress trading town — which was no small feat.
The stock selection worked in two main waves. First, we selected new photos of one of the models from the last cover and candidates to portray the heroes’ new sidekick.
Next, we took on the tougher task of finding the elements of the town. Beyond the backdrop location, John wanted to show the fortress wall, built with stacked junker cars.
Unfortunately, the model standing in for the hero didn’t have the right look, so most concept sketches carried over the characters’ back-facing positions from the first book.
Though I had what would become the final cover layout virtually nailed in the rough drafts, the final took a few rounds to perfect the effects and fine details,
See how the final cover came together.
Taking Back Control
By the time John and I were collaborating on the Taking Back Control cover, there were very few open questions about the general design. The only big decisions left were choosing the best backdrop location and the right stock art to portray it.
The most pivotal location in the story was an abandoned stronghold occupied by the villain’s army. So I brought the heroes and their sidekick to the doorstep of their bunker.
To keep consistent with the first two covers, I looked for photos of the selected models or reasonable lookalikes facing the back. Since storming the stronghold was a huge element of the book, I wanted at least one of the characters to be armed.
The bunker had to have certain characteristics: It had to look abandoned, have major wear and tear, and have the feel of a base for troops or guards. For ease of layout and believability, I thought it should also have an entrance that would accommodate vehicles with a level road or driveway.
Like the cover process for book two, I drafted what would become the final design in the very first round of concept sketches. It looked on point, plus had minimal editing needed — comparatively speaking. This enabled the cover to go from concept to completion in half the time of the previous books.
Once I polished up the design, the final step was to put together an array of the three covers to make sure they felt cohesive enough to be a series. Then, all that was left to complete the series was expand the design into the existing paperback layout.
See how the final cover came together.
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