Behind-the-scenes of Jennifer Saint’s ELEKTRA book cover

On the 28th of April 2022, we’ll be launching the next mythical retelling from bestselling author Jennifer Saint – Elektra. Having recently revealed the stunning front cover of Elektra, we’ve received a huge amount of early praise from fans. Curious to know how it was put together? We’ve been talking to the cover designer Micaela Alcaino about the creative process…

“I was extremely excited to be offered the opportunity to work with Jennifer Saint for the second time. Reading manuscripts previous to designing has always played an important part in my design practice. It offers me a deeper examination of the tone of voice and small details that I can excavate whilst building out each cover concept. The way Jennifer can breathe life into ancient tales provides me with a wealth of inspiration to pull from – originally for Ariadne (2021) and now, Elektra (2022).

“Aside from reading the manuscript, I always try to do some additional research that can allow me to illustrate with as much authenticity as possible. I spent an entire day at the British Museum looking at their ancient Greek collection, flipping through Greek art books, old Dover greek costume books, as well as my all-time favourite, Pinterest, for inspiration.

“The next step is dedicated to roughly (very roughly) sketching out ideas. Having one-word titles provides me with more freedom to explore what imagery choices I can make as I don’t have to think too much about catering space for the placement of text. I wanted to find ways to convey the book’s themes of freedom, entrapment, and revenge in my initial concepts, whilst also thinking of ways I can progress this cover from its predecessor, Ariadne.

“In partnership with Headline and the wonderful Siobhan Hooper we were able to evolve one of the original sketches into the cover it is today. I am super proud of the final result and I cannot wait to see it printed!”

Elektra was designed by Micaela Alcaino. Please visit her website at www.micaelaalcaino.com for more details.