I’m super excited to welcome Jasmine Aurora, a book cover artist and award-winning Designer to continue our interview series. Particularly useful, Jasmine will offer us practical tips on how book cover artists can “think like a book cover designer” so their work stands out and is eventually licensed. Let’s get started!

Recap on interviews with other talented Arcangel Contributors

Before we get started, I would like to recap on the existing series with other talented Arcangel Contributors, including:

• Abigail Miles;
• KeremGo3D;
• Jelena Petrovic;
• George Cairns;
• Yours truly Alexandre Rotenberg;
• Vanessa Skotnitsky;
• Ruben Ramos; and
• Dave Wall.

I’ve also interviewed Nash Mascaro, Arcangel Sales Director.

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About Jasmine

Hi, Jasmine and welcome to the blog! Please tell us about yourself – where you’re from and how did you get started as a book cover photographer and then book cover designer? What were some of the most valuable experiences you have had along the way?

Thanks, Alex, pleasure to be here. I am from a small rural town in West Sussex, England. I grew up living with my mum and a few pets and had a pretty average upbringing.

Growing up I never saw myself as much of an artist, but I knew I liked to make things. When I was 13 I (as was done then) joined various online forums and I taught myself Adobe Photoshop so I could have a nice avatar and forum signature. Because I enjoyed that I decided to study graphics at school and did well at it. Moving into A-Levels I chose to study photography mostly on a whim because I thought it sounded fun and because I knew Photoshop pretty well by then. That’s what started my love of photography and I haven’t stopped since.

From there I studied a degree in photography at University for the Creative Arts which opened my eyes to a world of photography I had never thought about before.

For a while I had a small family photography business, photographing the occasional wedding too – but the fine art side of things was where I loved to be. It was hard finding a place for that kind of photography sometimes. I wasn’t necessarily making images that people wanted to hang on their wall, so what else could I do with them? That’s when I discovered Arcangel and a place where creative photography could also make money. I had always loved books so it seemed like a great idea.

The first couple of years were not much of a success. I had a lot going on in my personal life and though I was trying to build up my Arcangel portfolio I was just not selling anything. But I persevered. Even after years of feeling like I was working for it and not getting any returns it just still felt like it could be good one day.

When Covid hit I was lucky enough to have an amazing friend who was able to offer me some work from home. He and his lovely wife were writers and I began to help them out with various bits of design and marketing. In that year they decided to take the plunge and start their own publishing business (Moonflower) and I helped them to create the visual side of their brand as well as starting to design the covers of their books.

From there – things started happening. I am lucky enough to still be working with them as designer and head of digital and working on some really amazing books. I’ve been given the opportunity to work with beautiful hardbacks with sprayed edges and illustrations and been shortlisted for Designer of the Year at the British Book Awards.

During the pandemic I also had my first sale on Arcangel – probably 4 years or so in at this point. The two sides of my book cover journey started to work together – as a designer I could see what worked from a buyers point of view and as an Arcangel contributor I could see how my imagery might inspire designers too.

I think my most valued experience is if it feels right and you love it then keep at it. You won’t be good at it straight away. Some people have quick success and some people don’t, but that doesn’t mean either is any more worthwhile.

Jasmine, the Book Cover Photographer / Illustrator

Thanks for the introduction. You describe your style as “imagery with a timeless feel with the aim to convey stories and emotions through visual art.” Can you please elaborate on this and also show some examples of your work as an Elite Contributor at Arcangel?

This is a hard one to explain because I think I feel emotions quite visually and I have a big imagination which can be used for good and bad. I have always loved how much things like a storm feels like inner turmoil, a ripped photograph can feel like heartbreak and a bird soaring feels like freedom – exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

I suppose I naturally put that into my work because it makes me feel something about that image. I also like how this is about what it is to be human – it fits with humans throughout history. I work on a project called inVerse with Jack Jewers which explores how ancient poetry is still so relevant today – and it feels similar to that.

Do you have any favorite book cover photoshoot stories or memorable experiences you can share with us?

