It was graphic designer Paul Bacon who popularised the all-typography cover last century. This category of cover will be familiar to you and look contemporary, because it has come back into style.
THE BIG BOOK LOOK
According to his obituary in the New York Times, Bacon was responsible for what became known as the “big book look,” a widely imitated style that stressed big typography and blocky colours with understated drawings. Bacon saw his job as “finding something that would be a synthesis graphically of what the story was about,” he told Print magazine in 2002. He was one of the best at it, and his work inspired generations of designers like Chip Kidd and Peter Mendelsund.
WNYC
Below I have collected a mixture of contemporary examples of The Big Book Look on covers, with typography as the main — or only — element:
