Title: Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout
Author: Lauren Redniss
First published: 2011

A biography of Marie Curie, covering her working and romantic relationship with husband Pierre, including their discovery of two new scientific elements with startling properties—as well as the tragic car accident that killed Pierre, Marie’s two Nobel Prizes, and her scandalous affair with a married scientist. And Radioactive looks beyond the contours of Marie’s life, surveying the changes wrought by the Curies’ discoveries—nuclear weapons, radiation in medical treatment, and nuclear energy as a possible energy source-to create an eerie, wondrous, and moving evocation of one of history’s most intriguing figures.

To signify the book’s biographical nature, I selected a portrait of Marie Curie for the primary image. Overlaying this with a spot ink green for the recognisable radioactive “glow” – to further add some drama, the framing device on the cover dissipates and fades in-and-out of intensity.

It was important to keep Marie’s eyes visible in the image, as I didn’t want the cover to feel as though it took an overtly negative stance towards her (this can sometimes happen if you strike through a subject’s eyes, as such a treatment can have villainous connotations).

For type, I wanted something with personality, but that wouldn’t steal focus. It couldn’t be overly romanticised but nor could it be a cliché “scientific” typeface. I picked a variable font that could also work across the main title, the sub-title and the author name.

This is cover is a reimagining and not commercially available, any fonts or images used have been included as part of a personal project only.