Book Design Inspiration
Front covers often steal the limelight. Let’s take a few moments to appreciate what’s inside the cover.
Discover ten books that showcase excellence in book design. Each project has its own individual character, and all of them demonstrate a strong aesthetic consistency throughout.
Perhaps you’ll pick up some inspiration for the next time you create a book.
1. Sydney Seafood School Cookbook
A playful, high impact cookbook designed by Arielle Gamble. Note that the hand-painted and contemporary typefaces marry perfectly with the big bold imagery.
2. Three Men in a Boat
First published in 1889 this is a fresh take on Jerome K. Jerome’s classic English story, designed and illustrated by Sarah Ervine.
3. Kim Clijsters Book
Only 400 copies were ever produced of this limited edition book. Tim Bisschop aces the design with beautifully crafted column-based layouts and attention to detail.
4. Monumentos de Escrita
Generously margined single column layouts let the artwork do the talking in this catalogue design by Lisbon designer Rita Neves.
5. Republica
Another project by Rita Neves combines ornate design with luxurious printing using metallic inks.
6. A Wine Book
This clean, simple design by Polish agency Luksemburk makes a big impact with a cleverly deployed colour scheme of orange, white and black.
7. The Liquor Book
A well balanced layout punctuated by thin black lines. Design by Yushan Cheng.
8. Maximilien Vox
A timeless look from master of typography, Maximilien Vox.
9. The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Ornate illustrations matched by equally ornate font choices. Note the text wrapping around Laura Barrett’s silhouetted illustrations. Design by Taschen.
10. City of Refuge
A minimally-designed and moving 9/11 memorial book. It’s hard not to be affected by Johanna Bonnevier’s serious, heavyweight typesetting.
A single well designed page can be enough to set your imagination to action. Hopefully something from this collection will inspire you to create your own book. Check our awesome range of quick tips and tutorials for InDesign here.