Patrick Knowles

Patrick Knowles – Designer

With 30 years experience designing covers for the UK's top publishing houses, I also art direct, illustrate and do hand lettering for covers

Overview

I am a very experienced book cover designer working for most of the UK's top publishing houses and also an illustrator and lettering artist and most of the covers shown here include my own illustration work as well as the overall cover design.

I work on fiction and non-fiction, adult and children's titles. I have worked on covers as diverse as George R. R. Martin, Anthony Horowitz and Charlaine Harris, but particularly enjoy working on literary fiction, fantasy and crime.

Apart from work for the publishing industry I also work on commissions for the advertising and graphic design markets, as well as run workshops in calligraphy, lettering and creativity.

Clients include most of the major British publishers including HarperCollins, Orion Group, Little Brown, Penguin, Hodder & Stoughton, Random House and many independents.

As an illustrator I use conventional and digital media including 3D modelling. I also produce a wide range of hand-lettering and calligraphy for the covers as well as hand-drawn fonts for specific titles. I also work with imagery from picture libraries and commissioned work.
Services
Fiction
Action & Adventure Fantasy Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery & Crime Thriller & Suspense
Languages
English

Portfolio

A Very Special Year

Thomas Montasser

‘It’s not particularly difficult to run a successful bookshop, thought Valerie: a grasp of the rudiments of business, a sensible plan, a little skill in negotiation, a couple of contacts and a large portion of magic.’When businesswoman Valerie takes over the b... read more
The Winter Isles

Antonia Senior

"One of the must-reads of the year.' Manda Scott I am Somerled. The summer warrior. What am I, if not a warrior?In twelfth-century Scotland, far removed from the courtly manners of the Lowland, the Winter Isles are riven by vicious warfare, plots and battles. ... read more
Come to the Edge

Joanna Kavenna

A narrator in retreat from suburban life, a shambolic draughty farmhouse in a scenic valley...A widowed survivalist called Cassandra White...A banker, a village-full of empty second homes, and scores of poor and elderly people with nowhere to go...A crazy utop... read more
Have you ever imagined giving up your day job and heading for the hills in search of gold? Journalist Steve Boggan decided to do just that when the price of the precious metal scaled dizzying heights in the wake of the global financial crisis. Clueless, and wi... read more
The setting is October 1879. The stage is New Georgetown, West Virginia.A mysterious figure by the name of 'The Maker' has entered this small community and, almost immediately upon doing so, started entering the minds of the townsfolk.Townsfolk who are as curi... read more
Land Where I Flee

Prajwal Parajuly

To commemorate Chitralekha Nepauney's Chaurasi - her landmark 84th birthday - three of Chitralekha's grandchildren are travelling to Gangtok, Sikkim, to pay their respects. Agastaya is flying in from New York. Although a successful oncologist, he is dreading h... read more
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a ... read more
When crime reporter Jimm Juree is forced to quit the city for a fishing village on the Gulf of Siam, she expects much in her life to change. Quiet will replace quick, and, surely, crime will give way to calm. There goes the career, then.Not a chance. No sooner... read more
Sherlock Holmes is dead. Days after Holmes and his arch-enemy Moriarty fall to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls, Pinkerton agent Frederick Chase arrives from New York. The death of Moriarty has created a poisonous vacuum which has been swiftly filled by a f... read more
The Intragalactic Agency is concerned about the political stability of Avanaux. A rebellion in the medieval province will destroy any hope of acquiring the planet's crynidium, a rare element that enables faster than light travel.The rulers of Avanaux say a mir... read more
The relationship between England and its gardens might be described as a love affair; gardening is one of our national passions, rooted in history. The eighteenth century is often called the Golden Age of English gardening; as the fashion for formal pleasure g... read more
When Miss Seeton walks out of a performance of Carmen and witnesses a real-life stabbing, all she can recall is a shadowy figure. But how could even she have guessed that her latest artistic endeavour is a picture-perfect portrait of the killer? Her caricature... read more
“I enjoyed every word . . . terrifically funny.” P.G. WodehouseWith his disturbingly horse-like face and a pious distaste for strong drink and bad language, young Bartholomew Bandy doesn’t seem cut out for life in the armed services, as we meet him at the star... read more
The first in Marshall's unforgettable, classic series of police procedurals - suspenseful and hilarious in equal measure.Yellowthread Street is the sort of place that breeds more crime than any cops can handle.Among the gangsters and the goldsmiths of Hong Bay... read more
In 1849, Anne Bronte died a devout and innocent virgin. Three days later, she rose from the dead. No....
Next Therapist Please

