Can you really judge a book by its cover? How books are standing their ground in the digital age
In the age of digital dominance, publishers and designers are reasserting authority in print from the word go.
We’re told we can’t, we know we shouldn’t, and yet we just can’t help judging a book by its cover. Whether it’s the illustration, the typeface or the paper stock used, a book’s cover acts as its advert; encompassing its essence. But what place do book covers have in the digital age? From the increasing dominance of digital journalism to the massive growth in popularity and availability of ebooks (Kindle ebooks outsell printed books on Amazon); some might argue that our affinity with all things digital seems to have surpassed the simple pleasures of reading print. Or has it?Innovative techniques are playing some part in redressing attitudes to print, with unusual finishes and treatments such as embossing and foiling techniques imparting new feelings of brand ownership with consumers and influencing purchase. Children’s books are a great example of this, as highlighted by Carl Rush, director, Crush Creative:“Kids’ books work really hard to grab the child’s attention and we see all sorts of special printing techniques applied. Holographic effects, full metallic foils etc just ask to be picked up and played with.”Adrian Searle, publisher at Freight Books, believes that the tactile element creates an attachment that doesn’t translate to digital and resonates with consumers.“Touch and feel are vital in allowing the consumer to visualise ownership. If the sensory experience is unusual and sensual, even in the most subtle of ways, then it creates a stronger bond. It also plays a crucial role in adding perceived value to a product whose value has been eroded over the last ten years.”This erosion in value that has meant the role of the book has changed since the advent and explosion of digital. Books are now viewed and designed as objects; a shift Julius Wiedemann, director digital publications at TASCHEN, feels creates a “greater diversity in the use of special colours, and also a greater variety in formats”. In terms of unusual processes, he says: “Binding has become also a new frontier, so that you can surprise readers with the way a book is opened.”Publishers can also take stock of other industries, looking for inspiration in unlikely places. Rush suggests that they should look to the greetings card industry, with its innovative use of paper and print: “We pay a fortune now for cards and that’s down to the innovative printing techniques and paper stocks that are employed.”So can this tactile experience offer a point of differentiation when compared with what some see as the growing threat of digital?Matthew Young, cover designer at Penguin and creator of Inprint Books, argues that the convenient, instant nature of ebooks means that “the only advantage print has over digital is the way it looks and feels; the way it engages our senses of sight, touch, sound.” And despite all the advantages of digital, as he says, “The screen on an ereader can’t compete with the texture of a beautifully crafted piece of paper.”Young believes that this can only be a positive thing, as it means even more attention is given to the paper a book is printed on, in a bid to create a memorable object that fi ts comfortably with its digital counterpart. “This is what I was trying to do with Inprint Books; making the most of what ebooks don’t have: paper. By building the covers entirely out of layers of textured paper, it takes the tactile experience to the nth degree, giving the covers a 3D quality that begs to be touched.” On the question of how print and digital can work together, Searle observes that digital is becoming “pathfinder content” – a means of discovery leading consumers towards books – whilst Wiedemann believes that the two will soon complement each other.“We are still going through a transitional phase where digital simulates print, but this phase is coming to an end. Both sides have unique points and we will finally consume both for different reasons.”For Young, innovation is key. “The really important thing is for publishers to keep experimenting, pushing the boundaries of both formats and getting more and more people interested in reading.”The question of how print and digital can work together may yet to be fully answered, but adopting a tactile approach to book covers is one way for publishers to reassert print’s point of difference and re-engage consumers in an increasingly difficult market.