I think my favourite thing to happen was when I was doing a Land Girl* photoshoot in a park. An older lady walked past me and my model, stopped, gasped and said ‘Land girl! I remember them for real.’ – it was a really sweet moment.

*The Women’s Land Army made a significant contribution to boosting Britain’s food production during the Second World War. Before the Second World War, Britain had imported much of its food. When war broke out, it was necessary to grow more food at home and increase the amount of land in cultivation. With many male agricultural workers joining the armed forces, women were needed to provide a new rural workforce. Source

Which is your go-to gear when shooting for book covers?

I shoot with a Canon 6D and almost all of my photography work is with the Sigma ART 35mm f1.4 lens. I just love it. I have other options but I really love the depth it brings to photos with the wide aperture and how 35mm is just a tiny bit wide angle so things look slightly photojournalistic and unreal. My other go to’s are Canon 100mm and Sigma 24mm-70mm.

However – recently I’ve been experimenting with using a simple scanner as my ‘camera’.

Please tell us about your inspiration to create illustrations

Illustration is something I’m still new to and so still very much experimenting with. I’m trying out new things all the time just to see if it works.

What I enjoy about it is that I can have an idea in my head and I don’t have to wait to plan a big shoot or spend a lot of money to make it happen. I can sit down of an evening and work on it.

You mentioned that it took you 4 years to have a first sale at Arcangel. Would you kindly share some practical tips for those photography contributors who are perhaps struggling to have their images accepted and eventually sold?

Firstly – don’t get put off by rejections. Even now I make something that I think is great and it will just immediately get rejected. This happens a lot. Trust that the people at book cover agencies know their market and also want to get sales.

Research is your friend. Research what kind of book covers are new and trending at the moment and try and work that into your style and how you like creating. What colours are they using? What composition? What subjects? Can you niche into thrillers or historical or romance?

Have a different stock place that may accept rejections – Alamy, Shutterstock etc. Book cover agencies are very focused on selling specifically book covers. It doesn’t mean your image is bad or even that it wouldn’t work for a book – it’s just not what they’re looking for at that time. Diversifying and having another place to put rejected work means you still might be able to make money from it. A note here would be don’t upload other images from the same photoshoot to generic stock agencies if some of them have been accepted by Arcangel. Only upload concepts or photoshoots that have not been accepted by Arcangel in any way.

Jasmine, the Book Cover Designer

You have a unique insight as you’re both a book cover photographer and book cover designer. How do these two skill-sets complement each other?

I can see how imagery can inspire a cover and how difference compositions and colours can be used to make it stand out. It gives me an insight into how imagery will be used and printed.

I’m often advised that it’s important to try to look at my own “through the eyes of a book cover designer”. Could you offer some practical tips on photographers who want to make their work more desirable for designers to be picked up and eventually sold

I think book covers need to be eye catching. Contrast. Colour. Simple composition. Emotional. Something that makes your eye stop and find out more.

Tell us about your work as a book cover designer at Moonflower Publishing. Do you also freelance?

Oh I love it! I have worked with some amazing people and on some brilliant books. My favourite work days are when I get a brief for a new book and get lost in research and ideas. They will say something to me like ‘You’re going to love the next book we have. A ghost story. Victorian. With TAROT’ and my mind will start whirling with ideas.

Moonflower’s is becoming known for the beautiful hardbacks they produce – particularly the spredges (sprayed edges).

I also typeset the books, work on the marketing team and do bits for the PR so I’m all in.

Because they are a fairly new publisher compared to the big ones (IPG Newcomer of the year 2023!) they give me a lot of freedom to try new things and experiment. I feel very lucky to have this as my job.

I do work on freelance commissions though not too many.

Which libraries do you often source images from? How does it work when you source multiple images from multiple agencies. I often see Arcangel / Trevillion + Shutterstock / Getty combinations for more complex composites.

It depends on who I’m working with. I have worked for a design agency that favours Adobe Stock because they have a plan with them.

