Seiwado Book Store in Osaka began producing playful covers as freebies for their customers

If you’ve ever purchased a book in Japan you’re undoubtedly familiar with the phrase kaba otsuke shimashouka? “Would you like a cover?” The book cover is a free service that booksellers in Japan offer, giving your newly purchased book a thin, dust cover that protects the binding and pages. With a little bit of creativity, one bookseller in Osaka has turned the book cover into a method of attracting new customers into their bookstore.

According to a recent article, The 50-year old family-owned Seiwado Book Store had been struggling to attract new, in-store customers when the 34 grandson of the owner hit on an idea. Utilizing his art-school design experience and his day-job working at a printing shop, he began making playful, whimsical book covers and accompanying bookmarks that would transform newly purchased books into edible delights like baguettes in a paper bag, or a bubbly cream soda.

Sure enough, the brilliant designs were a hit, both on the company’s Instagram accountbut also in real life, creating a surge in new customers[…]

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