Behind the Scenes of Book Cover Design: Designing Book Cover Series

Exploring the creative process and challenges of designing a book sequel worthy of the original's magic.

When it’s time to release a sequel, a lot of authors start to worry about keeping things visually consistent.

The big challenge? 

A sequel cover isn’t just about looking good—it needs to feel like it belongs with the original. It should match the tone, style, and branding, but also bring something fresh and have its own identity.

When authors come to me with these kinds of worries, I like to answer with visuals. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do here.

In the previous article, I explored the process of designing the cover for Ian Patterson’s book Transference.

Now, let’s take a look at what happened with Ian’s second book.

Initial sketches

I hope the connection is clear by now.

And the winner is…

Offered in different color options, as usual.

…

And look at these beauties right where they belong. Don’t they look great together?

More Cover Series to Explore

You can explore more of the book cover series I’ve designed to see how visual consistency is built, why it matters, and why, ultimately, you as authors or publishers have nothing to worry about.

Check out the relevant section of our website here.