Emily Shields’ book cover design taken into production by Orbit Books

Emily Shields

During her second year of BA (Hons) Design for Publishing, Emily worked on this book cover design, responding to a brief set by publishers Little, Brown Books. Little, Brown Books work closely with the course and set a book cover design brief each year.

Emily’s creative is the latest of our student’s work to be selected as the official UK cover design, approved by Carl Sagan’s estate and the US division of Orbit Books.

“For this cult favourite science fiction novel, I created a simple but bold front cover – emphasising the genre through space-like imagery and the idea of contact through overlapping objects,” said Emily.

“Using the colour teal against black also links to the imagery seen in space such as nebulas and galaxies. My main aim was to create a clear and easy to read book cover. I wanted it to stand out against the mostly dark and photography led designs typically seen in this genre.”