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2022 is a great year for fantasy lovers, thanks to many upcoming novels. Some of them have covers that offer excellent design lessons, from the use of fantasy font to imagery and layout. If you dream of publishing a novel or want to design a book cover, learn from the covers of these upcoming books.
Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi uses a bold sans serif font. However, the font is given a bold, gold color, creating a sharp contrast with its greyscale characters’ faces and dark brown background. The author’s name is printed vertically with smaller white font, so everyone can clearly see the title on the shelves.
John Scalzi’s The Kaiju Preservation Society has a unique concept that would make you think of “the more fantastic version of Jurassic Park.” One version of the cover uses the “unique animal preservation” theme by placing the title and author’s name on a name tag, complete with a wildlife-themed background.
Unlike typical fantasy novels that use elegant fantasy font, Kaiju uses sans serif-type font with different sizes and condensed styles to make the typeface stand out.
The many versions of Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher incorporate the nettle theme into the fonts on the cover. One version has the image of dark green nettle incorporated with the font. The nettle vines are wrapped around a bright yellow fantasy font with curved swashes and ends that mimic the vines. This creates a good contrast between the cover art and the font.
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Another version of the book uses little symbols and solid green background. However, the title font has an artistic design that resembles thin skeletons. It adds a unique element without being excessive.
John Darnielle’s Devil House cover art was inspired by vintage horror, including the font. The typeface is similar to fonts in vintage horror movie posters, telling readers the nature of the book. The title and the author’s name use the same font, but they are designed with different colors and backgrounds so readers can easily distinguish them.
One version of The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd combined typography with a smart layout. The white font was inserted into the blank black space in bookshelves. Aside from creating contrast, this is also a smart way to incorporate the title and author’s name into the book’s theme.
Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility tells the story of the first colony on the moon. The quietness of the moon and the word “tranquility” in the title inspired a design that looks like a painting. The fantasy font is humble, white against the dark green and blue background. The result is a calm, gentle vibe while keeping the typography visible on the bookshelves.
Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark combines simple font and a smart layout on its cover. The title is arranged vertically in one version, with the word “in” printed inside around the sun. The font is simple, but the black bold print makes it stand out against the cover artwork.
Need fantasy font inspiration for your cover design? Go to Pollux of Geminorum and find a handful of original display and script fonts for your creative book cover design!
