To design a book cover is one thing, but to redesign the cover of your favourite books which also happens to be super iconic, is entirely another. An illustrator can have fun without worrying about revealing spoilers (if their motivation isn't spoiled by how daunting the task is that is). 

I started by looking at the larger themes of absurdity, awe and resignation and narrowed in by selecting those themes that matched the tonality of the content – irreverence and arrived at an appropriate visual pun. 

The final design shows a mouse and an old-style computer, but the mice in the book are hyper-intelligent scientists and the Earth is a super computer called Deep Thought. This is a significant pivot from the first draft: