Expanding a Premade Book Cover Into a Series
At its best, a book cover acts as a visual representation of the author’s story, as well as its genre, mood, and themes. It must be true to the product or risk causing disappointed reviews.
The need to stay on point to the material grows exponentially when designing the look or brand of a series.
So, when an author who’s purchased one of my premade book covers wants to expand it into a series branding design, the elements we carry over could make a big difference in reader perception and, ultimately, sales. In the planning and concept stage, I collaborate as closely as possible with the author to create a look that communicates the type of read potential buyers can expect.
No Halo Required
The series that grew out of the book “No Halo Required” focused on the moral quandaries and grey areas in personal and electoral politics. So, in designing the series concept, keeping the iconic almost monochrome shades-of-grey look was a pretty easy call. As was isolating the pillars of the halls of power that provided a core of the visual theme.
Other aspects of the original design joined the series look as Travis Casey and I collaborated on the branding. The abstract style of the characters was never in doubt, but after trying other approaches, I always came back to distant silhouettes. This let the protagonists start as symbols of an idea, to be defined by the reader as the story unfolded. Also, even when I varied from the pillar backdrop on the third cover, I still wanted to convey the feel of a closed — possibly narrowing — path that mirrors the inevitable course resulting from the characters’ choices.
No Halo Required
When Travis Casey bought my “Obstruction of Justice” premade book cover, he needed some simple but impactful revisions. I changed the font to one with a Q that would let us hang a halo, plus added volume to the man’s hair to suggest an afro and trimmed the woman’s hair.
At the time, the project was a single cover with no suggestion of additional titles. But around a year later, Travis asked if I could carry the theme over into a new sequel.
The Mayor’s Race
The cover for “The Mayor’s Race” evolved quite dramatically from its initial concepts. At first, the protagonist couple filled the space. Then they shrank to accommodate a crowd. While appealing, both concepts felt too visually far afield from the iconic approach of the original imagery that let the reader form their own picture of the protagonists.
So I returned to the open, light abstract style of the initial cover design. In the end, even the small podium felt like a distraction, and it was also removed.
Using abstract silhouettes closer to the original cover’s scale, I brought the crowd back in to add context and scene-setting. But to stop the mass of people from detracting from the main characters, I softened the color to tie into the background pillars.
For the paperback, I also kept the halo icon on the spine to add another visual link between the two books.
Dark Alley to Power
The third book in the series started out as “The Power Pen.” After the first round of concept sketches, Travis changed the title to “Dark Alley to Power,” a juicier and more evocative choice. One of the considerations to the title change was the natural visuals of that theme, which necessitated backdrop elements that distracted from the focal point characters.
To find the right look for the titular dark alley, I started with images of the real thing. But that almost immediately gave way to a more abstract approach. Instead, I took weathered walls with a good bit of dark grunge and gave them a few rounds of filters and color treatment to tie better into the series theme.
For the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, I used actual government buildings with various levels of filtering and abstraction. I also used the golden rays of the original cover’s halo to complete the picture.
The last and most important component of the cover was the protagonist, Yvette. For this silhouette, I wanted to tie the series together in its main character and her journey. So I found a shape that closely mirrored her position on the first cover. This reinforced her as the one consistent aspect of all three covers, but highlighted the profound difference in her story over the three books.
In the first book, Yvette was peering from the shadows at her husband’s misdeeds. But by the third, she was the one leading the action, navigating through the shadows to her ultimate goal, the seat of power.
The full-circle aspect formed the visual heart of the series grounded in Yvette’s evolution.
7 Forbidden Arts
While Charmaine Pauls’s publisher had chosen a style of book covers that branded her 7 Forbidden Arts series with visual tropes of erotic fiction, she wanted to highlight their paranormal romance aspects. So I collaborated with her to expand the premade book cover she’d selected as the foundation look into a ten-book series and box set.
High in my priorities was underpinning all the cover graphics with lush imagery, dreamlike fantasy backdrops, and the elegant sophistication of classic romance.
For a detailed recounting of the design process, please see the book series branding case study.
Chiromancist
To turn “Bats” into “Chiromancist” and create the series branded style, the first step was to move the title down to accommodate a variety of photos over eleven covers. Then I added a splash of color to the stark backdrop and text. Last, I used the title block ornament to build a subtle frame element that brought in a touch of old-school romance elegance.
The Pirate Queens Mystery Series
Of the premades I’ve expanded into a series, the Pirate Queens Mystery Series was the most intuitive and visually bold. I love working in vivid color, especially in the iconic style of classic mysteries, so this series was a real throw-back treat to design.
The Snake’s Canyon Caper
R.L. Donovan loved the clean iconic vibe of the original premade design, but wanted to add even more color and change the silhouettes to suit her characters. I also added a background color bar to make the author’s name pop and brought the rainbow colors and title blue into the paperback design.
The Warden’s Cove Caper
For the first drafts of the Pirate Queens series, R.L. Donovan had used their crew’s name in the books’ titles.
In building on the style of book one, I did a few rough concept sketches of ways we could continue the classic simplicity of the look. Two, the spotlight and lighthouse, played on the lines of the rainbow-colored rays of first cover, while the third used the idea of a floating element — in this case, a cove — within a solid background.
In the end, there wasn’t much question which was the best concept to continue the series. The final version had virtually no changes from the rough sketch, just a shift in text color.
While book two might not have had the broader spectrum of color of the first, it certainly had the visual impact and strong dynamic lines.
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