Book design
Book cover page design
The cover page is the first thing a reader sees after the jacket, and it is where a lot of books quietly fall apart. A striking cover followed by a default title page in the wrong typeface tells the reader the care stopped at the outside.
Overview
What this service covers
This work covers the cover page and the front matter around it: half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, contents and part openers. The typographic system from the cover is carried inward so the book reads as one designed object.
It is often commissioned alongside a cover, but we also take it on for books whose covers were designed elsewhere, matching the existing treatment rather than replacing it.
Process
Four stages, each with an approval point
Audit
We look at the cover, the manuscript structure and any house style you already follow.
Page grid
Margins, measure and baseline grid are set for the trim size and page count.
Openers
Front matter and chapter openers are designed and shown as sample spreads.
Rollout
The approved system is applied through the book and delivered with a style sheet.
What we provide
The deliverables, item by item
Title and half-title pages
Type-led openers built from the cover's typeface palette and spacing logic.
Copyright and imprint page
Correctly ordered credits, ISBN, edition line and printer statement, set to publishing convention.
Contents and part openers
A consistent hierarchy that holds up whether the book has six chapters or sixty.
Chapter openers
Drop caps, running heads, folios and chapter numbers designed as a repeatable system.
Ebook-safe versions
Reflowable equivalents that survive conversion to EPUB without collapsing.
Style sheet
A short document recording the type sizes, leading and margins for future titles in the series.
Who it suits
Commissioned most often by
If your situation is not on this list, describe it in an email and we will tell you plainly whether this is the right service.
Talk to our team- Authors preparing a print edition
- Small presses standardising a list
- Publishing services providers
- Academic authors with complex front matter
- Anyone reissuing a backlist title
Benefits
What you get out of it
Consistency from jacket to page one
Front matter that continues the cover instead of contradicting it.
Correct publishing conventions
Copyright and imprint pages set the way the trade expects to see them.
Reusable for the next title
The style sheet means book two does not start from scratch.
Print and ebook parity
Openers designed so the ebook does not lose the structure.
Portfolio
Work in this category
A sample of studio work in this category.
Questions
Before you brief us
Ready to brief this project?
Send the details and a scope, schedule and fixed quote come back within one working day.