Penguin cover‑design winners

Penguin Books has named Joe Bundock and Ivy Watts the winners of its 2026 Cover Design Award after asking entrants to reimagine two fantasy classics. (thebookseller.com) Bundock, a student at Leeds Arts University, won the adult fiction category for a new cover for Terry Pratchett’s *Night Watch*. Watts, a self-employed graphic communication designer, won the children’s fiction category for Madeleine L’Engle’s *A Wrinkle in Time*. (thebookseller.com) Penguin’s shortlist page says the 2026 brief asked designers to treat both books as fantasy titles, with *Night Watch* framed around its “political and moral themes” and *A Wrinkle in Time* around its blend of science fiction, fantasy and family story. The publisher showed 20 shortlisted designs across the two categories before naming the winners on April 14. (penguin.co.uk) Bundock said his *Night Watch* design drew on medieval illuminated manuscripts, woodcuts and linocut printmaking. Penguin’s shortlist notes that his imagery used Discworld and a magical storm to capture the novel’s “absurdly, hectic nature.” (penguin.co.uk) Watts’ winning *A Wrinkle in Time* cover used hand-drawn and digital elements to explore the book’s central themes, according to Penguin and *The Bookseller*. The children’s brief asked designers to make a cover that could speak to a contemporary audience while preserving the novel’s “timelessness and wonder.” (thebookseller.com, penguin.co.uk) The award is aimed at people trying to break into publishing and design rather than established cover artists. Penguin says it is open to aspiring designers and illustrators in the United Kingdom and Ireland with no more than one year of professional experience in a paid creative role. (penguin.co.uk, leeds-art.ac.uk) The prize is not just a certificate. Penguin says winners receive a six-month mentorship with a Penguin designer, a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet and £100 worth of Penguin books. (penguin.co.uk) Creative Review said this year’s shortlist was made up largely of students, along with early-career designers and entrants working outside the creative industries. The magazine also said the fantasy brief reflected publishers’ continued interest in speculative fiction for new audiences. (creativereview.co.uk) Penguin has run the award as an annual route into cover design, using real commercial-style briefs built around books already in its catalog. This year’s winners now move from redesigning classics on paper to a mentorship inside the publisher that commissioned the brief. (penguin.co.uk, thebookseller.com)