This month, Michelle Argyle at Melissa Williams Design reimagines the cover of Five Theories on the Fitz and What They Reveal About the Politics of Disaster by Wendolyn R. Goerl. To submit a book for a free cover redesign, email us at booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Design Note #1: Sometimes what the author wants redesigned isn’t a huge overhaul. I decided to change the color around the original image to a warmer gold tone that better complements the maroon.

Design Note #2: While these two covers are similar, the new cover conveys a better sense of visual balance.

Design Note #3: It’s really important to make sure a cover will look good big and small. The original cover didn’t do this, so I increased the font size on all of the lettering.

Design Note #4: In the original, the author’s name gets pretty lost. I decided to move it down to the maroon area, using a different font than the title or subtitle, and also lighten the tone of the gold color above.

Original Cover