Laurie Finkelstein

Daughter of the Wolf

Victoria Whitworth

A whole army of evil Librarians! And Alcatraz Smedry has only his friend, Bastille, a few pairs of glasses and an unlimited supply of exploding teddy bears to help him defend the island of Mokia. Even Alcatraz's extraordinary talent for breaking things may not... read more
Rules for a perfect life ...Rule One: Do not ditch the man everyone says is perfect for you because he eats the last yellow jelly-baby in the bag. Rule Two: Do not move to a shack in the country to 'find yourself' and inadvertently become an object of ridicule... read more
When Ryan Flint accompanies his journalist mother to an archaeological expedition in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, he isn't expecting life-threatening danger and a 3,000-year-old murder mystery - but that's exactly what he finds! Before he knows it, he has join... read more
Coram Boy

Jamila Gavin

A vivd, compelling and harrowing tale from Whitbread award winning Jamila Gavin. The Coram man takes babies and money from desperate mothers, promising to deliver them safely to a Foundling Hospital in London. Instead, he murders them and buries them by the ro... read more
A nostalgic and entertaining look back through childhood nursery rhymes and stories, explanations of their origins and meanings, and the controversies surrounding themPlugging into the memories and knowledge of our earliest years, this collection gathers the m... read more
A collection of some of the finest and memorable poems to learn by heart"Paths of glory," "Theirs not to reason why," "When you are old and grey and full of sleep," "A handful of dust," and "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"—these and many others are fam... read more
Shaped by invasion, occupation, and immigration, by upheavals as diverse as the Great Fire, the Blitz, and the Big Bang, London’s history is unmatched for variety and drama. Choosing 100 places that best tell this incredible story, David Long shares his passio... read more
In fifteenth-century Constantinople, Prince Constantine saves the life of a broken-hearted girl. But the price of his valour is high. John Grant is a young man on the edge of the world. His unique abilities carry him from his home in Scotland to the heart of t... read more
Murder-On-Sea

Julie Wassmer

It's not the season of good will to all men...The festive month is kicking off in style and Pearl is rushed off her feet with her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl. She's also busy planning her own family Christmas and providing mulled wine for a charity church... read more
Akin to the works of both Fritz Leiber and Scott Lynch but bringing it's own energy and humorous vigour the writing of Sam Sykes sets itself apart from the dour feel of Grimdark fantasy and brings a fresh vigour to fantasy fiction. In this sharp and darkly mys... read more
Foreign Devils

John Hornor Jacobs

The world is on the brink of war. Fisk and Shoe - mercenaries, very much not wanting to get caught in the middle of a political whirlwind - must deliver a very important message, and find a very dangerous man. They have caught the eye of the powerful men of th... read more
Tuf Voyaging

George R. R. Martin

A classic novel from George R.R. Martin, author of the hit HBO TV series A GAME OF THRONES Haviland Tuf is an honest space-trader (one of the few), and he likes cats. So how is it that, despite being up against the worst villains in the universe, he has become... read more
A family reunion and medieval-style murder? Ever so inconvenient. Cosily ensconced in his eighteenth-century Cambridgeshire manor, bestselling mystery writer Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk delights in tormenting his four grown children with threats of disinheritanc... read more
‘This was the original game of thrones’ George R.R. MartinCharles IV is now king of France and his sister is Edward II of England’s Queen. Having been imprisoned by Edward as leader of the rebellious English barons, Roger Mortimer escapes to France, where he j... read more

Patrick has 128 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Sidney W.

Sidney W.

Jan, 2024

Patrick is a world class cover designer that is wonderful to work with and very attentive to client needs. He gives a strong sense of direction to a project and can expertly advise on creating the right design to fit genre expectations. Going into the project I had a very strong idea of the style of cover I wanted and Patrick realised my ideas. The final product surpassed my expectations and I...
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Kristin O.

Kristin O.

Jan, 2024

I've hired Patrick to design covers for the four (possibly five) books in my young adult dystopian Devil Particle Series and for the tenth-anniversary cover of adult suspense/thriller Carpe Diem, Illinois. He's created such beautiful, eye-catching covers that I'm excited to see what changes he makes for Carpe Diem, Illinois. Patrick's expertise with the current trends in publishing and his arti...
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AR S.

AR S.

Jan, 2024

Patrick is a real pro. Even with us newbies! He knew the score and was able to guide me through a successful timetable and still manage my evolving needs. Thanks so much for all the help!!
TJ C.

TJ C.

Jan, 2024

Patrick is great artist to work with, especially for newer authors who may need some help figuring out what they need. He's responsive, professional and, above all, TALENTED.
Coranna A.

Coranna A.

Dec, 2023

Patrick is a professional in every way. He helped me navigate through my first time as an indie author. He is incredibly responsive, great with keeping timelines, and has a good sense of the pitfalls that might come up throughout cover design. The typography of my title was just beautiful. He offered different variations as we talked through the feel and vibe of my book and what the cover art w...
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