02-14-2023 DESIGN How romance novels changed book design With their expressive type and bawdy illustrations, romance novels turned book covers into potent advertisements.

01. Understand the story first A book cover should encapsulate the essence of the story. Before diving into the design, read the book or discuss its themes with the author.

The Pudding takes a look at 1,400 romance novels from 2011 to 2023 to see how things have shifted.

Decorated edges — sprayed bright colors, stenciled with ornate imagery — have taken the publishing industry by storm.

Next, Olsen advises checking out some online resources like The Book Cover Archive, The Casual Optimist, FaceOut Books, and Design Observer's 50 Books/50 Covers for more ideas.

Even for book readers who would not venture so much as a sketch, this 17-page download is full of fun covers in every genre, from Penguin Classic to romance, nice tries to failures.

Just like movie-goers during the Great Depression, book-lovers are flocking to romance novels for an escape from these ...

Sanziana-Dana (@sanzireads; 3,333 followers) agreed: “I do think dark romance books are becoming more popular. The fictional world creates a safe space for readers to read about things that are ...

Romance readers may not know Jason Baca by name, but as the man who's modeled for more than 600 covers across all styles and genres of romance, they definitely know his face — and he's had the ...