Bookcovers designed by Arun Gokul
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Book cover designer Arun Gokul says that when it comes to the attention book cover designers get in Kerala, it is 1/8 demy size. This measures 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches, and is the traditional measurement of a book like a textbook or a novel. It is a sobering thought considering that a book cover, usually, serves as an introduction to a book sitting on a bookshelf — library or a bookstore. He is referring to how book cover designers in Kerala, home to several publishing houses, go unacknowledged. “What we do is essentially helping in the branding of the book; a cover is akin to packaging the ‘product’, which the book is.” It is as simple as when a novel or any writer’s work meets success, when it is appreciated by critics and readers alike; it goes on to win accolades and is feted. And, usually, nobody knows the person who has designed the cover. The thing that made one pick up the book, and invite the reader into the world created by the author. Arun has been designing covers for close to 20 years. Among the 1,200-odd book covers he has designed are those for authors such as Madhavikutty, M Mukundan, Anand, MT Vasudevan Nair, Hari Nandan, Sheela Tomy, and Haritha Savitri.
