The Challenge

The challenge was to design the second book in the MOTHS series while maintaining a strong, recognisable series identity. The cover needed to feel connected to the original MOTHS design through its dark background and bold, limited colour palette, while introducing a fresh visual concept that reflected TOXXIC’s themes of science, contamination, control and toxic masculinity.

The Solution

I developed a bold, minimalist cover built around a striking neon-green colour against a near-black background. This immediately creates a clinical, futuristic feel and establishes a strong visual connection with the first book.

The central virus-inspired graphic acts as the key visual device, referencing contamination, biological science and the threat at the heart of the story. Its circular, almost technological construction gives the cover a contemporary dystopian feel.

Typography became an important part of the concept, with the syringe integrated directly into the “I” of TOXXIC. This creates a memorable typographic detail while reinforcing the medical and scientific themes without relying on a literal photographic image.

The distressed green textures around the edges introduce an element of danger and contamination, adding energy to an otherwise highly controlled composition.

The Result

The final cover creates a strong and cohesive visual identity across the MOTHS series, while giving TOXXIC its own distinctive personality. The consistent black-and-neon colour language makes the two books immediately recognisable as part of the same series, while the new virus imagery and syringe typography clearly signal the different focus of the sequel.

The result is a striking, contemporary science-fiction cover designed to stand out both on the bookshelf and at thumbnail size online, while communicating the book's themes of toxicity, science, power and societal control.