Re-Cover !
Designing a cover for every book I read in 2025
I love judging a book by its cover. As a designer, I know how much work goes into enticing readers to pick up the book and it sets the tone for the whole experience of reading the book. I read a bunch and I wanted to incorporate that passion into my design work. I am going to take every book I read this year and design how I would have done the covers if the manuscript had been handed to me.
Book #1: Lion & Lamb by James Patterson
Patterson is notorious for writing fast paced crime novels and this one follows the murder of a famous football player. I’m a sucker for a murder mystery and wanted to give a little more hint to what the story is about.
Book #2: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
McBride writes an interweaving tale of a neighborhood and the cast of characters therein. I loved the hand done type of the original cover but wanted to use important elements in the story like the Mezuzah and marbles.
Book #3: No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
I really like the original cover of Dazai’s book as it really evokes the feeling of losing ones self in mental illness. I tried to recreate that with very minimal type and a stark outline of where a body once was.
Book #4: The Wager by David Grann
This one was a little difficult for me because the original cover for Grann’s wild tale of marooned seamen is prefect for the story. I took an old nuatical map and overlayed journal scribblings since journals provided a lot of context for this tale.
Book #5: Dragonfish by Vu Tran
There are a lot of themes of water in Tran’s novel of a man’s search for his missing wife and his look back on their marriage. We also get context in writings for her that put the disappearance into more context. I wanted to play into the feeling of isolation and mystique that runs throughout the book.
Book #6: The Anthropologists by Aysegul Savas
A intimate portrait of a marriage and friendships. Raw and emotional, wanted to echo that by creating hand down text that shows the emotional rollercoaster we all go on.
Book #7: Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
Surreal stories that are all linked together by Ma’s fantastic writing. I loved the original cover for this so much that this was a challenge to come up with something different.
