Colours for your book cover is extremely important.

During a photoshop tutorial concerning recipe book covers, I started to ponder on the importance of book covers and colour. When my lecturer was changing his book design cover; ensuring readability, appropriate typography and colour, I took a mental note to research later whether the colour I had envisioned for my book was suitable enough.

Could you guess from the title which colour I chose?

Research indeed backed up my colour choice as a suitable one in the world of publishing, specifically in the recipe book domain. Whilst green is associated with nature (which food comes from) yellow can be associated with hunger. I wanted my cover to have yellow as the dominant feature. So what else does colour psychology say about yellow?

Well, it honestly says a lot of things.

Yellow is bright. Yellow is captivating. Yellow is eye-catching. It’s a colour that is normally associated with cheerfulness, joy and warmth. Too much yellow, however, can be overpowering instead of powerful and overbearing instead of uplifting.

According to colour psychology yellow is one of the colours that is quickly registered by our brain and it appeals more to the left, more analytical side of our brains. Depending on factors such as our life experiences and tastes, different shades of yellow can have different effects on people. Yellow can be associated with happiness but as it appeals more to the analytical side of our brains, it can also make us more critical which could lead to feeling overwhelmed, aggravated, and irate.

In terms of food many fast food-chains love the colour yellow but it is normally combined with other colours such as red and orange (can think of a few examples?) to balance out the yellow.

The tone of yellow used on covers is dependent on the contents of the actual book – the cover of a book is never chosen as an after-thought, it is strategic and purposeful. Therefore if an overbearing yellow cover is the best way to convey the tone of the book then the designer has a right to display that (although the publisher might think differently … but let’s not talk about that).

Food for thought: What would be the dominant colour if you were to design the cover to a Vegan recipe…why?