The Sky Tonight is a self-directed thriller series written and designed by Jemima Schejbal, also known as Cosmic Dove. Sitting at the intersection of editorial design and narrative fiction, the project deconstructs the wonder of the cosmos into a tense, unfolding mystery. Through print, material choice, and image-making, the series explores how physical design can transform abstract awe into something immediate and unsettling.
The project was inspired by a visit to the Peter Harrison Planetarium in Greenwich. After attending a show titled The Sky Tonight, Schejbal was struck by the conflicting emotions the experience produced. A feeling of insignificance alongside a quiet sense of empowerment, brought on by the vastness of the universe. That emotional contradiction became the foundation for a fictional narrative developed in 2019, designed to translate cosmic awe into suspense.
To ground the story, Schejbal combined her own photography taken around Greenwich and the planetarium with vintage astronomy scans. The resulting visual language sits between past and present, familiarity and displacement. This blend allows the work to feel both archival and contemporary, reinforcing the sense that the story exists slightly out of time. The design avoids spectacle in favour of atmosphere, using pacing, interruption, and restraint to build tension across the pages.
Material choice plays a central role in how the project communicates. Printed on silver Peregrina Majestic paper, the book carries a subtle metallic shimmer that shifts with light and movement. This reflective surface enhances the otherworldly tone while reinforcing the idea of the book as a physical artefact rather than a neutral container for content. The format invites handling, encouraging readers to engage with the work as an object that unfolds slowly rather than something consumed at speed.
“My design practice is driven by the philosophy that if I can hold it, I want to make it,” Schejbal explains. “I love the friction of taking a digital concept and forcing it into the physical world, using materials and print processes to add a layer of storytelling that you just can’t get from a screen.”
The narrative itself unfolds nonlinearly, supported by editorial layouts, typographic shifts, and inserted artefacts that blur the boundary between story and ephemera. Mock tickets, postcards, diagrams, and fragments interrupt the flow, mirroring the uncertainty and disorientation experienced by the characters. The book’s first edition ends on a deliberate cliffhanger, positioning the project as an open-ended act of world-building rather than a closed narrative.
“The inspiration for The Sky Tonight came from a show at the Greenwich Planetarium that left me feeling insignificantly small yet strangely empowered by the vastness of the universe,” Schejbal says. “I wanted to translate that specific awe into a tactile mystery, using shimmering silver paper and a blend of vintage imagery to make the story feel like a physical artefact you could reach out and touch.”
Although originally completed in 2019, The Sky Tonight continues to represent Schejbal’s approach to storytelling through print. It reflects a belief that books can operate as immersive environments, where design, material, and narrative are inseparable. The project also points toward future possibilities, with the potential for new editions that further develop the story’s eerie universe.
At its core, The Sky Tonight is an argument for analogue storytelling in a digital age. By prioritising tactility, slowness, and physical engagement, the work positions print not as nostalgic, but as quietly radical. A medium capable of holding tension, atmosphere, and meaning through touch as much as through text.
Artist links
Website: https://cosmicdove.co
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cosmicdovestudio
Studio: https://cosmicdovestudio.co/
