On YA Covers
JA
September 10
In somewhat of a follow-up to this post on non-fiction covers, I’m spending this morning mulling over what makes a great YA design. Again, I’m coming at this from a reader’s perspective (so designers please feel free to jump in), and not even one from the right age group at that. But despite leaving my high school days well behind, I still love YA, and read it regularly.
Like non-fiction, this particular side of the book trade comes with its own demands and parameters – the need to appeal to a specific age bracket, for example, while not alienating others. Do coves strive for a kind of timelessness and widespread appeal, or do they hone in on their readers and current trends like a bull-eye? Rebecca Bengal of printmag summed it up like so:
The market for these books is, of course, teenagers, whose tastes and styles change constantly in the timeless quest for identity. Publishers face a conundrum: The high literary value of the best of these books aside, how can they help a YA novel speak to the latest group of teen readers, across generations, cultural shifts, and trends?
One tactic that’s been evident lately is of course to rip-off the ever-popular Twlight franchise. Now for the record, I actually think the original Twilight covers were quite clever; the bold contrast between white, black and blood red – a snapped ribbon or dying flower – was slick, dark and eye-catching. Lately though, the trend has extended to revamps of Wuthering Heights, as well as a growing tendency to go face/model crazy, as Oliver Phommavanh of the Book Show blog noted a while ago.
Lional Shriver recently wrote a piece for the Guardian about how her publishers would often try to gear her covers towards their assumptions about ‘what women want’ (pastels, female silhouettes, soft focus etc.), and I can’t help but wonder if the same can be said of YA, what with all the dark, broody, vampiric/magazine-esque figures going round right now. This quote from the printmag article also stuck out:
… [Covers are] an accessory, explains Marc Aronson, author of ‘Race’ and a longtime YA writer and editor. “It has to sit comfortably next to all the other objects in the reader’s world, their magazines and clothes and music. It’s all about a sense of coolness and intelligence. It’s a style—it’s saying, ‘We are exactly who you are. This is the world you’ll feel comfortable with. Nothing about this book is going to make you feel awkward to carry it and wear it. It’s as sleek and cool and as with-it as you are."
Granted, sales are a huge driving force – if the vampire trend is a sure bet, then why not try and jump on the bandwagon? But in the process, what does this logic say about the readership? Doesn’t it end up talking down, rather than to, a young adult audience?
Here are a few covers which I’ve loved and admired over the years – all of which I think manage to remain fun, trendy, energetic and ‘wearable’ while still holding onto their creativity.
First up of course is Liar by Justine Larbalestier, designed by Bruno Herfst – bright, colourful and intelligent, with the muddled, liquified letters saying all they need to about the themes of truth, narrative and trust, with just the smallest hint of blood to boot (you’ll see when you read the book). This from Justine’s blog:
I love it more than I can say. It captures the book so perfectly. I asked for something spare, iconic, cool and dark. Possibly a typographical treatment. Bruno exceeded my expectations by miles…. I also think it will cross over most excellently well into the adult market. I’ve been told by several grown ups that they were a little embarrassed to be reading ‘How To Ditch Your Fairy’ in public. Not a problem with this cover
Much has also been said about the use of pink in teen fiction (over at the Guardian blog, and by Meg Rosoff). Interestingly though, I think Bruno showed that you can pull off a cover that makes use of the colour in a spunky and engaging way without being stereotypically ‘girly’ with this rendition of Lili Wilkinson’s book. (While the cover might be candy pink, the figures are of cockroaches, saws, hammers, boy’s jocks and stereos).
Further nods have to go to Sammy Yuen’s bold, steampunk-inspired vision for Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan:
The cover for Leanne Hall’s This is Shyness
And Lisa White’s design for Glenda Millard’s A Small Free Kiss in the Dark:
I also have to list this old cover for Brian Caswell’s Cage of Butterflies – one of the best and most addictive books I read as a kid – which I think was illustrated by Gregory Rogers. The cool/creepy head/butterfly creature hints at a disturbing reality, but overall I also just love the contrast of that central box with mint green colour and red title.
Our Friends
- Overland
- Alien Onion
- Ampersand Duck
- Andrew McDonald
- A Pair of Ragged Claws
- Arts Victoria
- Australia Council for the Arts
- Ben Eltham
- Bookshow blog
- CAL
- City of Tongues
- Crikey
- darkly wise, rudely great
- David Astle
- Elmo Keep Does Stuff
- The Ember
- Fly the Falcon blog
- Going Down Swinging
- Griffith Review
- Hackpacker
- Harvest
- HEAT
- Island
- Killings blog
- Literary Minded
- Lorraine Crescent
- Lynden Barber
- Mandy Ord
- Marcus Westbury
- Matilda
- Meanland
- Melbourne University Publishing
- Mel Campbell
- The Monthly
- Musings of an Inappropriate Woman
- Oslo Davis
- Paul Callaghan
- Read, Think, Write
- Sleepers Publishing
- Sorrow at Sills Bend
- SPLOG
- Tom Cho
- Virgule
- Wet Ink
- Wheeler Centre
Comments
10 Sep 10 at 10:17
‘…the trend has extended to revamps…’
groan
My own experience in how a book cover gets made is limited to a single session at the PWF. It seemed from that session that sometimes authors are given veto rights on the cover, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes the cover designer is on the ball and have a few great designs, sometimes they don’t. It all has to come together somewhat fortuitously and I can imagine a publisher getting sick of the back and forth and just choosing something that is passable over spending money on yet another round of redesigns.
I guess we can be thankful that there do exist cover designers out there that can produce something like those that you have listed.
(Incidentally, some of my favourite covers all come from one collection, the redesign of Nabokov’s library: http://www.designobserver.com/observatory/slideshow.html?view=227&entry=11597&slide=1)
...10 Sep 10 at 14:58
Publishers go to great lengths to get the covers right for YA fiction. They do a lot of focus groups with the YA market in order to make sure that they hit the mark with covers. YA readers are very discerning about what they want to see on the covers of books aimed at them.
...