Hi there! I’m Gail, and I had the pleasure of interviewing the fabulous cover designer Astred Hicks. Astred has designed the covers for books such as Zeroes, Cracked and We Were Liars.

What exactly is the process for designing a cover? Do you get to read the book beforehand?

So what is my design process? That’s a pretty big question because it’s a big process!

When I first started designing books, a million years ago (fourteen years ago) I used to rely on the book synopsis that the editors or publishers would send through. I would often have conversations about the book with publishers, and they would tell me key plot points, sometimes character descriptions and would sometimes provide particular scenes that would work for the cover.

But as I have progressed in my career so too has my process. Because I now work for myself as a freelance book designer I have been able to take time and play with the ways I generate ideas and concepts for book design, especially cover design. And a big part of that process has been to read the manuscript.

Personally, I feel it’s been a big turning point in the quality of work I produce. I take the time to read the text or if I can’t sit down and read it (which I generally do in the evenings after I have clocked off for the day) I will get my computer to read the manuscript to me while I am working or I have a text reader app on my phone that reads to me as well. It’s like having a robot read audio books, strange but ultimately beneficial.

Then I think about the book. A lot. Generally for a long time. I would say 60% of the concept work I do is thinking. Then the actual pen to paper work is a flurry of sketches and design at the end.

I need to know who the characters are, the environment, the feel of the world so I can then think about connecting those elements with an audience. I prefer to create conceptual covers that don’t spell out the story. I want the cover to be an extension of the book, a visual interface for the world the author has created within.

How long does a design take to be generated? 

So a design process for a book can be anywhere from three to twelve months long. Generally, I get a brief six months out from when it needs to go to press (and I think the publication date is around two-three months after the press date). And I will get (if I am lucky) three-four weeks to generate first concepts. It really does depend on the brief and schedule though.

I don’t spend the entire of those three-four weeks concentrating on the one book though. I will have other briefs at different stages at the same time, so everything needs to be scheduled, which for me means adding the new brief to my written up a month at a glance calendar, weekly to-do lists and daily to-do lists.

What is the specific process?

I will read the manuscript as soon as I get it, then let it percolate for a while. Slowly brewing those design ideas. Some briefs will ask for specific directions – ‘we would like to see a photographic design solution and an illustrated design solution’ – and most contain design reference and books that are similar in theme or style. This will give me context so I know who the book will sit next to and also have an idea of what the publisher has in their mind’s eye.
There is a huge amount of work that goes into putting the brief together by the editor/publisher, and I appreciate all the information I am given. A lot rides on getting that brief right, so I get the design right.

Then when it comes to creating drafts I will roughly work up a few concepts but, as you will have probably found out through your own practice, some concepts don’t work when you are trying to put that idea on to paper. So those roughs get culled and I continue to work up the best concepts – from sketches and patchy Photoshop work to more fleshed out designs using low res stock images, less rough illustrations and thoughtful typography.

Concepts also need to show a variety of solutions to the brief, you can’t just present the same image with a few different ideas for type. You need to address the brief requirements from different angels.

So three to five concepts get sent to the editor, along with a design rationale of a few sentences or a paragraph for each design.

The designs are deliberated in-house at the publisher. If the publishing team (editor and publisher) are happy with the concepts they will get presented at the publishing house covers meeting – which is this mythical gathering, possibly similar to Council of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings, where the heads of publishing, sales and marketing, editing and possibly elves (this is unconfirmed) view the concept and discuss their merit and decide which direction to take and which concepts to throw into the fires of Mount Doom (fires also unconfirmed).

Covers meetings are like this call to frantic action for book designers and most publishers have them on Tuesdays so most Mondays and Tuesday mornings are spent wildly making revisions and changes to covers in various stages so they can be presented at the covers meeting.
So most of the time, there is a chosen direction from the first round of concepts. And you work that up for the next month, back and forth with your editor until the front cover has been agreed. Then you can start the full cover, front-spine-back cover and title page and by then you are looking at the home stretch.

Sometimes briefs aren’t that straightforward and you can spend months just working in collaboration with the editor to get the direction.

Some books are really hard to clothe, there might be so many aspects to a story that you just need to find the right voice for the cover and it might take a lot of roughs, research, phone calls and dead-ends before the solution is created.

Other books might find their solution in the first round of concepts and all you need to do is small tweaks and it’s done.

So this is pretty – this happened then this happened then this happened. I hope this is not to dry. I can go on about ideas generation and more designy approaches but the actual technical meeting deadlines and getting publisher buy-in is an important aspect for a designer. There is a lot of admin and communication that has to happen to make a book cover successful

When the final design is chosen by the publishing team, are there any designs that were printed that you just didn’t like, and preferred a different version? If so, why? 

Oh yeah! Of course there have been covers that were chosen out of my original concepts that I’ve just thought, nope, that’s not the right one. There have even been a couple of times that I’ve been creating a cover concept and though ‘Bam! That’s the one. I should just stop designing now because I can’t top it.’ And the publishing team have chosen a different concept. It’s all part of the process, there are so many factors that go into selling a book.

You also have to realise though, that design has a job to do. You are not a fine artist making work just for you. The design you create has to serve a function and answer the client’s brief. So you can’t get too precious. Sure you can fight for your work – please do! Tell people why your concept works in blue and changing to bright pink will destroy the deeper meaning. But you can’t submit your designs and think they are finished and no one can touch them.

But my rule of thumb for ALL design, not just book design, is never (NEVER, EVER) present a design you are not truly happy with. Don’t add that ugly, half-formed concept to the mix just because you need to present four ideas. Because it might get chosen then you will have to spend the next six months working on something you don’t believe in. And your lack of interest and enthusiasm will show, it will affect your performance and the way you approach the job to problem-solve it. So, your initial concept development time is the most vital part of your job.

And what was the favourite design that has been published and why?

Don’t you hate people saying ‘Oh, I couldn’t possibly choose my favourite, they are all like my children. I love them equally!’? Me too. And while I don’t think I love all my work equally, I do find it hard to single out one favourite design. I have many and for many reasons, not just because something looks crazy amazing on the shelf. Maybe the process of creating that book was so joyous and collaborative that when I look at that book I am just so happy (One Would Think the Deep, Ferment for Good); or it’s my first fully illustrated book that was actually a series of six books that saw me spend a year drawing girls leaping about on horse back (Trickstars); or the brief was so damned tricky that I almost gave up but was able to stop and refocus (shake it off, loosen up and look at some art) then sit back down and come up with an absolute kick a*se cover (In the Dark Spaces).

That paragraph really doesn’t do service to my utter love of the books and people I have worked with. I really am very chuffed by my back catalogue and seeing them on shelves in bookshops is a thrill, even more so though is when I see people reading those books.

On the whole, my favourite designs have been those that have involved taking risks. Whether it’s been the publisher hiring me in the first place (sometimes you don’t have the exact right portfolio but you KNOW you can give the client what they want); or it’s the publisher allowing me to take risks. Telling me ‘Here are the basic perimeters but just go for it, explore, we trust your design instincts.’ Risk and trust. Aren’t those words beautiful? They are exciting for a designer. And scary – ‘Oh crap! They expect me to do something amazing, now I have to follow it up! Gah!’ These are the opportunities that make me grow as a designer and I am so grateful for them.