18 Iconic Book Covers and Their Stories

Have you ever stopped to think about how your favorite book cover art was conceptualized? There’s a lot that goes into creating a book cover and how the design is discovered. First, the cover designer is commissioned by the publisher or editor, not the author as some might think. Then, the designer collaborates with the marketing/sales team to develop a concept that is marketable. From there, the designer presents “roughs” to the sales team until a consensus is reached on the direction. This is the process by which some of the most iconic book covers to date were built, and it sometimes starts two years before the book is even published.

This infographic from Invaluable shares some of the most famous book covers we’ve all grown to love and how each designer brought those visions to life. See if you can spot some of your favorites!