Sofie Birkin

Sofie Birkin – Designer

Multi-award winning illustrator & graphic designer with 10 years experience, published by Penguin, Hachette, Faber, Bloomsbury and more.

Overview

British-but-Brooklyn based multi-award winning illustrator, graphic designer and product designer with 10 years experience, specializing in character work and typography for editorial and publishing.

I have provided book cover and/or interior designs for: ‘Weirdo’ by Sara Pascoe (Faber), ‘Best Woman’ by Rose Dommu (Penguin Random House), ‘Sex Ed: A Guide for Adults’ by Ruby Rare (Bloomsbury), ‘The Art of Drag’ by Jake Hall (Nobrow), 'Rebel Girls Build the Future' (DK Children), and ‘Women on Top of the World’ by Lucy-Anne Holmes (Hachette). Other clients I have worked with include Google, Apple, Starbucks, the United Nations, Nike, Planned Parenthood and The New York Times. Awards include both Graphite and Wood Pencils from D&AD, 'Editors Pick' from Ad Age, and 'Award of Excellence' from Communication Arts Typography Annual.

I work with vibrant, dynamic compositions, bold shapes and bright colors to create a unique but commercially viable style, although I am adaptable to almost any illustration style you prefer. I will happily work in all genres, but have particularly extensive experience with women's, LGBTQ+, historical, romantic, erotic and fashion content. I can provide work in raster or vector format, and am an experienced production designer able to provide print ready and working files to your exact specifications. I have an extensive portfolio, so if you'd like to see more of something before making any decisions, reach out!

I'm professional, adaptable, communicative, and stellar at taking feedback- Mary Fama, Art Director at Cosmopolitan, says "We love working with Sofie! You can always count on her friendly communication, easy-to-collaborate-with attitude and thorough delivery of assets. I always feel like I’m working with a friend when we have projects together.” Elizabeth Heuchan, Senior Producer at the BBC, says, "At all stages of our project Sofie was dedicated, made great creative suggestions and was open to feedback, making the whole process incredibly easy. It was an absolute pleasure working with her". Lauren Whybrow, Managing Editorial Director at Bloomsbury, says, "I would recommend her harder than I recommend seeing Barbarella. So a lot."

Services
Fiction
Chick Lit Coming of Age Historical Romance LGBTQ Fiction
Non-Fiction
LGBTQ Non-Fiction Sex & Relationships
Languages
English
Awards
  • Graphite Pencil — D&AD (2022)
  • Wood Pencil — D&AD (2023)
  • Gold— Shark Awards (2023)
  • Editors Pick — Ad Age (2024)
  • Award of Excellence— Communication Arts Typography Annual (2021)
  • Merit Honor— The One Club ADC Awards (2023)
  • 40 Under 40 Business Leaders— Colorado Chamber of Commerce (2024)
  • Quiz Writer’s Choice Award for Secondary Non-Fiction— Renaissance (2022)
  • Brand Identity: Illustration & Copy—The Fifty (2019)
  • Campaign: Illustration—The Fifty (2019)
  • Website Design: Illustration —The Fifty (2019)
  • Packaging: Illustration —The Fifty (2019)
  • Campaign: Creative Direction & Illustration —The Fifty (2019)
  • Ooh: Illustration & Animation —The Fifty (2019)

Work experience

Self-employed

Oct, 2016 — Present
Digital Illustrator working in editorial, publishing, packaging design, surface design, animation, web design, social media/content creation, and private commissions. Clients Include: Adidas, Aldi, Amnesty International, Apple, Badoo, Barnes and Noble, the BBC, Benefit Cosmetics, Billie Razors, Bloomsbury Publishing, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, The Body Shop, Bon Appetit, Carhartt, Centre Pompidou, Cosmopolitan, Dame, Faber & Faber, Facebook, Galaxy, Gay Times, Google, Hachette, HairStory, HuffPost, Insider, It’s Nice That, LA Times, Lavazza, Lovers Stores, Marie Claire, McDonalds, Meta, Mubi, Nike, New York Times, Outdoor Voices, Planned Parenthood, Playboy, Popsugar, Pushkin, Rebel Girls, Rejig, Rest, Royal Mail, Snapchat, Starbucks, Stylist Magazine, Thrillist, Topo Chico, the Trevor Project, United Nations, Vice, Vogue Eyewear.

Grit LLC

Oct, 2016 — Aug, 2020 (almost 4 years)
Illustration, art direction, graphic design, storyboarding, production and copywriting at a creative marketing agency. Clients included: Ball Mason, BIGS, Bobo's, DFI, Duke's, Elixinol, Great Divide Brewing Company, Infinite Monkey Theorem, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Wanna, Woodstock and The Denver Zoo.

Portfolio

Best Woman: A Novel

Dommu, Rose

Ballantine Books

Cover Design Illustration
Sex Ed: A Guide for Adults

Rare, Ruby

Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover Design Illustration Book Interior Design
Erotic Tarot: Intimate Intuition (Magma for Laurence King)

The Fickle Finger of Fate, n/a

Laurence King Publishing

Cover Design Illustration
Cover Design Illustration
The Art of Drag

Hall, Jake

Nobrow

Illustration Book Interior Design
Women on Top of the World

Holmes, Lucy-Anne

Quercus

Illustration
Cover Design Illustration
Cover Design Illustration
Cover Design Illustration

Sofie has 3 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Molly B.

Molly B.

Mar, 2026

Sofie was really great to work with for the cover for my debut novel. She was happy to run with my vision, but she also added lots of great suggestions. I am not very knowledgeable about art or the self-publishing process, but Sofie answered all my questions and requests. She has experience with ...
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Heidi C.

Heidi C.

Mar, 2026

Working with Sofie was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. She helped me finish the full cover design for my book—front, back, and spine for both IngramSpark and KDP, and the final result exceeded every expectation I had. Not only is her work beautiful, but she was consistently professiona...
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Ruth C.

Ruth C.

Feb, 2026

Sofie did an excellent job - and very quickly. I will definitely work with her again when I have the opportunity.

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