A thesis is more than just a document: it's a reflection of the academic journey of a PhD candidate. With Art2Learn, we have brought the world of academia and aesthetics together in a striking fusion. We invite you to embark on a visual journey as we showcase our top six thesis covers of 2023. Join us in celebrating these works of art and cast your vote for the most captivating PhD cover.
As the year draws to a close, we look back on 2023 with pride and satisfaction. This year, we've had the privilege of making a difference for several PhD students, elevating their work with stunning thesis covers. These covers are more than just a pretty face: they represent the culmination of rigorous research and creative expression.
This blog will take you on a journey through the best PhD covers of 2023 by Art2Learn, showcasing the perfect blend of art and academic excellence. You'll discover how each cover encapsulates the essence of the respective thesis and adds an artistic flair to scholarly work. We'll also introduce you to a poll where you can cast your vote for your favorite design.
The classical equilibrium cover
Bastiaan worked on TAOK3, an enzyme responsible for opposite immune responses in fat and lung tissue. He therefore suggested depicting Lady Justice with fat tissue and lungs in her scales. Thus it becomes clear that the effect in one tissue is inverse to the effect in the other. Lady Justice steals the show on this cover as a white marble Roman statue. House dust mites are crawling around on the lungs, which can trigger an allergic reaction. A fresco texture in deep blue adorns the background. All this gave this modern research a classic twist.
The tricolor pallet cover
Angela asked for a rather minimalist cover for her work on visual and auditory stimuli in migraine. So her cover turned out white with a simple line drawing of a woman who clearly has a severe headache. The three colors from her research group logo connect the eye, the ear and the brain. On the spine of the book, these three circles reappear as a nice detail between the title and the name. Behind the woman you can see the typical image of a brain scan. The background is kept very simple with the blue from the tri-color palette. A minimalist representation of a complex problem.
The botanical-minimalist fusion cover
Yasmine loved minimalist designs, but was also a big fan of some of our covers that featured botanical illustrations. These two styles couldn't be further apart. Yet we managed to mix them in a white and pastel cover with simple line drawings. In the pastel yellow corn blobs are line drawings of corn plants at various stages from lab to field. The pastel pink blobs represent the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme used for genome editing. The pastel blue cogs in the background target the biomass processability of maize. In the foreground, a simplified botanical drawing of two corn cobs steals the show. In short: botanical art in a modern look.
The cool dog-sperm-patterned cover
Guillaume worked on the cryopreservation of dog sperm. Therefore, the cover has the look and feel of a freezer: clean with blue tones and icy elements. On the front sperm cells are compressed into the silhouette of a dalmatian, Guillaume’s pet dog by the way. The sperm cells reappear on the back in a close-up. Fun fact: the arrangement of sperm cells was done with a script that generates random patterns. A very "cool" result.
The tasty art explosion cover
Jon studied the mechanisms that control and prevent cell death. The artwork of his cover therefore features a healthy cell on the front, contrasting a dying cell on the back. The front cover further shows the inside of a cell with the main components of the cell death rescue pathway. The front cover has the look and feel of a poster at an exhibition, thanks to its font and composition. In fact, Jon is artistically inclined, as evidenced by the fact that he plays in a band. His band logo was subtly incorporated into one of the vesicles. On the back we see a cell bursting open, a typical scene during the process of cell death. The color palette is reminiscent of a detox treatment: the reds and greens look like different citrus fruits. Some vesicles even really look like cucumber and lime slices. It's a dramatic cover to savor.
The girlpower-pimped computer cover
In bioinformatics, you won't find too many women. But those who are around have a solid dose of girl power. Nina was all about synthwave and vaporwave. She wanted a cover in these styles with an oldschool computer in the foreground, with a feminine touch. She got a cover with a computer reflecting her face. The grid in the background is a merge between the typical synthwave mountains and the lumpy protein folding thermodynamic grid. Behind the mountains rise vertical stripes that are also sometimes found in synthwave, but here are constructed in the pattern of a mass spectrum. The fonts are typical of synthwave/vaporwave and Windows 98. On the back, all possible post-translational modifications are depicted as Windows 98 folders. Also shown are four windows: a piece of code from her program, an image of a protein analysis in a hexagon grid, a typical graph from her research, and the typical Windows 98 calculator. All in a jacket of light pink and light blue neon on a dark background. The epitome of technology in a feminine, elegant format.
This top 6 list represents a diverse range of disciplines and artistic styles, making it a tough choice. Which thesis cover do you find the most visually stunning and thought-provoking? Let your voice be heard and make your mark in this academic artistry showdown!
We can't wait to see which PhD cover emerges as the fan favorite! Thank you for participating and helping us celebrate the beauty of knowledge and creativity in the academic world.
