Penguin's cover contest winners

Penguin has named Joe Bundock and Ivy Watts the top winners of its 2026 Cover Design Award, a contest for new designers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. (thebookseller.com, creativereview.co.uk) The adult fiction brief asked entrants to redesign Terry Pratchett’s 2002 novel *Night Watch*, and the children’s brief focused on Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 novel *A Wrinkle in Time*. Bundock, a student at Leeds Arts University, won the Pratchett category; Watts, a self-employed graphic communication designer, won the L’Engle category. (penguin.co.uk, creativereview.co.uk, leeds-art.ac.uk) Penguin opened entries on October 16, 2025, closed them on January 29, 2026, shortlisted 20 designs in March, and announced the winners in mid-April. The publisher said the shortlist was mostly students, with 60% still in education. (penguin.co.uk, thebookseller.com) The award is built as a hiring pipeline as much as a competition. Penguin limits entry to designers and illustrators with less than one year of paid creative experience, then gives shortlisted entrants feedback from art directors before a final round of judging. (penguin.co.uk, thebookseller.com) That structure mirrors how book jackets are actually commissioned: entrants work from a live brief, use Penguin templates, and revise after editorial feedback. First-prize winners in both categories receive a six-month mentorship with Penguin’s art department, a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet, and £100 in Penguin books. (penguin.co.uk, penguin.co.uk) For *Night Watch*, Penguin asked designers to reflect both the book’s fantasy setting and its “political and moral themes.” Bundock said he drew on medieval illuminated manuscripts, medieval woodcuts, and linocut printmaking to place Pratchett’s novel inside a longer fantasy tradition. (penguin.co.uk, leeds-art.ac.uk) Judge Beci Kelly said Bundock’s cover stood out for its hand-crafted look and said it “could be adapted across a whole series.” The adult fiction runners-up were Sunny Tsang, a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, and contracts manager Peter Goddard. (leeds-art.ac.uk, creativereview.co.uk) For *A Wrinkle in Time*, Penguin told entrants to aim at readers aged 9 to 11 while also appealing to parents, teachers and booksellers. Judge Anna Billson said Watts’ winning design used a restricted colour palette and simple illustrations to create an “intriguing and engaging” cover with a concept that carried from front to spine to back. (penguin.co.uk, creativereview.co.uk) The children’s fiction runners-up were retail assistant Em Kirsten in second place and freelance illustrator and designer Jiazhen Cai in third. The judges for that category were Anna Billson of Penguin Random House Children’s, Jacqui McDonough of Puffin and author Iqbal Hussain. (creativereview.co.uk, penguin.co.uk) Penguin has run the Cover Design Award since 2007, and its previous winners page lists alumni including Faber art director Pete Adlington and designer Fruzsina Czech. This year’s fantasy brief also followed *Night Watch* becoming a Penguin Classic in 2025. (thebookseller.com, penguin.co.uk, leeds-art.ac.uk)