It's well known book cover design is an integral part of marketing a book because we all judge a book by its cover. While everyone might skip the paperback novel and head straight for the ebook download in 2014, bookcovers are not, despite what some people say, in decline. From beautiful typography to captivating imagery, book covers tantalise our eyes and make it highly likely we'll pick it up or click to view a sample. Another interesting aspect to book covers is they are easy to 'Pin', 'Like' or 'Share', which is great for authors and publishers as all that social marketing helps build free buzz and interest.

Recently we asked our designer community to re-imagine new bookcovers for classic novels like Moby Dick or Anna Karenina. More often than not bookcovers become as famous as the book itself for its clarity and ability to visually communicate a key message powerfully through symbolism and metaphor conveyed by the layout, typeface selected and accompanying imagery. Our designers were invited to apply to reinvent the bookcover of a famous novel. Below is a graphic guide to design genres over the last 100 years.

Lastly there were some favorite books - Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov and Moby Dick by Hermann Melville were crowd favorites with quite a few submissions. Forty-three designers submitted over 90 designs and in this round up I've made a list of the best, most original covers. You'll see designers apply a variety of design genres - from minimalism to flat design, illustrative (e.g. pulp fiction/trashy fiction book covers) to decorative, abstract, Art Noveau and more. Let us know your favorite book covers. Enjoy!

DesignCrowd Designers Redesign Bookcovers from Famous Novels

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Voyage Au Bout De La Nuit by Louis Ferdinand Celine

@Camile: "One of key characteristic of this book is to be one of the first to be written with a rude language. I used a dirty,hand written type to quote one of the famous sentences. The colors (especially the gold) reminds the fact that this book is a classic and shows its value in literature."

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

1984 by George Orwell

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Divine Comedy by Dante Alighie

The Stranger by Albert Camus

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Illiad by Homer

@Droid: "One of my favorite book. My style Minimalist and Elegant. The touch of color is Modern. Illustration of the two helmets (Greek and Troy) facing off together for a war added with fine outline and under shadow for 3D effect. The font used is Greco OSSSK."

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lidgren

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

100 Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

@camille: "I tried to show the emotional part of the book and how the man struggles with nature here. The colors (especially the gold) reminds the fact that this book is a classic and shows its value in erature."

Othello By William Shakespeare

Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

Patriotism by Yukio Mishima

Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov

@camile: "Influences because it shows women as beautiful and dangerous creatures, and also because it is a style which haven't been used a lot for "Lolita" book covers."

Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The Castle By Franz Kafka

Check out the rest of the submisions here: Redesigns of Classic Bookcovers

Thanks you to our participating designers and congratalations to French design student Camille who took out first place. Which was your favorite classic novel redesigned? Let us know in the comments below!

Need a book logo design? Use our Book Logo Maker Tool to create a book-themed logo design.

Designers For Hire!

DesignCrowd's 400,000+ designers are a talented bunch. If you have a similar project in mind or need a graphic design to promote your company or organisation than look for other talented designers in DesignCrowd’s designer directory.

Written by Jo Sabin on Friday, October 3, 2014

Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.