Designing Nonfiction: Nonfiction November 2024, Week 2

Week 2’s prompt for Nonfiction November, Choosing Nonfiction, is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Our host, Frances of Volatile Rune, asks us:

What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title or cover which you find striking.

As a graphic designer, my take on the question last year was to absolutely geek out about my favorite book cover designs, and I’m so happy to do that again! I have to limit myself to only sharing books I own or that are on my wish list—but even so, there are so many I adore.

“Literal” designs

A pattern I’m finding myself drawn to this year is design that breaks the rules. A designer with a true mastery over their art knows when and how to break the rules while keeping the design looking good. The above examples show designs with literal interpretations of the subject matter into which the design is being incorporated.

In Debt and The Politics of Genocide, the title or part of the title is being made to look as if it’s actually on a printed receipt or a newspaper. The Deviant’s War takes the liberty of inverting the colors and adding a gradient, but it is still a play on being a literal confidential government document. Fixed It and The Politics of Genocide tell potential readers exactly what the book will be about, hinting at politicized headlines. I especially applaud the designer of Debt for their design’s clever minimalism—especially on such a thick book.

Busy and colorful covers

Another rule in design is not to have too much going on at once, as visual clutter can distract and confuse people. The above covers are bright and busy, but not necessarily too busy—except perhaps for Practical Anarchism, which I would argue is intentional given the subject matter.

Disability Visibility and Disability Intimacy are an interesting case in what it looks like to create an unofficial “series” in nonfiction. They share most of the same colors and a similar font (though not identical, which you can tell from the lowercase A’s in “disability”). One can tell on first glance that they’re related and that they may be best read together. Finally, I had to include The Socialist Manifesto here because it is one of the several books which I’ve bought twice just to get a cover I liked better. In this case, it was later that same day.

Vintage visuals and timeless typefaces

Just like last year, I have to do a special shout-out to vintage designs. One of my favorite things about book designs of the late 70s and early 80s is the ultra-round fonts that you see above on Human Rights in the Soviet Union (1984), Capital (this edition 1977), and Women, Race & Class (1981). (While it’s not vintage, I wanted to share the 2024 translation of Capital because I similarly admire its unique typeface.)

I can’t show this through a screen, but the aesthetic of vintage books obviously isn’t complete without the tactile experience of holding a decades-old book with a slightly tattered cover and softened pages. And the edges on The Marxists are painted green; how fun is that!?

Other great book covers

Finally, this is my uncategorized grouping of book covers that I couldn’t leave out. In From the River to the Sea, you’ll see an example of the modern resurgent popularity of the rounded “retro” fonts. Other than The End of Policing with its heavy use of text, these covers don’t really break any rules. Rather, they show that a designer can still be creative using the basic principles of text alignment, contrasting colors, subtle layering, or seemingly random fruits.

A People’s History of the United States isn’t the type of cover design I would usually like, but something about it is so simple, American, and classic—like the book itself. I’m proud to showcase Glory to God in the Lowest on here, as I met and attended a talk from its author, pro-Palestine Christian activist Donald Wagner, literally yesterday, just before beginning to write this.

Conclusion and connecting

I hope this journey through my favorite book covers this year wasn’t too nerdy! If I had to choose one favorite it would probably be From the River to the Sea. I’ve been eyeing it for months, largely because the cover keeps sticking in my mind, with the provocative and direct title, the retro font, the minimalist design, and the fact that it was published collaboratively by my two favorite publishers, Haymarket Books and Verso Books. (Check out this book’s cover designer Thomas Greenwood‘s Instagram to see more of his work.)

I can’t wait to see what draws my fellow nonfiction nerds to a book, and especially your favorite colors. Don’t forget to link up your Nonfiction November posts for this week to Frances’s post if you haven’t already!