Cover design for On Love by Alain de Botton

This book cover design, made for Alain de Botton’s “On Love”, strikes first with vibrant red and second with a typographic layout that almost feels like it will float off the page. I love the simplicity achieved by relatively complex methods of layout design; the composition is balanced and striking in its simplicity. It also compliments the message of the book well, with the color red invoking a sense of warm passion, and the small “a novel” adding quiet and understated professionalism—this is a book about love, but it also takes itself seriously enough to be trusted. This dash of professionalism is balanced well with the playful alternation of black and white in the author’s name, along with the kerning, as the spacing adds to the floating feel of the title. This is a great example of doing just the right amount while knowing when to step back and let the type speak.