WIA2022 Longlist Category Highlights: Book Covers – New Talent

Xiaomu Zhao : Dangerous Garden

Created as a student project to illustrate the book ‘Dangerous Garden’ by David Stewart, Xiaomu was inspired by the books theme of plants with sinister and poisonous properties.

The illustration was painted in gouache onto black cardboard, which creates an atmospheric effect with a striking use of colour.

 Xiaomu Zhao a is an illustrator from Shanghai, currently studying MA Illustration at Camberwell, University of Arts London.

Xinyi Liu : Her Secret

Inspired by the Sci Fi book illustration market, Xinyi created this illustration using Procreate to imagine an alternative reality in Chinese Sci Fi Novel ‘Her Secret’ by Fu Qiang.

The textures have been created digitally but were inspired by daily life, for example, observing curdled milk in a coffee cup to create textures that depict a sense of alternative reality in the background, and the light dot shapes on windows were inspired by hot pot oil.

Xinyi Liu is a Illustration student at Savannah College of Art and Design, USA.

Vindorich : Wigtown Book Festival Illustration

This digital illustration was created as a pitch for the Wigtown Book Festival in Scotland, UK.

Designed as a book cover,  Vindorich imagined a pile of books as an island at sea. With the theme of the festival being connection, Vindorich explored the fact that no man is an island, and how connections have been lost between many people due to the pandemic. The Festival of Books would help re-establish community and re-unite people.

Vindorich (Kaiwen Liu) is a Chinese designer, Composer and Illustrator.

Kiera Paxton : Neil Gaiman – Back Catalogue

Inspired by the author Neil Gaiman’s back catalogue, this illustrator created a series of illustrated book covers. This was part of a project for their final year project at the University of Hertfordshire.

The Illustrations were created  using handmade textures, made from watercolour and dry ink which were manipulated and edited with Adobe Photoshop to give a digital printmaking affect,

Kiera Paxton is an illustrator with the love for creating whimsical designs, characters, and stories. She has recently graduated from The University of Hertfordshire. 

Yuqing Wu : Spring of Wuhan

This illustration depicts the illustrator’s hometown, Wuhan, on the first day after the city’s lockdown.

Normally, the train would be filled with people commuting to work, but it is empty in the wake of the impact of Coronovirus lockdowns.

By setting the illustration in the Spring season, the illustration symbolises new beginnings and the departure of Wuhan from previous unhappy experiences.

The title Spring illustrates that after a time of hardship through the winter, Spring will bring back the hope of life.

Yuqing Wu is an illustrator from Wuhan, China. They studied Digital Culture Society at King’s College, London.

Honie Beam : Mockingjay

Developed as part of a series of re-imagined book covers for ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins, Honie worked digitally to create this illustration using Procreate and digital brushes to emulate traditional watercolor textures.

Illustrating the series, they wanted to highlight the unique arenas described in each book while still incorporating small details hidden throughout the sceneries that avid fans would recognise.

The set of four books, when placed in order, create a continuous spine illustration, so that when viewed on a shelf a city landscape appears.

Honie Beam grew up in California, USA. She graduated with Honors in Illustration and a minor in Sequential Art from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2022.