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On Design: What to Tell an Artist
The Creative Brief
The document or folio of documents used to communicate with a Commercial Illustrator and Graphic Designer is called a Creative Brief.
The purpose of the creative brief is to be the Bible that everyone agrees on and obeys. If there is anything wrong with the final Illustration, the Bible is referred to. It will be easy to see if the Illustrator did not follow the Creative Brief. If the artist follows the creative brief and it comes out wrong – the Creative Brief is wrong.
What’s in the Creative Brief?
- Details of the Project
- Details of Production
- Details of the Audience
- Sales Objectives
You may not have ever thought about some of these things before – but you must think about them all BEFORE reaching out to an Illustrator or Graphic Designer.
Details of the Project
This is the easiest to understand. These are the details that will be included on the book cover.
They include:
- Your name
- Your title
- YOUR BLURB
- Any and all images (photos/paintings/artwork/etc.)
- Any and all logos
- Your ISBN/s and bar code
- Quotes/Reviews/Endorsements
- Any and all Fonts you will use
Details of Production
These details explain how the final cover is going to be produced. Every cover is going to be different. Digital is easier than print (fewer details required) but if you don’t specify digital, the cover may work. Designing for a 1” tall thumbnail on a phone is different than for an 12” hardcover on a shelf.
- Digital or Print Publication (or both
- Hard-cover or soft-cover? Sleeve? jacket?
- Height and width
- Page count (thickness)
- Spine thickness (this may not be possible to get from the printer beforehand – so approximations are ok)
- Budget restrictions
On Budget Restrictions: If you have the money – you can print a hardcover with a die-cut, foil-stamped, book sleeve, wrapped in silk, with illustrated edges. If you don’t have any money, you may get a logo instead of a painted portrait.
Details of the Audience
This is probably the most difficult thing for an author to do. You may not have ever thought about who your audience is. To do this, only think of the audience for THIS BOOK. Don’t think about all readers. Don’t think about your previous readers.
Write your BLURB. Your blurb must answer every one of the following questions:
What is the Genre? Murder Mystery? Romance? Horror? Fantasy? Noir? Hard Sci-Fi? Period Fantasy? Religious? Bio? Etc.
What is the Journey? Is it a personal story? Is it War? Is it a Hero’s Journey? Is it a Study? Is it a Comedy? Tragedy? Epic? Satire? Etc.
Who is the Protagonist? It’s the 21st century. Forget about the character’s ethnicity. But WHO are they? What are their emotional goals? Hope? Freedom? Control? This book’s audience will share those goals.
What the educational level of the text? MG? YA? HS? Beyond? Aim low. Your readers may surprise you and use your book to reach to the next level – but over-estimating them will be a disaster. Remember PT Barnum: “Nobody ever lost money underestimating the tastes of the American Public.”
Now imagine the reader who enjoys all of those combined. If you know what a Venn diagram is – this is your Venn diagram. The market may surprise you and bleed across those elements more than you expect – but never plan on it. Market to exactly that person and let the readers flock to you. Market broadly and you are more likely to miss.
So how does all of this translate to a book cover? Well, considering everything else equal,
if your audience doesn’t want the emotional journey of a single character, don’t paint a portrait of a single character. If your audience is MG, don’t use sexy imagery. If your audience want sex, use sexy imagery. If your audience wants an emotional romance, use symbolic imagery. If your audience wants a tragedy, make the cover sad. If your audience wants a mystery, then leave them clues on the cover. Ad infinitum.Sales Objectives
This the most important. Obviously, you want to make the most $$$ possible – but how are you going to do that? Really, this factor affects your budget.
Example: The Martian by Andy Weir started off with a minimal budget and cover. Every remembers the amazing results of the final product – but the cover changed many times. It’s first goal was to “get it out there”. Readers picked it up and spread the word. Later, that word wasn’t enough to encourage doubters to try it. They would say “I’ve heard good things about it – but how good can it be if its cover is only X? So they cover was changed with an upgrade budget. Then it reached its next threshold and they changed it again. Eventually it changed AGAIN to be a movie to sell hundreds of $millions.
You may wish to start at a higher sales goal and spend more money – but that may be a reach for you. That’s fine. Lower your goals initially and then increase it at a later date. Spend more money then for a better cover.
Good luck.
[ Please forgive and report any typos. I don’t have an editor. 🙂 ]
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