
Amal Unbound
Book cover artwork for Aisha Saeed's story about a young Pakistani girl who uses her smarts to bring down the feudal system. The cover needed to show the idea of Amal being held captive but also that her dream of a better life, of freedom, will come true. Her hands are held together like a prayer and the henna patterns and open skies come to life within her palms.
Amal Unbound is published by Penguin Random House and is now a New York Times bestseller.
Find the book online here.

Moodboard

Sketches

Sketches: Round 1
Amal envisions a better life and will make her dreams a reality

Sketches Round 2
Figuring out henna designs and symbols of entrapment and hope

Sketches: Round 3
Refining the earlier looser sketch of hands and their symbolism
Refining the earlier looser sketch of hands and their symbolism
Color Options

Final cover art


Photo by Emily X.R. Phan