Cover image guidance

Successful covers for monographs and edited volumes are guided by three simple rules:

1. Books are in portrait form. Illustration and text must be effective in that layout.
2. Book titles need space and should be easy to read, not obscured by illustration.
3. Any photo or line illustration should be bold and attractive, drawing in the reader by expressing something about the content or allowing full concentration on the title.

Choosing the right image

• Start by browsing published books for styles and approaches that appeal to you.
• Be clear about the aspect(s) of the book’s content or themes that you wish to foreground with a cover photo or line illustration.
• This is sometimes easy and obvious. For example, the editors of Materialising the Roman Empire knew they wanted an image of Milecastle 39 from Hadrian’s Wall and it was simple to find a version that satisfied the three rules above.
• Where it is less easy, use the book’s themes and arguments to find ideas and terms that enable an effective image search. The editors of Online and Distance Education for a Connected World provided the following prompts which led to an effective final image:   (i) artistic rendition, not photography; (ii) varied people re ethnicity, gender and ability, not identified individuals; (iii) globe, but not showing continents clearly; (iv) varied connections between people; (v) avoid computers, screens and keyboards.
• Be ready to compromise. No image could be found that satisfied all the criteria for Online and Distance Education and also worked for a cover. However, the wide briefing terms enabled discovery of a striking image that the editors were enthusiastic about.
• Searching for images with generic terms relevant to your book can also be effective. Words like ‘difference’, ‘rebellion’, ‘country house’, ‘community’, classroom’ or ‘excavation’ can yield results that lead to more focused searches.
• Consider abstract images, perhaps a photo of the natural world or part of a building that offer a nod to the book’s content or context. Alternatively, a simple background texture can offer a canvas for the title. Note that colour and texture are not without value. They can help or hinder the message about the book.
• A portrait image can be used to fill the entire cover. Choose one that naturally has space for the title and author name.
• Sometimes the only suitable image is in landscape. In that case the cover designer might either crop the image or focus in on one aspect to create a portrait image. If this is impossible, they will likely create a text box or boxes for title and author and the image will be relatively smaller than a full-cover portrait image.
• A text box can also be inserted on top of an image. This is useful where the image includes writing that might be confused with the title or doesn’t have a natural space for text.

Finding images

• If you don’t already have a source, websites like Pexels, Picryl, Pixaby, Unsplash and Wikimedia Commons enable searches for free images that are open access or in the public domain. Always check the copyright status and attribution needs.
• You can also search stock image sites, such as Getty, iStock and Shutterstock. But take care! Any image listed as for ‘editorial’ purposes cannot generally be used on a book cover, and while many images are available at little or no cost, others can be expensive.
• All these sites also include a vast selection of abstract images and background textures.

Images of identifiable people

These are best avoided, for a number of reasons.

1. Consent, or model release, is required to publish images of people photographed where they might reasonably expect privacy. Broadly, this is any environment that isn’t an open street or public area such as a park. This rule applies to images published inside a book as well as on the cover. It accords with UK copyright and data protection laws and with accepted ethical standards for academic research.
2. While consent is not needed for images of people in public areas or caught up in news events, the majority of these images available online will be ‘editorial’ photos that the stock sites do not allow on front covers, or owned by the photographer. They are likely to be costly.
3. Even where you own copyright and consent has been obtained, any image of people sends messages about gender, ethnicity, ability, context and many other characteristics. An image of diversity is not necessarily a solution. It might satisfy concerns about exclusion and draw in a wider readership, but it can also misrepresent the book’s content.
4. Only historical images taken 100 or more years ago are completely safe to use. Those that are 75 years or more are low risk, but they can still include living persons or those identifiable by living persons who might challenge publication. Any photo that is less than 75 years old should not be used without model release.
5. Pixellating or blurring identity is unlikely to provide a good cover image and is best avoided for all images as they do not guarantee anonymity.

Alternatives to identifiable people are (i) an approach that focuses on spaces and places instead of faces, or (ii) online software that converts photographs to line drawings, anonymising people while maintaining their relations and actions within a space.