Print Design

10 Top Book Cover Design Trends for 2022

Mary Kyamko — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 17:36:07 +0000

If you want your book to stand out online or on physical bookshelves it must have a great cover. Here are the ten biggest book cover design trends for 2022.

Book Cover and Layout Design: A Self-Publisher’s Guide

Katie Lundin — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 14:31:13 +0000

Your book's visual design is as much a marketing tool as an artistic endeavor. This simple design guide for self-publishers can help.

8 Top Book Cover Design Trends for 2021

Katie Lundin — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 17:29:47 +0000

If you want to stand out as an author, your book must have a great cover. Here are the biggest trends in book cover design for 2021.

5 Common Self-Publishing Mistakes To Avoid and What to Do Instead

Ashlee Brayfield — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 15:16:32 +0000

Use these tips and insights to help avoid the top 5 mistakes many authors make when self-publishing a new book.

Restaurant Branding: The Definitive Guide

Katie Lundin — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 18:08:07 +0000

This restaurant branding guide will help you create and strengthen your branding to help you create a great user experience for your restaurant brand.

Branding a Ghost Kitchen: How to Build Credibility for an Invisible Restaurant

Katie Lundin — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 18:56:57 +0000

Here are 5 design and branding tips for developing a successful virtual restaurant, ghost kitchen or cloud kitchen.

Book Cover Design Trends for 2019: Your Guide To The Biggest and Hottest Trends

Ashlee Brayfield — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 22:13:41 +0000

If you're an author publishing your next book or an aspiring author writing your first book, here are six compelling book cover design trends you’ll see in your local bookstore and online in 2019.

20 Most Influential Graphic Design Companies From Around the World

Amanda Bowman — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 16:07:12 +0000

At least twenty graphic design firms from around the world have proven to be the best in their field, with gorgeous portfolios filled with impressive clients and prominent design campaigns. These are the design firms that clients with virtually unlimited budgets turn to when they need a brand identity, packaging design, or help with other types of design.

5 Important Book Cover Design Tips to Help Your Book Stand Out

Katie Lundin — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 16:21:06 +0000

Like it or not, people judge books by their covers. We all know that we're not supposed to... But we do it anyway. In this article, we take a closer look at book cover design tips and best practices to help you create a book cover that makes readers want to crack the spine.

Real Estate Signage: How to Create Signs That Sell

Katie Lundin — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 15:27:01 +0000

Whether you deal in residential or commercial real estate, your signs are ambassadors for your business - speaking for your brand when you're not there to do it in person. Here's a look at the best practices for creating unique and custom real estate signs that raise awareness about your brand and start a conversation with your potential clients.

Use These Powerful Psychology Strategies to Choose Fonts For Your Business

Amanda Bowman — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 15:30:57 +0000

We look at how you can pick the right font for your business to capture people's attention and to convert that attention into a customer relationship.

6 Compelling 2018 Book Cover Design Trends Every Author Should Know

Amanda Bowman — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 06:20:13 +0000

If you're an author publishing your next book or an aspiring author writing your first book, here are six compelling book cover design trends you’ll see in your local bookstore and online next year.

Business Cards: What You Need To Know To Design a Card That Gets Noticed

Amanda Bowman — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 05:15:31 +0000

