Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover

I have recently been thinking more about books, and have been led to the questions of ‘What if designed book covers had never of existed?’

Book covers were initially designed as protection of the pages inside, but they now take on the function of communicating the themes of the pages it envelopes. The design, typography and colours on the cover determine whether we initially select that specific book from the shelves and shelves in book shops.

So what if all book covers were blank, white plain card, telling us nothing of the words inside?

For a start, it would put some illustrators and designers out of business. We would be unable to identify one book from the next. Would we be more widely educated and have wider interests? Or would no-one truly know what interests them?

Would we read less due to a lack of visual stimulants, or would we reading seem like a more exciting past-time – not knowing what your next book would be about?

These thoughts make me question the reasons as to why I select specific books from a shelf, and, as almost shallow as it sounds, how much less interesting reading could be if book covers were left blank.