Cover Art Gallery

Cover Art Gallery:

Our work has been featured on the cover of severl leading international research journals. Below is a selection of our cover images. Make sure to scroll down and discover how some of these visuals were created – including light traces drawn by LEGO robots on optical tables.


Nat. Photonics 18, 982 (2024)	ACS Nano 18, 16766 (2024)	Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 2312245 (2024)	Adv. Mater. 35, 2209282 (2023)


Nat. Photonics 16, 126-133 (2022)	Laser. Photonics. Rev. 12, 2100235 (2021)	Laser. Photonics. Rev. 2100117 (2021)	Adv. Opt. Mater. 8, 1901166 (2020)


Nanoscale Horiz. 4, 1056-1062 (2019)	Adv. Opt. Mater. 6, 1800153 (2018)	Adv. Opt. Mater. 6, 1800098 (2018)	Adv. Opt. Mater. 5, 1700182 (2017)


Adv. Mater. 29, 1605110 (2017)	Adv. Mater. 26, 4074-4081 (2014)	Adv. Mater. 25, 2517-2534 (2013)	Langmuir 28, 15454 (2012).


Adv. Mater. 24, OP208 (2012).	Adv. Mater. 24, OP29 (2012).

Since 2012, our approach to cover art has evolved from digital renderings to photographic experimentation. As digital art became ubiquitous, Prof. Valev pursued a photography course at Bath College and began adapting night photography techniques – such as light painting, starburst effects, and long-exposure trails – for use in the lab.

Several of our images are created with the help of Kylian Valev, who builds LEGO robots fitted with LEDs. These robots travel across optical tables to produce well-defined light traces and abstract compositions. As we work in photonics, it is only fitting that we use a light-based art medium.

These collaborations aim to capture the sense of wonder, playfulness, and creativity in our science.