I think it's very true that books are often mostly judged by their covers. When I walk around a bookstore, I often pick up books based only on how interesting the cover looks to me. I think this is because book cover designers are creating an image that can form what the story is and what audience it appeals to. To the people walking by in a bookstore, they are innately drawn to the books that they know are targeting them. For example, people who love historical non fiction books will be drawn to black and white photos on the cover, and romance fans will be drawn to covers featuring two people embracing. Book covers are designed to be the judging panel for how well-liked a book will be by the reader.
In the Ted Talk, I found it interesting when they mentioned that a book cover designer needs to be both an interpreter and a translator and it made me think about the connection between our work in translating to a different language and the work of changing a book into a picture. In a way, they are similar in that they both need to bring the story to life in a different medium to be understood by the viewer or reader. They are also similar in that they need to appeal to the reader in the same way that the original text appeals to the reader. For translating, this is done by changing and rearranging the words of the test as necessary to bet the message and emotion of the story across. For book designers, this means condensing the entirety of the story to its main message and developing an image that can get that message across the best.
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