Watching Elisha Zepeda document the process of creating book covers on social media is intoxicating. With a few strategic clicks, Zepeda knocks out gorgeous options and then tells us which one the publisher picked. As a viewer, it’s impossible to predict because they all seem like winners. Naturally, there’s a lot more to the story, so we asked the Portland-based designer to take us behind the scenes of how he designs covers for Penguin Random House and other clients.
You've been at Penguin Random House for about two years now. How's life in book publishing these days?
Life is good. Things are always moving — there are always books, always covers to be made. My job is a constant ebb and flow of being very busy, and then maybe there's a week where I can breathe.
Do you get to choose which books you design?
To an extent. I'm under an art director, and the job of a good art director is picking the right designer for the book. I can still express interest in something, and if my art director thinks I'm a good fit, I'll get connected with it. I also do freelance work for other Penguin imprints, Simon & Schuster, or independent presses.
Do you have to read a book before you design the cover?
Best practice, yes. At the very least I'm reading a handful of chapters, skimming for visual cues, and making sure the tone of what I think the book is matches what I should be making.
How do you translate the tone into typography, graphics, the art?
That's the magic question. I try to put my process into words, but sometimes it's just as simple as reading a paragraph and it clicks. It's a mix of finding inspiration, seeing what's already out there…there's an alchemy to it that's hard to explain. But tonally, typography and color alone can usually get you into a genre.
A sampling of Elisha’s work
How trendy are those influences?
One example I give is the Atomic Habits effect: one book takes off, and then everything else starts looking like it. The Let Them Theory is kind of Atomic Habits flipped, and I see similarities between Outlive and that same gradient look. Once one of those books takes off, it's hard to divert from it and still feel like you're making the book feel unique.
What is the publisher optimizing for: a known formula, something that stands out on the shelf, or something else?
It depends. A lot of the time, certain publishers will say, “Can I get a bestseller look?” referencing something like Atomic Habits. There are other imprints where I've noticed they actively want it to not look like a book cover that's been seen before. I think that's more common with fiction, because it's just much more open to interpretation, and people are more receptive to something weird or out there when it's an emotional story. Publishers like Faber, FSG, or Riverhead do really interesting things with fiction. I see stuff go to print and think, how did the designer get away with that?
How is the final cover chosen? I know this can be controversial.
I often don't know exactly what goes on behind that. Sometimes it's as simple as an editor saying, I like number four — and what does everyone else like? And nobody has a stronger opinion, which makes it easy.
The comment sections on my videos make the process seem more controversial than it actually is. I trust that the people involved with the book — editing it, writing it — know what's best for how to introduce it to an audience. I'm never in a position to say this one's better. I trust people to do their jobs. There are a lot of moving parts. Sometimes it really is just as simple as someone saying, “I like number one, maybe let's try a different type or color.”
Is there a cover choice you've fought for?
There was a Beatles cover I did called Shake It Up, Baby! All the reference Beatles photos are black and white, and they wanted a serious-looking portrait of them, maybe jumping. I'm a huge Beatles nut, so it felt close to home, but I thought: “This book has an exclamation point in the title, let's try a poster — something that's an ode to sixties concert posters, with this vibrant pop of color, while keeping the black-and-white portion.” I made what they asked for, and then I also provided that extra option. I'd never withhold what someone's asking for, but you hope they really like the extra thing you made. In that case, they did. It got approved, and it's probably my favorite project I've worked on, partly because I'm a huge Beatles fan and I actually spoke up for it.
When you get a brief to start a project, what's in it?
I'll get a brief synopsis, maybe a couple of paragraphs, similar to what would be on the back of the book or the inner flap.
If the art director is really on top of things, I'll also get a mood board. Some art directors prefer not to give you one and let you be the creative, which can be really nice, but it's also nice to know exactly what they're expecting.
Sometimes the author has input too — a location, a character, specific colors, significant items from the book. And there's often input from the editor: “This book did really well in this space, can we do something in that realm?” It's all of those things combined, plus the manuscript, and it's up to me how much I dive into that.
How many different options do you present to the team?
At least 10, typically, in-house at Penguin. For freelance, it's often five to 10, because they're reaching out to me for a specific style, so it's already known what I'm going to make.
In-house can be more open-ended. You have to try very different approaches that don't all look like they're coming from the same designer. I've made up to 40 or 50 before.
What's the sign of a good cover?