Few statements are as widespread in business as “Here’s my card.” Business cards have been a part of any entrepreneur’s self-promotion toolkit for a long time. And they’re an important part of your company’s brand identity. Hundreds of years ago, the Chinese handed out calling cards (in the 15th century) to let people know they planned to visit. The French in the 17th century swapped cards as a way of introduction, and this spread to the British and eventually America. The exchanging of cards is one of the most ubiquitous traditions in the business world. This institution endures even in a world dominated by e-signatures and digital address books. You can chalk up the longevity of business cards to many reasons, but one of the biggest is that exchanging information digitally still feels impersonal and cold. Business cards are tangible reminders of your business (and you have to be there to hand them out) and can’t be beaten for memorability. Business cards are also a cheap and effective way to ensure people have accurate contact information. More importantly, they serve as a physical reminder that you met someone. That can trigger reflection, often leading to more business or a renewed connection. While generic business cards are inexpensive, some business owners worry that the cost of custom business cards can be prohibitively high. Many design companies and agencies indeed charge thousands of dollars for their services. But this isn’t universally true (crowdspring’s custom business card design projects start at just $299, including all fees). Here are 7 essential tips to ensure you get the best results from your professional business card design. 1. Hire a professional to design your business card When you hand your card to someone, you give them a proxy for you and your company. That small piece of cardstock is not just a way to hand someone your contact information. It’s a reminder of who you are and what your company represents. If you don’t have the skills to create them, make sure your card captures the essence of your brand: hire a professional. Want a free brand review?Answer 5 short questions and we will send a custom report with actionable insights and specific actions you can take to build a stronger brand. We just emailed the info to you. Email Address Business cards are the first layer of a company’s brand. A skilled designer ideally creates your cards and the rest of your branding collateral (letterhead, brochures, etc.). This creates consistency and boosts your organization’s professionalism. 2. Keep the design of the business card simple Ultimately, your card should have accurate, easy-to-read contact information. Your cards have failed if people can’t find them quickly and easily. Ensure your business cards have the essential information and minimal design elements. Many people scan business cards they’ve received (often with an app on their phone like Adobe’s free Scan). If the design is complicated or cluttered, scanned cards may not be legible. 3. Choose the information you put on your..

10 Smart Tips To Help Authors Create an Amazing Book Cover Design

Ross Kimbarovsky — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 21:06:36 +0000

Many people use the idiom “don’t judge a book by its cover” to remind others that people should not prejudge the value of something based solely by its outward appearance. Yet when it comes to actual books, few heed that advice. The simple truth is that today, nearly everyone judges a book by its cover. Covers matter. A lot. Fierce competition has made standing out from the crowd incredibly difficult, especially for indie authors. Smart indies know that a striking book cover design can help to differentiate in a noisy marketplace, particularly when competing against traditionally published books. In fact, it’s entirely possible today to create self-published book covers that are impossible to differentiate from books released by traditional publishers. Below, we’ll offer 10 smart tips to help you get an amazing book cover design for your upcoming book. But before we get to the tips, let’s be sure you understand why book cover design is more important today than it has ever been. Traditionally, when books were purchased at retail, a striking book cover was necessary to get the reader’s attention when placed on a shelf next to hundreds of other books. But because most retail stores displayed just the book’s spine, it was impossible for authors to differentiate unless the prospective reader picked up their book or the book was displayed in a more appealing manner. Great book cover design has always been necessary to get the attention of retail merchandising managers if you wanted your book featured – and that remains true today. Today, however, particularly for indies, the vast majority of sales occur online. This has allowed indies to compete against traditional publishers but has also made it clear that to get the readers’ attention, a great story must be matched by a great book cover design. A typical reader will do a search on Amazon and will look at a handful of books. Sure, content and reviews are important, but the book cover is the first thing a potential reader sees and the cover can either make or break that initial impression. This is not surprising. Great images create an emotional reaction in people. Because images are processed by our brains 60,000 faster than words, a great cover is critical to make an amazing first impression. A poorly designed cover not only fails to create the emotional reaction you want to create in your readers, but also implies that the contents of the book are also sub-par. Covers can lead to more (or fewer) sales, can allow you to price your book higher (but underscoring the message of quality), and can lend you credibility as an indie author. Don’t just take my word for it. Smashwords founder Mark Coker tells a story in his ebook, The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success about R.L. Mathewson, a romance writer, who went from selling five or six copies a day of her romance novel, to selling over 1,000 simply by updating her book cover image. The creatives on crowdSPRING (nearly 200,000 from just..

Best of 2016: Book Cover Designs

Lauren Nelson — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 15:39:21 +0000

It's been a great year for bold book covers. Here are some of our favs.