We talk with our book cover artist Vivien Reis!
It was well over a year ago now that we decided to hire a professional book cover designer. We are both creatives and artists, but we didn’t have the tools, time, or graphic design experience to really create the covers we wanted. After many weeks of searching through freelancers on Fiverr, we found Vivien.
We have worked with her for all four books in Thread of Souls and are looking forward to continuing to work with her for the rest of the series and many books to come! We chatted with her about her inspiration, how she goes about designing books covers, and how she got started!
How did you get started as a designer?
I’m self-taught and got started with designing my own book cover nearly five years ago. I collect hobbies and am constantly looking for new ways to be creative. I’ve done pottery throwing, jewelry making, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, furniture repair, painting…the list goes on! Once I started looking into cover designers for my second book, I realized that digital design was a creative avenue I hadn’t pursued before. I love a challenge and I love learning new things so I jumped into the world of book design and haven’t looked back!
I love being part of bringing someone’s book to life. The design process is typically one of the final stages to publication and it’s fun to share in the client’s excitement to release something they may have spent years working on.
How do you begin coming up with ideas for a book cover design?
Every cover design project starts with the client brief. I like getting a list of several items important to the story—they may not all be included in the final design, but it gives me more options to work with. I also like to get some examples of covers that the client likes or thinks fits the tone of their novel well.
Mix that with market research and I typically have a pretty good idea of where to go for the concepts. I usually have a mental image of the concepts and then jump into compositing images. Some ideas don’t work at all and about half of my projects reach a point where I think “this looks terrible, I don’t know what I’m doing!” Much like writing a book, I have self-doubt, no matter how many covers I’ve designed. I’ve learned not to listen to that doubt though and look at each project as a challenge to improve my craft.
Do you have a favorite book type of favorite book genre to design for?
Fantasy books hold a special place for me since that’s what I got started on. My first client was a romantasy author I’ve known for years. I told her I wanted to get started in design and would design the cover for her latest book for free. I had a lot to learn at the time, but I’m so thankful for her! Fantasy books are the most challenging for me, but the most rewarding!
Are there any book covers done by others that you are a big fan of?
So many! I’m constantly looking to improve, and drooling over other designer’s work is part of that. I like to analyze book covers now in a way I never did before. Looking at ways images are layered together, how typography can be its own design element for the book, how other designer’s choose color and contrast to make a cover pop. Some designers I follow are Micaela Alcaino (Ig: @micaelaalcainodesign), Franziska Stern (Ig: @coverdungeonrabbit), and Lexxie (ig: selkkiedesigns).
Do you do any other design work?
I mainly provide interior design and formatting, and book cover design. I work across all genres, and can provide marketing materials as well (ad mockups, social media banners, etc.).
Vivien Reis
www.VivienReis.com/cover-design
Vivienreis.covers@gmail.com
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