Top Ten Tuesday – Cover Design Trends

Posted 28 January 2020 by Katie in Top Ten Tuesday / 7 Comments

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, coming to you courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is a cover freebie, so I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about cover trends. We all know the saying “Don’t judge a book by a cover”, and there’s certainly a lot of truth behind the saying, but with more books than ever vying for our attention, a cover that grabs the eye can set a book apart from the competition.

With that in mind, I decided to have a look and see what’s trending in covers at the moment (see this post from DesignHill and this one from A.L. Goulden). I’ve picked a few general cover trends that are happening across the market, but I’ve also included some trends that I’m noticing that are specific to the Christian fiction market:

bold typography

This has been trending for several years now and is still going strong. In Christian fiction, it’s definitely more prevalent in the suspense/thriller genre as seen in Closer Than She Knows by Kelly Irvin and Chasing the White Lion by James R. Hannibal.

minimalistic

When there are so many things demanding the eye’s attention, sometimes it’s the simple that actually draws it and keeps it. Compared to some covers in the general market, Christian fiction hasn’t explored this trend to its full extent (for example, making use of white space) but there are definitely covers that are taking a more minimalist approach, such as Carla Laureano’s The Solid Grounds Coffee Company and Bethany Turner’s Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish.

integrated text

Another trend that’s been developing is the trend of integrating the title into the design of the cover by having elements of the design weaving through the text, having the text partially covered by the design, or having the text in some way affected by the design.

For example, I love the way the thread weaves through the text on the cover of Before I Called You Mine by Nicole Deese. Having the text appear to be behind (or should that be in front of?) the people on the cover of Where the Road Bends by David Rawlings is very effective at giving the cover depth. And I love the atmosphere evoked by the text on the cover of Shawn Smucker’s 2020 release These Nameless Things.

couples are out

I don’t know if the same can be said for general market romance and romantic suspense, but there’s a definite trend away from having couples featured on covers in Christian fiction. Out of twelve contemporary romance titles releasing from the four major Christian publishers in the first half of 2020, only two feature both a male and a female. And it’s a big fat zero for romantic suspense and historical romance.

men are on the rise

Okay, that could sound ominous. Lol! But in Christian fiction, at least, covers with a single person have traditionally been the female domain. There have been exceptions, of course, but it’s nice to see more men featuring on covers—particularly historical romance covers, and particularly men who aren’t posing like they have something to prove. 😉 Featured here are The Brightest of Dreams by Susan Anne Mason and At Love’s Command by Karen Witemeyer.

face close-ups

This is something that’s becoming particularly prominent in Christian romantic suspense. Cover models are increasingly shown from the shoulders up only, and often looking over the shoulder or with only a portion of the face shown on the cover. Featured here are End Game by Rachel Dylan, Collateral Damage by Lynette Eason, and The Way of the Brave by Susan May Warren.

ghosting

This is a little different to having a cover composed of composite images (in my humble, non-expert opinion) in that the overlaid image is transparent to some degree. Dani Pettrey’s The Crushing Depths (and it’s predecessor) is probably the most striking example, but Lisa Harris’s The Traitor’s Pawn also employs the effect, and Lindsay Harrel’s The Joy of Falling uses a ghosted image to clue readers in to the setting.

handwritten lettering

Back to fonts, and another trend that’s happening across the board—hand-written fonts. Featured here are A Long Time Comin’ by Robin W. Pearson, A Girl’s Guide to the Outback by Jessica Kate, and The Best We’ve Been by Beth K. Vogt.

Monochrome covers

I don’t know whether it’s fair to say this is an emerging trend yet, but I’ve seen a few monochrome covers around the place, both traditionally published and independently published. Kings Falling by Ronie Kendig is the second in her Books of the Wars series, and Silent Shadows is the third book in Natalie Walters’ Harbored Secrets series. The previous covers in each series have also been monochrome (in a different colour). Then there’s Jennifer Rodewald’s When I Come Home Again, which features a black and white image. I’ll be interested to see whether this is a trend that continues.