One of my favorite things to design is a wholesome book cover!
Indeed, as an avid reader through and through, book design has been a very enjoyable process for me, even as far back as when I was still learning the basics of graphic design in college. I’ve always thought of the medium of books as a complete artistic experience in and of itself, from the way the cover art and type design are handled to how the interior layout is being considered; all in conjunction with the book’s theme, content and perceived atmosphere. I’m a firm believer that books are “living” things, in a way, and for them to achieve the ultimate immersion, our “duty” as designers is to help them reach out to an extensive reader audience as best we can with respect and consideration for the content with which we interact. So, yeah, judging a book just by its cover might sound superficial in this day and age, but I believe that prim cover design will only help said book to invite prospective readers all the more intensely.
I've been collaborating with a few different local publishing houses as well as individual clients (local and international) for at least a decade and have designed dozens of book covers as well as interior layouts spanning a range of genres (fiction, fantasy, noir, sci-fi, some children’s books to name a few) and artistic approaches. I’ve also tackled the book covers of the Greek versions of viral book series such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Wheel of Time, Mistborn, True Blood and more, all curated by Fantastikos Kosmos Publications.
Following, I'm showcasing but a few of the most original and prominent examples of my book-design work, where I've tackled not only the overall design, but also the cover (spread) illustrations and typography of each book (as opposed to cover art recreated for Greek audiences from a non-Greek edition of the book title involved which is a usual practice when it comes to translated titles here in Greece). This section also contains a few examples of book cover and interior art/design of books I’ve written and/or designed myself.
Book Cover Compilation: K2 & Patricia Series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
Book Cover Compilation: Various select titles 1
Book Cover Compilation: The Fetch Trilogy, The Viking Trilogy and more
Book Cover Compilation: Various select titles 2
Elpis and Eros
This is a somewhat surrealistic, somewhat abstract story of Elpis' (aka Hope's) search for Love (aka Eros), as a symbol of idealized union and completion, through a series of divert and whimsical traditionally-made watercolor illustrations, and words. The elements of this project were combined in a lyrically organic fashion that was not per-meditated but sort of appeared before me as I kept free-form making the illustrations for fun. All illustrations, layouts and texts are of my own creation. You can see some of the original hand-made process sketches in the first image. The whole design of the book was treated as an elegant mix of graphic novel meets poetic collection and it was really fun to make from start to finish!
Elpis and Eros original process sketches
Elpis and Eros book
12 + 1 Truths Αbout Α Man Who Only Loved Books
This was a limited print run collaborative project for 121 Words, a site dedicated to showcasing and spreading flash fiction literature, thereby creating a new writing community.
I was tasked with illustrating each of the thirteen 121-words long flash fiction stories of this little book as well as the cover spread, that revolve around a sort of soliloquy of a Man Who Only Loved Books - and his reasoning behind this monopolized love. Each story has a certain theme and lyrical tone, if you will, which I tried to bring out in my illustrations, after having various brain-storming conversations with Andreas Michaelides, the author of the stories himself. The limited palette color choice was totally intentional from the get-go and the general vibe we were going for was dark elegance, unapologetic intensity and a sense of self-imposed isolation.
12_1 Truths... Cover design and interior illustrations display