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Discover the Secrets to Some Amazing Music Book Cover Ideas That Work
Book cover designs are an important element that play a critical role in the success of a book. That is because no matter how great a book may be, no reader today would ever pick it up without some great cover art. And while you may think that this phenomenon is common with children book covers, it spans across nearly every book cover niche, from typographic book cover to travel book covers.
Just a few short decades ago, books used to have plain covers with light to no design element on them. Take, for example, many of the old Penguin Classics. That is because due to the absence of digital design and printing techniques, artistic book covers could dramatically increase the price of the book, which would have been detrimental to the author as well as the publisher.
However, with the advent of digital design and newer printing techniques, as well as the advent of eBooks, this issue has been phased out of the industry. Today, there is no excuse for a book not to have a great looking cover, which speaks of the book’s story.
Now, based on the cover art, we can categorize book covers such as typographic designs, children’s designs, travel designs, music book cover design, and more. So, if a typographic book cover features distinctive typography, your music book cover would feature some sort of musical element on it.
But what kind of a musical element? Should it be an instrument, or is there some other way to represent that idea? Let’s dive in and take a look at how professional eBook design services would create an amazing musical cover art for a book, and how can we incorporate that to create our own.
What Elements Can Be Incorporated in Your Music Book Cover Design Ideas
As we mentioned above, your music book cover design ideas doesn’t have to feature just musical instruments. The design can feature any kind of element that portrays that essence of music and harmony, whether it’s a person whistling and clapping along to unheard music, or even just musical notes floating through the air from a source unknown.
Some of the most common elements usually seen on music book covers include:
- A well-known musical instrument such as a piano, guitar, or violin
- Someone clapping or dancing along to an unseen melody
- Some playing a musical instrument like a saxophone or horn
- Musical notes dancing across the cover
- An 8-track or cassette tape
- A boom box or radio playing a tune
- A set of speakers thumping with high-bass tunes
While these elements are some of the more common ones, many other elements can be used too. But now that you have a general idea of what musical design elements can be added to your cover art, let’s dive in and take a look at some amazing examples of music book covers.
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7 Amazing Music Book Cover Ideas You Need for Inspiration
Music book cover ideas come in different styles, with your cover art representing the vibe or genre of your book. From biographies of musical legends, to fictional stories, music books can be found in various styles.
Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for your music book cover art. You need to explore and discover which style suits your specific book, and create cover art that appeals to the fans of that genre. And while it may seem difficult, its actually not that hard to do. Think about it. Nearly all comic book covers we see around us follow an elaborate style of art, all because it allows them to stand out distinctly.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some awesome music book covers to inspire your cover art.
Mix-tape – Illustrated by Mila
The first book cover on our list does not actually represent the musical genre. However, the book follows the theme of listening to a mixtape of our lives, and as such, the cover suits the book perfectly. According to the blurb of the book, written by Kate Garnes, tells us how each of us has mixtape playing inside our heads, full of comments from the people around.
These words do nothing except put us down, throwing up hurdles and slowing us down on the journey to self-realization and acceptance. These comments are often nothing short of lies that color our perception of ourselves. The book perfectly represents this by showing an image of a cassette tape with a strip of tape on its top side, displaying the word “LIES”, and a pair of ear pods on top of that cassette. Overall, one of the more interesting and unorthodox music book cover design ideas to use.
Before Music – Designed by Madison Safer
The next book on our list is titles Before Music – Where Instruments Come From. The book is written by Annette Bay Pimental, and explores the origin and history of music and the various musical instruments, spanning the entire globe.
From exploring the history of music and instruments, to introducing artisans who craft those instruments, the book covers a wide variety of topics. And the illustrations and cover art, designed by Madison Safer, are quite interesting. Going with the casual vibe of the book, the cover features a boy and girl duo playing instruments, with the stream of music curling through the air, going through different instruments. Overall, a great cover art like this entices you to pick it up.
This is Music Book Series – Illustrated by Tania Yakunova
This is Music book series is all about learning the hands-on skills required to play different types of instruments, whether it’s the drums, stringed instruments, horns, or more. The book series is designed to be simple to understand and follow, with a relaxed vibe that puts the reader at ease.
To follow that vibe, the book cover design is simple, with a basic art style that lends well to its theme of learning the basics of the four families of music. Overall, its universality is what makes it one of the most popular book cover ideas used globally.
Around the World in 80 Musical Instruments – Designed by Sue Downing
Making a play on the famous novel “Around the World in 80 Days”, this book titled “Around the World in 80 Musical Instruments” explores the various instruments used to play music throughout the world. Ranging from traditional instruments used by the various indigenous cultures of the world, such as the sitar and mbira, to modern weird-ish instruments like the Wintergaten Marble Machine, this book explores how these relate to each other.
The cover art is quite simple, with an image of the world with various musical instruments ranged around it, with the name of the book across a banner that wraps around the globe. These types of music book cover designs are quite overt in displaying their desired messages, and are thus quite successful in ensuring that readers pick them up.
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone – Illustrated by Frank Morrison
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a biography of an unsung hero of the jazz era – Melba Doretta Liston. Falling in love with a shiny brass trombone when just seven years of age, she taught herself to play the instrument and had entered the jazz scene by her teens.
She joined trumpeter Gerald Wilson and toured across the country, playing her music while battling the hardships that came with being a woman, and an Afro-American at that. Despite that, she managed to shine brightly, playing with jazz great like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and more. While the book tackles a deep subject, the cover is done in an interesting art book cover design that makes it feel like a children’s book.
Birth of the Cool – Designed by Keith Henry Brown
Birth of the Cool is another biography, this time telling us the life and rise of the great Miles Davis. A picture book, it is designed to teach kids about the history of one of the great American classical musicians, from his time as a young amateur musician, to his rise as one of the greatest legends of jazz.
The art style of the cover is amazing, made to mimic that done using watercolors or another light medium. The style of the cover, as well as the font choice for the title, makes this one of our recommended music book cover design ideas.
Music Is In Everything – Illustrated by Ag Jatkowska
Finally, we get to the last book on our list and the perfect one for it as well. Called “Music is in Everything”, this book embodies the approach and aim of the Marley family, about how there is happiness to be found around us all, if we just look for it.
Written by famous reggae singer Ziggy Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley, the cover art represents this idea of finding happiness and peace with the concept of music. Just like there is music to be found in everything around us, from the pots and pans in our kitchen, to the mason jar full of dry beans in the pantry, happiness too can be found in the most unusual places.
The cartoon-like imagery portrayed on the cover is a great representation of this idea, encompassing the joy in embracing the simplicity of things to achieve inner peace.
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Conclusion
To sum it, there are many different music book cover design ideas that can be used to adorn your precious book. However, there is usually only one style that perfectly encapsulates the essence of that book and its message.
So, if you manage to find that perfect style, you will end up with a cover art that will astound and enrapture your audience.
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