WIRED Middle East / Spring 2023 Issue
The Cover Art for "Arabia's Race to Space"
Editorial illustration commissioned by WIRED Middle East for their Spring 2023 cover story on the Gulf region's growing space program.
Role
Cover Illustration
Client
Wired Middle East
Scope
Sketch to Final cover Art and interior Illustrations
01. The Project
Commissioned by WIRED Middle East, I illustrated the cover of their Spring 2023 issue "Arabia's Race to Space" exploring the Gulf region's growing space program and its ambitions for the future of space exploration.
Working from Procreate sketches through to final art, the illustration builds a psychedelic, comic-inspired world:
An astronaut cradling a shuttle mid-launch, framed by satellites, spacewalkers and distant planets, translating complex aerospace topics into a bold, saturated visual language that carried the issue's editorial storytelling from cover to page.
02. Sketches
Early Procreate exploration, working out the astronaut's pose, the ship's geometry and the full cover composition before moving into color.
03. Final Illustrations
The finished artwork in full color. A saturated palette of magenta, cyan and yellow carrying the psychedelic, retro-futurist tone across the cover and accompanying editorial spreads.
⚡︎ Tino Najera
2026 ©
Open for relocation to Europe
hello@tinonajera.mx
Dubai, UAE.
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