It’s simple. The cover of a book is the first way one ascertain if one will enquire further of its content. The cover of a book is the first form of contact a person has with a book. Not the title, or the content. This is solely because our vision usually precedes touch and smell. The main reason most people will be found in possession of an ugly book is based on strong recommendations or compulsion. This generally practiced approach goes directly in contrast, to the universally professed advice of not judging books by their cover.

So what is it with books, covers and judgement? The idiom admonishes that one should be patient in jumping to conclusions. This could be conclusions about people, situations or objects. One should rather seek a deeper understanding before conclusions are drawn. This is because these opinions last and are the basis on which the future relationship with such a person will most likely be based.

But preceding the act of judging a book by its cover, is the design of the books cover. Shouldn’t the designer of said cover, have taken better effort in creating a more attractive book cover? Why wrap a book of interest or importance in a mediocre cover, and hope for a patient judge to look inside. Such assumptions presuppose that the judge has an infinite amount of time that enable one, judge a book by its content.

In the case of human interaction, when a person (supposedly) wilfully presents themselves in an “ugly’ (carefree, disoriented, or lax) manner, is it not in order, for one to judge such a book by its cover? The expectation that desires a more in-depth understanding prior to judgement should allow said person, present a more attractive version of their inside, on the surface. Never has a person picked up an obviously ‘not good’ fruit based on one’s intention to judge the inside.

Presentation matters and aesthetics are a strong determining factor in predicting content. One must therefore always address appearance almost as much as content. Ugly books rarely make it off the shelf. Therefore it is better to get a good cover design than to hope for an optimistic and patient judge.