Emmeli Markegaard

Emmeli Markegaard – Designer

Illustrated covers with lush backgrounds and spirited characters 🥀 YA/Romance/Fantasy 🏰 No AI 🗡️

Overview

Hi, authors! I'm Emmeli 👋 and I specialize in illustrated fantasy covers and character art.

I've been illustrating for clients for 7+ years, and I am so excited to hear about your story!

I do cover illustrations, full jacket designs as well as character art and fantasy map development. If you're looking for a cover artist that feels like a creative teammate and supporter, you've come to the right place 🌟

Everything is 100% human made by yours truly, I don't use generative AI in any part of my process.

When you work with me, I always strive to:

- Get to the core of what your book is about as well as its target audience

- Create different sketched thumbnail concepts

- Illustrate with great attention to detail

- Craft a stand-out design

- Include you from start to finish, through feedback rounds in different stages of the process 🤍

I'm based in magical Lisbon, Portugal, but I'm originally from a tiny fjord in Norway. Whenever I'm not painting, I'm probably reading, dancing, feeling the portuguese sun on my face or hanging out with my perpetually chatty cat, Cherry.

I'd love to contribute to your story and give it the visuals it deserves, so please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

All the best,

Emmeli 🌸

Services
Fiction
Romantic Fantasy Young Adult Fantasy
Languages
English

Work experience

Inflow Media (Part of The Norwegian News Agency)

Jun, 2023 — Dec, 2023 (7 months)
Contract work - Worked on the production of periodical magazines, designing magazine covers, page layouts, as well as providing copy on sections about films and TV. This gave me valuable insight into print publishing, as well as the news industry.

Self-employed

Jun, 2019 — Present
I’m a freelance illustrator and graphic designer with a strong focus on illustrated book covers, character artwork, and visual storytelling for authors and publishers. Since 2019, I’ve worked with authors, magazines, cultural organisations, NGOs, and small businesses, creating illustrative designs for published books, editorial projects, campaigns, and print materials. My range of work and clients has helped me adapt my style to different genres and audiences while staying focused on clear concepts and strong storytelling. My work includes: - Book covers & character illustration - Editorial work - Murals (Sydney, Istanbul, Norway & Spain) - Branding & Visual Identity

Portfolio

Victoria's Messenger

Wilkinson, Marie

AWF Publishing

Cover Design Illustration
Fargeløs

Helene Sinnes

For nitten vintre gamle Edvard er første tjenestetid snart over, og i motsetning til sin venn William søker han et rolig liv langt unna krig. Men klanens overhode Devans har andre planer for s... read more
Cover Design Illustration
Cover Design Illustration
Doomsayer (The Halcyon Prophecy Book 1)

Nigro, Nicholas James

Hold My Dragon LLC

Cover Design Illustration
Cover Design Illustration

Emmeli has 2 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Kirsty W.

Kirsty W.

May, 2026

Working with Emmeli was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. She was responsive, thoughtful, and incredibly easy to collaborate with throughout the process. What really stood out was her ability to take my initial ideas and elevate them into something far more cohesive and visually compell...
Read more
Emmeli M.
Thank you so much for this lovely review, Kirsty! I'm so pleased with the result of our collaboration, and absolutely thrilled that you love it. Thank you for trusting me with your wonderful world,...
Read more
Megan W.

Megan W.

Apr, 2026

Working with Emmeli was great! Her artistic ability to translate some basic ideas into an amazing product was incredible to watch. She was very good at communicating at every stage of the process, and I easily was able to comment/make suggestions as we went along. Overall, I'm really pleased wit...
Read more
Emmeli M.
Working with Megan was such a joy! I loved immersing myself in the world, imagining what the city would look like and really getting to know the characters. I'm so thrilled with how the final cover...
Read more

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