Practical Research: Chip Kidd - "Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is."

Knof Design book publisher asks the question: What do the stories look like? Designing a cover is making the book look like something, giving it a face. This is to give the reader a first impression of what the book is about. 

A book designer gives form to content and also manages a very careful balance between the two. For example, showing a picture of an apple and writing the word apple is treating your audience like idiots. You either do one or the other. However, if you merge the two: the reader is forced to straddle two planes of existence and the book itself offers interaction, exploration, touch.

A book designer's responsibility is to the reader, to the publisher and to the author. 

A book cover is a distillation, a haiku of the story. Once the book designer has read the book they then must be an interpreter and a translator. 

Do your job right and get a little lucky: great art can be great business.