What Makes a Good Book Jacket?

Type is a good place to start. In successful covers the text relates to the image, or content. Striking text, like the cover above makes it seem interesting. The example uses a hand type which is most likely more interesting then the books that would be around it in the bookstore.

The cover below uses text well compositionally. It works well with the image and so does the rest of the text surrounding the image, it is alot of text, but its arrangement makes it seem not so full.



Another element in a successful book covers is a striking illustration. The image on the front gives the reader a glimpse of the style and content of the book.




But a book cover can be successful without a big graphic or fancy text. Many compositions are successful by just being minimal. Color plays a big part in the success of the two covers below.




This book below I really like. I like how the entire front is like one illustration including the text it seems cohesive as one composition.
The use of text as image makes for a good composition as well. All the white space at the bottom makes the composition heavy, which makes it different from what we are used to seeing as book covers.


The cover below reminds me of ebay...