"Torrey Peters’s Detransition, Baby (designed by Random House’s Rachel Ake Keuch) has been one of the most consequential pieces of mainstream fiction to publish this year: a modern relationship story that offers a view into urban trans culture. It’s a singular book wrapped in a familiar package: neon color palette, sans serif title, ambiguous silhouettes. If you look too hastily at the window of a McNally Jackson or Strand bookstore, you might mistake Peters’ novel for Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half (designed by Lauren Peters-Collaer), Desmond Cole’s The Skin We’re In (designed by Terri Nimmo), Ilana Masad’s All My Mother’s Lovers (designed by Lynn Buckley) or countless other memoirs and pieces of literary fiction published within the past two years. 

"I’ve been calling this particular trend the unicorn frappuccino cover, due to its resemblance to Starbucks’ coffeeless drink that went viral back in 2017. The bright, nebulous style has become so pervasive that folks outside the design community have commented on its prevalence, and writers in myriad publications have reported on various iterations of it. It is current proof that as with any other kind of graphic or textile design, book jackets are part of a trend cycle, borrowing from looks of the past, and absorbing styles from the present."

Article: The Endless Life Cycle of Book Cover Trends