Getting you to look twice — that can mean the text isn't fully legible, or something is abstract. The goal is to get you to pick it up and look at it longer than anything else. I don't think the story has to be told on the cover, which is where I think a lot of fiction goes wrong — this is a historical book about a woman in the army, so we need planes, and she needs to be in a nurse's outfit, in the field. I think it can be much more interesting when it's abstract, open to interpretation. If people want to know more, they can read the flap.
[Success is] when it just grabs your attention. That's really all you have on a shelf.
In a world of overwhelm, how do you balance grabbing attention with quick clarity?
Simplicity, I think. My biggest approach is asking what's the least amount of visual information I can put on a cover and still get the message across that this is what the book is. I'll often make a handful of designs, give my eyes a day or two off, then come back and think, “I can remove this and make it cleaner.” When the information is straightforward, you should be able to look at a book, see the title, see whatever illustration is there, and know what it's about.
For those types of books, I often won't read the synopsis first. Eventually I will, but for my first round of throwing-spaghetti-at-the-wall ideas, I want the same information a reader would have.
There's one that just came out, Beyond Inheritance, a book about DNA and genetics. That's basically all I knew going in, and I asked myself: if I'm someone in the audience picking this up, do I need to know anything more? How do I portray that simply on a cover?
How do you collect inspiration?
For every single book I work on, I make a mood board on Pinterest. I try to limit myself to 12-15 ideas, because it's very easy to end up with 50 — I have to cap myself. But Pinterest's algorithm really has it down.
It's also good to follow any type of press or book designer. My Instagram follow list is basically just people I'm inspired by. I'm pretty diligent about only following publishers, artists, or illustrators. That keeps me in the loop with what's happening right now in the book world, and inspired by new stuff.
Do you look for your covers on social media, and do you see that as a sign of success?
To an extent — but social media is so hard to gauge that I never want to put my eggs in that basket. I've had posts that get millions of views and the book still isn't a bestseller. I don't know if it really moves sales. I like to think social media helps, and I don't think it damages a book's chances of getting known, but it's tricky. It’s very hard to tell what's going to land with people.
Do you also do international versions of covers?
Sometimes. It's a much different approach than people picking up a cover that's successful in the US and reusing it. I've recently been approached by a couple of UK imprints, and the last three projects I've done for a UK imprint got killed — I send designs and it just doesn't work out, no hard feelings. But the feedback I get is, “This looks like an American novel.” Certain territories have very different expectations and guidelines for what a genre is supposed to look like, and when I try to do my style for that, it hasn't been working out.
What do they mean by “American style”?
I don't fully know. I think of books that have very different UK and US covers — Lessons in Chemistry comes to mind, and Intermezzo. I don't think those covers are different enough that they'd attract a different audience, but I do see how they're different. I can't quite put my finger on it.
What kind of reader are you?
At any given time, I'm reading literary fiction alongside something nonfiction that I'm either trying to be inspired by or learn from — right now that's self-help. I'm also reading Martyr, which has been on my list for a long time and I'm really enjoying.
Print, e-books, or audio?
Print, for sure. I look at a screen for eight hours a day. I don't want to be looking at one for fun too. But I respect the Kindle. It's the way.
How many books do you read a year?
Aside from the ones I do for my job, I'd say 15 to 20. At one point it was more, but once reading books and dedicating time to stories became my job, I sort of split my reading between that and everything else.
Do you have any rituals or routines around reading?
In my perfect world, yes. I like to fall asleep reading, and wake up and read a chapter.
In the summer it's a lot easier. In Portland, there are lakes and rivers nearby, and it's great to go out and have a reading day for a couple of hours, sitting in the sun.
What are some of your favorite books of all time?
I'm a big fan of Raymond Carver — the way he writes, I'll find myself thinking it's boring in the moment, and then days later a short story is stuck in my head.
I also really love The Virgin Suicides. It's the only book I've read and then immediately started over again.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things was one of my most fun reading experiences. I read it in one 12-hour sitting and immediately went to talk to friends who'd read it, geeking out about it.
Do you have any favorite bookstores in the world?
I'm spoiled in Portland. We have Powell's, of course, which is massive, but I like the Powell's on Hawthorne — smaller, but still really big.
Portland has a great book community and a lot of used bookstores. One of my favorites is Melville Books, on Alberta. I love it so much. It's like this little shack of a bookstore, not really alphabetized, set up by genre, just stacks of books, and usually someone quietly reading in the corner.
I like when it's limited; going somewhere with everything can be overwhelming. When there's a mix of new and used books and maybe 2,000 total, you can easily scan the room and take a walk through it. It's much more approachable.
