Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Beautiful Text-Only Book Covers

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Today, we're taking about book covers. I always kind of dread talking about covers because I know nothing about art. I have opinions about art, but I don't have the vocabulary to express those opinions.

Here are 10 text-only covers that I think are beautiful. However, I suspect calling them "text-only" is wrong because a few of them have a tiny bit more than just text. Maybe they're minimalist covers? Text-focused covers? They're covers where "the artist uses font, color, and shapes to show a book's essence." That is too many words to fit in a blog post title, so we're calling these "text-only" covers.




💄  Beautiful Book Covers  📚








I have some questions for you by rebecca makkai. The cover is red and blue with beige text. Each letter of the text is casting a shadow. The shadows look like they're melting.


I Have Some Questions For You






The invisible life of addie larue by V.E. Schwab. The cover is solid black with gold all-caps text. There is a gold constellation of stars overlaying the text.


The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue






Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race by reni eddo-lodge. White cover with black text. The words "to white people" are written in white, so they almost blend into the white background.


Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race






You by Caroline Kepnes. The cover is a wrinkled sheet of white paper covered in red stains. "You" is written in all-caps.


You






Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. The cover is a red and yellow explosion. The text is all-caps black inside white boxes.


Illuminae







Destination Truth: memoirs of a monster hunter by josh gates. Gold text on a black leather cover. The cover looks like a journal that has been ripped and chewed. The bottom third of the leather cover is missing, exposing red and brown pages underneath.


Destination Truth






Pew by catherine lacey. The cover is made to look like a battered, old Bible. Gray background with gold text. The gray background is worn and peeling in spots.


Pew






The death of vivek oji by akwaeke emezi. Gray background with white all-caps text. The top of the cover has abstract red and pink strands of hair that are braided together.


The Death Of Vivek Oji






The watsons go to birmingham 1963 by christopher paul curtis. The cover is made to look like a green road sign with a white border. The text is white. "The watsons" is written in curly font. The rest of the title is all-caps.


The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963






What it means when a man falls from the sky by lesley nneka arimah. The text is black and looks like watery paint that has spread. The background is bright green and yellow.


What It Means When A Man Fall From The Sky













What's your favorite text-only book cover?











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24 comments:

  1. Tanya @ Girl Plus BooksFebruary 27, 2024 at 6:51 AM

    I love a good text-only cover. It can be powerful. And it's fun to see how fonts and colors play into that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AngelaFebruary 27, 2024 at 7:46 AM

    I agree with Tanya, a text-forward cover is very striking and powerful. I don't necessarily gravitate to them all the time, but they can be amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2024 at 8:26 AM

    Text-only book covers are eye catching.

    Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.

    Lydia

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2024 at 8:47 AM

    This is such a cool trend.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

    Astilbe

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kenn @ Novelistic PagesFebruary 27, 2024 at 11:41 AM

    The Illuminae series has some of the coolest text-only covers I have ever seen. They are just so fun to look at, especially with the quotes that show through.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Louise @ Foxes and Fairy TalesFebruary 27, 2024 at 12:15 PM

    I really like how some text only covers can be really simple but really powerful

    ReplyDelete
  7. CindyFebruary 27, 2024 at 12:36 PM

    You should submit this topic to Jana! It's great!! Enjoy the rest of your week.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Haze @ The Book HazeFebruary 27, 2024 at 1:05 PM

    It's so interesting, I've always thought that a book cover needed to be eye-catching, but these are so good and I never thought about how good font design can be so eye-catching too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Samantha@WLABBFebruary 27, 2024 at 4:19 PM

    These are great. I can hardly ever find all text covers on my read shelf. Illuminae is a fabulous pick. Those books were really fantastic with those cello covers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. TheMoonPhoenixFebruary 27, 2024 at 5:45 PM

    Addie is my favorite, love the constellations inspiration, is simple but elegant and pretty

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ronyell (a.k.a. Rabbitearsblog)February 27, 2024 at 7:25 PM

    Oooh! These covers are beautiful! Great list!

    Here’s my TTT

    Rabbit Ears Book Blog: WORLD’S WEIRDEST BOOK BLOG!

    ReplyDelete
  12. SusanFebruary 27, 2024 at 8:26 PM

    I'm always confused by the term "typographical" cover, which I think is the same as text-only. Does that mean there is ONLY text or just that the majority is text? I think the latter is correct, but who knows??

    Happy TTT!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lady In ReadFebruary 27, 2024 at 10:40 PM

    love these covers and saving this idea for a future freebie TTT!! My post is here

    ReplyDelete
  14. PamFebruary 28, 2024 at 2:58 AM

    Text-forward covers can be so eye-catching. The font choices and colors can make or break a book's sales.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/see-the-forest-for-the-trees-book-covers-featuring-trees/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzFebruary 28, 2024 at 10:17 AM

    It's surprising to me that text-only covers can be so beautiful, especially Illuminae.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Alicia @ A Kernel of NonsenseFebruary 28, 2024 at 6:16 PM

    Love that although these are only text, they are all so interesting and unique.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lark@LarkWritesMarch 2, 2024 at 9:37 AM

    The first time I saw one of these test-only book covers I was not a fan, but they've grown on me over the years. These ten are great! :D

    ReplyDelete
  18. Shannon @ It Starts at MidnightMarch 2, 2024 at 5:15 PM

    I love so many of these! I always loved the design of Illuminae, but there are some other great ones here too- big fan of Vivek Oji and The Watsons!

    ReplyDelete
  19. thecuecardMarch 3, 2024 at 3:46 PM

    The Emezi's cover seems to draw in my attention. Something about the colors and typeface.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Annemieke | A Dance with BooksMarch 5, 2024 at 3:08 AM

    Having a cover with just text be visually appealing is really a whole speciality. Like I can't do it :D

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anne@HeadFullofBooksMarch 5, 2024 at 1:09 PM

    I really like your examples especially the What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky. It is powerful and different. Not expected.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lisa MandinaMarch 6, 2024 at 9:30 AM

    Ooh, great pick! I think it depends on whether a text only cover grabs me more than images, but some of these are really great picks. I hadn't seen the Watsons Go to Birmingham in this version before. Great picks! I like the one Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race. What a great statement that one is!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Mary @ Notes in the MarginMarch 7, 2024 at 12:15 PM

    Yes! To tell the truth, I always dread posts about book covers because I always focus only on the text. This is a great set of examples.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Mae TravelsMarch 17, 2024 at 6:58 AM

    You made me notice that the book I reviewed this weekend has a text-only cover! Now that I read mainly kindle books I notice covers less than when a book was an object and I looked at the cover every time I opened it.
    best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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