Photo © Stephanie Alcaino

HELLO.

I'm Micaela, but mostly go by Mic (pronounced Mick).

I was born in Sydney, Australia to a Chilean father and a German/Argentinian mother, but have lived in London, UK since 2013.

As an award-winning book cover designer and illustrator, my passion lies in creating book covers that inspire others to immerse themselves in the written word and the imaginative worlds within books.

My love for travel, my mixed cultural heritage, and my appreciation of the fine arts has helped mold my creative perspective and love for what I do.

After honing my skills at esteemed publishing houses such as Penguin Random House UK and HarperCollins UK, I made the leap to freelance work in 2019. Since then, my dedication to the craft has garnered recognition, including being named one of The Booksellers Rising Stars of 2021 and winning the Designer of the Year 2022 title at the British Book Awards 2022 and was shortlists for Designer of the Year in 2024. Additionally, I've been honoured to be included in The Bookseller's 150 most influential people in publishing in 2022 and shortlisted for the Future Leader of the Year Award at the FutureBook Conference 2023. I was also thrilled to have been a finalist for the esteemed Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist 2024.

Oh, and I also love dogs and the gym!

If you have any great projects (book covers or otherwise) drop us an email! Or, if you would like to just say hi then I would also love to hear from you! 

hello@micaelaalcaino.com

AWARDS, HONOURS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  • Shortlisted for Freelancer of the Year at the FutureBook Awards 2024
    https://www.thebookseller.com/events/futurebook-conference?tab=futurebook-2024-shortlist

  • Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist at the World Science Fiction Convention 2024
    https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2024-hugo-awards/

  • Shortlisted for Designer of the Year at the British Book Awards 2024

  • Shortlisted for Most Beautiful Book Cover of the Year Award for Libris (The Netherlands)
    https://libris.nl/actueel/mooiste-boekomslag

  • Shortlisted for Future Leader of the Year at the FutureBook Awards 2023 https://www.thebookseller.com/events/futurebook-conference?tab=shortlist

  • Board Member for Design Publishing Inclusivity (current position since October 2023) https://www.dpi.org.uk/

  • Shortlisted for the ABCD-X Book Cover Design Awards 2023: Placed 4th of the best covers in the last 9 years of ABCDs for Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

  • Shortlisted for the ABCD Book Cover Design Awards 2023: Young Adult for Once Upon a Fever by Agharad Walker

  • Named in The Bookseller 150 most influential people in publishing 2022
    https://www.thebookseller.com/the-bookseller-150

  • Named Designer of the Year at the British Book Awards 2022 https://www.thebookseller.com/awards/the-british-book-awards?tab=designer-of-the-year

  • Editorial Board Member for BookMachine 2023 https://bookmachine.org/editorial-board

  • D&AD (Design and Art Direction) Judge 2022 - Book Design

  • Shortlisted for the ABCD Book Cover Design Awards 2022: Fantasy/ Sci-Fi for Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

  • The Bookseller Rising Star 2021: https://www.thebookseller.com/rising-stars-2021

  • Winner for the ABCD Book Cover Design Awards 2021: Young Adult for Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

  • Shortlisted for the ABCD Book Cover Design Awards 2020: Non Fiction for The Personals by Brian O’Connell

  • Shortlisted for the GMA Dove Award 2020: Recorded Music Packaging Of The Year for Let There Be Wonder by Matt Redman’s

  • Winner of Books Are My Bag 2019 Readers Awards: The Beautiful Book Award 2019 for The Binding by Bridget Collins

WRITTEN ARTICLES

MEDIA INTERVIEWS & APPEARANCES

CLIENTS INCLUDE: