Challenge
The cover design for the anthology Strange Alchemy needed to visually represent themes of trans-humanism, feminism, and ecoism without feeling overly complex or inaccessible. The design also needed enough contrast and visual impact to stand out both as a physical book cover and as a small digital thumbnail while still feeling personal and engaging to a broad audience.
Solution
To represent transformation and change, I created an original illustration of an alchemy bottle with smoke expanding across the cover. I incorporated symbolic details connected to the anthology’s themes within the hand lettered title and surrounding alchemy-inspired graphics to create additional layers of meaning without overwhelming the composition. A primarily black and white palette creates strong contrast and a moody atmosphere, while accents of pink, green, and blue reinforce the themes explored in the anthology.
