El Niño: Catastrophism, and Culture Change in Ancient America explores the impact of extreme climate events on societies throughout the Americas. Having grown up in Peru, El Niño was a familiar presence to me and gave me a personal point of connection to the subject. The cover uses hand-painted lettering that was physically distorted and manipulated to evoke the unpredictability and disruption of El Niño. The shifting letterforms, blurred marks, and layered brushstrokes suggest movement, instability, and a landscape altered by forces beyond our control.