As a publishing professional, you know that the success of any book depends on the strength of its cover. We create and deliver powerful, distinctive covers targeted specifically to your intended markets. We also make your job easier. We deliver all project components FAST and ON TIME for a predictable, smooth project flow. You also get BULLET-PROOF, press-ready files. And, you get all this at a price that's appropriate for your project budget.

For two decades we have delivered fresh, compelling covers to our professional publishing clients, including HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Prentice Hall, Hay House, Pearson Education, Bantam, and the Jodere Group. If you like what you see here, contact us for custom pricing and scheduling.

Click on any sample below to see an enlargement and for more details about our approach to design.

Crossing Over: JODERE GROUP
Crossing Over quickly catapulted to national bestseller status, and this cover design helped pave the way. Titled after John Edward's popular TV show, the cover uses this lush color palette to radiate both the mystery and mastery that surround this world-renowned psychic. This particular photo reaches through to instantly connect with John's loyal television audience. The total effect draws in even the casual browser—in book stores or on the Web—for a second look. Dunn+Associates has designed many covers for Jodere Group, the publisher, and Hay House, the distributor, demonstrating our unique ability to match the message to the market in this ever-growing new age niche.

© 1999 Dunn+Associates Design. All rights reserved.
On Being Human: MIDDLEWAY PRESS
Many publishers bring covers to us for total redesign. Depending on how these books started out, many need professional design simply to ensure that the cover contains all the necessary components. On this book, for example, the spine in the first printing had been positioned upside-down. This book also had been previously designed and published in Europe, so the new publisher wanted to create a fresh look for its U.S. audience. CLICK HERE to see the previous cover.


The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: HARPERCOLLINS
Within weeks of being self-published, this cover design attracted the eye of publishing giant HarperCollins, who bought the rights and sold 150,000 copies within a few months. This book quickly became a global sensation and is now published in twenty countries. It has topped bestseller lists in places as diverse as Israel, Spain, Mexico, and Canada. The design challenge was to address the spiritual message to an audience of mostly corporate executives. To cross that bridge, we blended old and new, tradition and innovation, by hand-coloring an 18th century etching and then adding special effects like matte and gloss lamination. This landmark bestseller grew into a series that currently includes five books, all of which carry the now distinctive and internationally recognized "Monk" look.
In Honor of Women: BALLANTINE BOOKS
The ultimate success story, this book was initially the object of a bidding war among major New York publishing houses—based on the cover design alone! Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, finally won the publishing contract for this sought-after book. We designed this richly colored and textured cover with embossed gold lettering to set off the title and to add another layer of drama and elegance.


Performance Tasks, Checklists and Rubrics:
LESSONLAB SKYLIGHT, a division of PEARSON
This publisher is the world's leading educational publisher, for whom we have designed numerous book covers. They appreciate that we respond quickly when their in-house design team is looking for something fresh and innovative. This book is a reference for educators. Since it is about assessment processes, we used a background of graphs to indicate individual student performance. We also adapted the numbering system on the tape to measure by 4s, speaking to rubric users. But these subtle touches are just one more way to communicate the authority, depth, and credibility of this book—and its publisher! This is our combined goal for any book cover we design.

Contrarian Investing: PRENTICE HALL
Need your book to stand out from all the others? Here's how you can SHINE. This dust jacket was printed in four process colors and a metallic, copper, spot color, with raised gold embossing and spot gloss varnish on the one "contrarian" pig. Money talks, but this cover demands to be taken to the checkout. We have designed numerous book covers for Prentice Hall over the years.
Slow Burning Love of God: ECKANKAR
What happens when a niche book—and publisher—are ready to go mass market? This book is part of an ongoing series of inspirational books that transcend any one religious affiliation and therefore speak to a wide audience. We were hired to help these books make the transition from the Eckankar catalog into mainstream bookstores. This required a total revamp in design. First, we shifted the photo of the author, Eckankar's spiritual leader, from the front cover to the spine. Although well-known within his own organization, he was relatively unknown in the general marketplace. Keeping his photo on the spine, however, is a needed flag for ECK enthusiasts when cruising the spines in bookstores. Each cover now comes beautifully to life through these signature illustrations that uniquely capture the individual message of each title. The message of each book never changed, only the covers—and that has made all the difference.
How to Make Big Money in Real Estate: PRENTICE HALL
Knowing what makes a powerful book title is a big part of creating the cover to promote it. Some of the most attention-grabbing words in our language are the simplest. Here, "Big Money" is an irresistible draw, and this cover design makes the most of it. Although certain books do well with illustrative covers, a strong typographical presence is often the best way to make an incredibly powerful statement.


Speak and Grow Rich: PRENTICE HALL
This book cover was updated with fresh typography and bold colors. The new look is authoritative yet still communicates the personal warmth of its authors. This is a case where the author approached the publisher about having us redesign this cover instead of the publisher's usual in-house staff. Dottie Walters liked our work, and because of her reputation, and her relationship with the publisher, we were brought on board to create what turned out to be a win-win situation for the authors and the publisher. The book looks good, which makes the publisher look good, too, with nothing required except that they say "yes," and then move forward with a new bestselling cover! Don't miss Dottie's Annual Magnificent Marketing Symposium each autumn in LA. Click here for more info.


The Power of Kabbalah: JODERE GROUP
Jodere's mission is to positively impact the lives of others, and its titles snap you to attention. We are thrilled to create the covers that make those messages come alive. Here's a book cover, for example, that mixes religion—and Madonna! Her endorsement on the front cover indicates that this is not the typical take on things. The look itself is also clearly and intentionally non-religious—clean, crisp, and uncluttered. Even the color palette speaks to this fresh approach to an ancient belief system. We love the creative challenge of developing an individual look and feel for every book that also gives you, the publisher, a consistently distinctive and recognizable presence in your market.


Unspeakable: BAYOU PUBLISHING
It's not every day that a book comes along with a truly different approach or insightful perspective. But when it does, the cover design must instantly convey this to the world. The publisher of this book was most concerned that the cover design face its subject head-on, avoiding cliched and overused images and calm colors. This book cover graphically captures the intensely personal despair of being trapped by grief. This remarkable book then breaks the silence, taking a daring look at how we grieve and what it really takes to heal. The clean, straightforward typography shows how this book is different. And the unusual, non-sentimental color palette quickly differentiates this book from all the others on grief and healing.


Joss Whedon—The Genius Behind Buffy: BENBELLA BOOKS
We stepped in to salvage this cover design when the publisher thought it was headed in the wrong direction. This biography of Joss Whedon, creator of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, gives readers a compelling look at one of the most talented screenwriters, directors, and producers of this generation. His career successes include Toy Story, Speed, and X-Men; the development of Buffy and Angel; and the launch of his much-anticipated science fiction series, Firefly. We selected this particular photo which, like Joss himself, is personal, accessible, and decidedly non-corporate. The shadows on his face make it look like he is emerging from some secret place. By bringing Josh into focus, this cover design makes a powerfully visual connection with this book's title and subtitle.