Cover Redesign: 'Rising Water'

This month, Michelle Argyle at Melissa Williams Design reimagines the cover of Rising Water by Alice Savage, a theater textbook and play.

Design Tip #1: It’s difficult to tell from the original cover that this is a textbook, so I designed a clear, easy-to-read header and incorporated the word textbook.

Design Tip #2: Using big blocks of color lends a professional, academic feel to this cover, while the fun water element hints at the possible drama contained within.

Design Tip #3: Adding a logo-type theater mask below the header makes it immediately clear that this book has to do with theater and acting—two things I felt were missing from the original cover.

Design Tip #4: This book is not only a textbook but a play. To set it apart as both, I used Helvetica (commonly used on academic books) for the header and author name but then used a more creative-looking serif font for the title.

To submit a book for a free cover redesign, email us.