Meet the man who created boots cover for 'Road Trip'

Jeff Griffith and the author

Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | My YouTube videos
At a bar yards from calm waters of  Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota over the weekend, I finally met in-person Jeff Griffith, the designer who crafted the cover for my latest book, A Civil War Road Trip Of A Lifetime. In this post, Jeff explains his creative process. (In January, we shared cover concepts with readers of my Civil War Facebook page. Those concepts are shown below.)

I met John online years ago via his historical Facebook posts and blog. Because I’m a huge history buff and creative director of Hallowed Ground magazine for the American Battlefield Trust, I was constantly reading his posts and discovering historic sites I knew little about. I became a John Banks groupie. 

E-mail me at jbankstx@comcast.net
for details on how to purchase
an autographed copy of my book.

Awhile ago, he posted his plans to publish a book soon about his travels. Spontaneously (with a WTH approach), I DM-ed him: “Let me know if you need help designing the cover.” Go figure! He actually took me up on the offer.

I’m very collaborative. I like to know everything I can about the authors and their vision of the book as well as their concept for the book cover. I’m not asking those things to perfectly execute their idea, but to know in advance their expectations.

I also only design for authors whose work I appreciate and respect. Nothing good will come out of a design if I hate their writing or photography or topic overall.

Analysis of the topic category and genre is key. What do other books look like? What fonts are they using? What's expected and not expected? I’m a typography freak. So I try really hard to use fonts that aren’t on every book cover in that genre.

But if I really work with the author or photographer or illustrator, the design will be a success for all involved. It becomes a melding of the minds, not a conflict of ideas.

I'm also going to present cover/book designs that aren't predictable. Sure, it's easy to show an author exactly what they’ve asked for, but how interesting is that?

In this situation, John thought he knew what he wanted on the cover. I showed him a fancy version of that. Then I showed him the boots concept. He asked for tweaks on the cover he envisioned. So I made those changes and then showed him the boots again. After several back-and-forths and numerous phone conversations, texts and emails, we — along with publisher Kevin Drake of Gettysburg Publishing — decided that the boots cover was a great direction for the book.

I'm an advertising and marketing guy. I've spent several decades in the advertising and publishing world. So when I design, I think about the messaging and how it will be promoted. To me, a book cover should look amazing as a poster. It should have a look and feel that translates throughout the entire book itself and have design elements that can be used in all the promotion. Hence there are mud splatters throughout this book.

Cover concepts shared with readers of my Facebook page in January 2023.