Before a book is printed, the design needs to be carefully considered for marketing purposes. The book designer often works closely with the book editor, the art director, typesetters, and other members of the design team to create a specific look. A book designer is primarily responsible for creating both book covers (front cover and back cover). However the interior layout of the book is equally important, as the book may have line illustrations or other page design elements.
Book designers often work in-house at a publishing company. However many book designers work freelance, getting jobs outsourced to them from publishers. Almost all publishing companies use desktop publishing programs, so book designers need to be well-versed in programs like InDesign and Quark.
How to become a Book Designer:
If you're interested in becoming a book designer, it's essential to get experience in graphic design. Take a community college course in desktop publishing, or a university course in graphic design, and then get some on-the-job experience! It's also a plus to have experience in the book publishing industry. Even if you don't land a book design position right away, experience in a production role, or a different kind of design role would be very helpful.
Other careers in publishing & Design:
Publishing & Graphic design have many job roles which can be a stepping stone to becoming a specialist book designer or can be an alternative job role after starting out as a book designer. Some careers that may interest you are: Copywriter, Graphic Designer or Illustrator.
