Each year, first-year Visual Communication students from the University of Technology Sydney are briefed to design a series of B-format book covers. Students choose a set of books from one of three literary genres: popular science, postcolonial fiction or science fiction. The brief includes three books in each set (which change annually to avoid feedback-fatigue for tutors!) with a short description of each book and production specifications.

The educational aim of the project is to teach students to design for a series: how to design three covers that work as a cohesive visual set, while also standing alone as strong individual covers.

To create an effective book cover, designers must consider the ‘visual language’ related to the particular genre the book belongs to: What do other books in this genre look like? How can you design something that fits the genre but also stands out from the competition? To kick-start this process, students are required to visit at least one bricks-and-mortar bookshop to observe how other books in their chosen genre have been designed, and how books are presented as objects in the world, including speaking to the bookseller about how they choose which books to display face-out and what kinds of feedback they get from customers about book covers. They are also set tasks such as reading Peter Mendelsund’s blog posts on five different categories that book covers nearly always fall under, then finding five examples of books that match each of these categories to analyse.

Designing book covers requires a high degree of both technical and conceptual refinement. Over six weeks, the students are mentored through the process of pitching initial concepts in response to the brief, then developing strong concepts into drafts based on feedback from their tutor and peers, and working through the slow, iterative process of final refinement.

The final covers below are some of our favourites from 2015 – dauntingly impressive for first-year students.

Designed by Joshua Moll

Designed by Wendy San

Designed by Shelly Shao

Designed by Collette Duong

Designed by Emily Ye

Designed by Melanie Coggio

Designed by Matthew Harrington

Guiding the students through the design process were UTS staff Kate Sweetapple, Gemma Warriner, Steph Liew, Brittany Denes and Vanessa McCarthy.