If I’m allowed free reign my go to agencies are Arcangel, Alamy and Shutterstock – mostly because I trust them and I can usually find the imagery I need with them.

With complex composites it’s just about what imagery you need and where you find something that works. I don’t believe there are any specific rules as long as you have licensed the image correctly for what it’s being used for.

Do you design for certain genres, such as Indie or Thrillers, or more generally?

I gravitate towards thrillers. They’re fun to design for. I have a penchant for the dramatic.

What software do you use to design book covers? Which software would you recommend artists to test their own work?

Adobe! Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom and Illustrator. For digital illustration work I often use Procreate on an iPad pro.

I would recommend anything you can add text to to test out composition. Canva, Photoshop, Procreate – even something like Google Slides would work.

Talk us through a standard brief you’d receive from a client to design for a book cover, what occurs from start to finish?

Brief – I like to know the story first – I prefer to be sent the manuscript or at least an outline of what the book is about.

Research – I love researching! I will look at books in a similar genre both to get inspiration and to see where it might fit into the market. I will also collect images I like (eg. If I want to work with an image of a bird) for reference. I might search the ideas on places like Arcangel to see what is available to work with.

Initial ideas – I will loosely mock up some ideas – first as a sketch and then as graphics – and send them for feedback from whoever it’s for. Sometimes this stage takes the longest.

Designing – I take the concept we’ve decided on and work on it until I’m happy with it. It’s often a collaboration between myself and whoever it’s for. I might create the artwork from scratch or use imagery from stock agencies. It usually changes a lot in this process.

Proofing – I’m not always able to do this but for books that have advanced copies I can get an idea of how it looks printed and make any changes needed before the final print run.

Finalising – This means setting up for print and often creating marketing material for it too.

Thorough workflow! You were shortlisted for Designer of the Year 2023 at the British Book Awards, congratulations! Why do you think your work stood out from others?

Oh, I am still slightly shocked at this and wondering how it happened so early on in my career. What an absolute honour it was to go to the awards.

The first reasons perhaps are Moonflower’s big beautiful hardbacks. They feel like special books.

Secondly – the quick success of Moonflower – it was their shortlist as much as mine.

Thirdly maybe because I work in all sorts of design in books – Arcangel photography, branding, typesetting, illustrating, marketing, taking author’s headshots, websites etc.

Trends

Do you keep a pulse on current and emerging trends for both book cover creation and designing – if so, could you please expand on some that you’re witnessing?

I read various articles about what’s trending and as I’ve said above do a lot of research on what’s current. Often if there is a book that is wildly popular there will be a lot of covers ‘loosely based on’ it by using similar imagery, colours and fonts.

A lot of book genres are favouring illustration it seems. Thrillers and historical tend to still use photography. Ai is worrying – we will have to see where that goes.

About Ai, how do you see it disrupting the book cover photography industry, including book cover design. Do you see it as a threat or opportunity?

Both. It’s in a weird middle ground. I do feel a threat to how I’m working at the moment – but AI is not at a stage where it’s usable or good enough yet.

It is also a magical opportunity to create things we never would have been able to before and be creative in different ways.

I don’t think there’s any use denying it’s existence – it’s going to happen. We will just have to find a way to run with it and adapt with it as it occurs.

Plans

Do you have some plans that you would like to share with us?

WELL. I’ve worked on books for other people, but have I ever worked on something for myself? That’s all I’m saying.

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End of interview

Leaving us on an exciting cliffhanger…how book-cover-ish of you!

Thank you very much, Jasmine, and wish you continued success both as a book cover artist and designer!

About Alex

I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal, on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted eight years to making it as a travel photographer / videographer and freelance writer. I hope to inspire others by showing an unique insight into a fascinating business model.

Most recently I’ve gone all in on submitting book cover images to Arcangel Images. Oh and also recently purchased a DJI Mavic 2s drone and taking full advantage and perhaps an Air 3 soon.

I’m proud to have written a book about my adventures which includes tips on making it as a stock travel photographer – Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography