15 seriously awesome alternative book covers

A bunch of talented artists have thought long and hard about what book covers would look like if they were in charge of the printing, and here’s our top 15 from around the web!

Book covers are the sales advert for the story within, and as much as we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover – we all know we do.

Some book covers just don’t live up to the author’s talent, can’t match the story or are attempts by the publisher to categorise the book as a part of their “classics” or “popular” series of books (which no-one wants to display on their bookshelf, I can tell you). The book covers below would take pride of place on any bookshelf.

The Joe Pernaciaro-designed cover for Farenheit 451 is one of the most memorable and accurate covers of an important piece of science fiction. This cover competes.

A gruesome illustration indeed, with a fitting prop to bring focus to Dr Jekyll’s unfortunate condition.

Is it the smile of the Cheshire cat or a lunar hint at Alice’s possible mental state.

A great way to encourage young minds to read about evolution and how today’s animals and critters of the world are related to creatures of the past.

The orange maths book style cover whispers conformity and highlights the opening sentence in George Orwell’s story of a communist nightmare.

A childhood favourite; the cartooned Twits in this version would be more appealing to this generation’s children, than the dated Quentin Blake ones.

The ominous planets and the vast desert surrounding a small, but threatening tribe of silhouettes certainly gives an accurate feeling of the what the world depicted in Frank Herbert’s Dune is like.

What’s your favourite design? Do you have a problem with the cover of one of your favourite books, and think you can do a better job? Send it to us on Facebook or Twitter and we’ll mention your idea!