This cover was a rather surreal, sort of historical commission from Time Magazine, in what was the beginning of a very strange and uncertain time. It was a special report completely dedicated to the topic of coronavirus at the beginning of what would become the global pandemic. The issue was to be very service-oriented – think your guide to the virus and what you need to know.

The challenge was to approach the word "coronavirus" whilst walking a tightrope, striking a balance between feeling serious, without being alarmist and striking fear in people. The main aspect was to visually get across the spread of the virus, and what the future of the world may look like in the face of this new, raging public health nightmare we knew very little about. We went for a bold yet minimalist treatment, bringing the concept to life through abstraction – using digital style lettering segmented and staggered to convey the scientific data element, layered with a graphic, dimensionally spreading particles system, tying in the magazine's iconic identity.

At the time of designing this artwork, the world was locking down – with everyone trying to figure out how to work from home and rethink collaborative work remotely for the foreseeable future. Thinking back on this whole time feels quite crazy.