Dr. Jorna Benton is proud to be the Principal Scientist for the Climasphere, a massive, sea-going ecological nursery capable of supporting nearly every biome on Earth. On its inaugural mission to restore and re-wild collapsing ecosystems along the Atlantic coast, Jorna manages the Climasphere’s habitat and harvest, while her colleague—and inconveniently attractive commander—Ava Kaysar directs the rest of the vessel’s critical operations.
When an explosion rocks the Climasphere, Jorna’s carefully-managed world is thrown into chaos, threatening both her personal and her professional future. And worse: she’s the prime suspect.
To clear her name, save the mission, and preserve her chance at a future with Kaysar, Jorna must finally confront the secret she’s been running from all these years: a family and a faith that could destroy her.
Cover design
The first book I designed for Shiraki Press was Accelerated Growth Environment by Lauren C. Teffeau. It’s a solarpunk eco-thriller set aboard an awe-inspiring ecological superstructure called the Climasphere, and I wanted to feature that structure prominently on the cover... but I knew I’d need to commission an illustrator to execute that vision.
I put together a creative brief, gathering comparable covers and reference images to capture the vibe I was going for:
The cover for Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 in particular stood out to me as the right rendering style, color palette, and overall mood. That cover was illustrated by Stephan Martiniere, a Hugo Award-winning artist. I wasn’t sure we, as a brand new press, would be able to get him... but we did, and he delivered a gorgeous front cover illustration which so perfectly captures the Climasphere. I designed the title, spine, and back, and we arrived at the final wrap:
Interior design
For the interior, I had two goals: first, to find a body typeface that was highly readable, felt sophisticated, and was neutral enough in tone that we could use it as a Shiraki Press standard; and second, to impart a clean, sci-fi feel with the accent type and minimalist visual design elements. I settled on a strong chapter numeral with a forced-edge color block that clearly marks the chapter breaks when viewing the book’s front edge, and a techy little hash element docked to the page numbers to help signal the genre.
There is also one section late in the book that features an exchange with a digital terminal. For this, I offset the terminal’s output with a different text treatment.
Marketing
Here are some examples of marketing images I created to support the book’s launch:
Buy the book!
I feel so honored that Lauren trusted us, an unknown press with no prior publications, with this spectacular novella, and Brianne and I both worked incredibly hard throughout our press’s first year to produce a high quality product that showcases Lauren’s story in the best possible light.
You can pick up your copy from Shiraki Press or request it at your favorite book retailer. Buying direct from our website is the best way to support our press, but I’ll also recommend Bookshop.org as an amazing way to support your local indie bookstore. You can even request it at your local library!
Accelerated Growth Environment (Shiraki Press)