This is the second part of a multi-part post describing the design process of the cover, layout, & website for the book A Worthy Legacy by author Tomi Akinyanmi. You can read the Part I here.

PART II: The Final Cover

The first round of the cover concepts were focused on the uniqueness of the yoruba origins of the author and her grandfather, the focus of the legacy.

For the second round we looked for a more ‘universal’ approach on the topic of the book’s theme “learnings of life”, which would allow more people to relate to it. This was a better approach from a marketing perspective and also conveyed the message that the author was transmitting in a better way since the book is about people and life regardless which culture they are from:

The dark background immediately stood out from the rest. And though we loved the title set in the calligraphic font Affair, we later changed it to Bentley & MrsEaves for improved readability:

Here is the final cover:

When we finished the cover, we sent it over to the talented team of COS Productions to produce the book trailer. I was thrilled to see how the video captured the essence of the book:

Coming soon | Part III: Book Jacket & Interior Pages

Last month we wrote about David Rosen’s nicely designed placeholder Web site for his novel I Just Want My Pants Back. The full site is now finished and David has introduced a very innovative feature that allows you to customize a video message that can be emailed to anyone.

The theme of the video message is a twist on the book’s title. From a drop down menu you select a variety of options, such as “I just want my book back” to much more humorous options. Then there are mood options, such as “I am sorry. Okay? Now give me back my stuff.” From your selections is created a composite video of an actor asking, uh, demanding, on your behalf that your stuff be returned. You have to see it for yourself.

David already had an interesting book trailer on his site. The custom video creates a new opportunity for generating buzz about a book. As David admits, it’s an attempt at creating a viral video. If it catches on, then it spreads awareness about his novel. The custom options give users something to play around with and the videos are funny, so it might catch on. And people who like the sense of humor in the video might very well like the book. That’s the idea.