BOOK COVER DESIGN | QUEER SAPIEN
One of my biggest dreams came true when I had the honor of illustrating and designing the book cover for Queer Sapien by one of India’s most celebrated queer icons, Sharif Rangnekar. Collaborating with Rupa Publications, Sharif, and Dibakar was both thrilling and deeply humbling. The process involved weeks of reworks, calls, and countless iterations to create something that resonated with the spirit of the book, eloquent, bold, and unapologetically queer. Seeing the cover embraced and celebrated at the launch filled me with immense joy and peace. This project stands as a reminder of resilience, gratitude, and the power of art to make space for queer voices in the world. 🌈
The Making Of
CLIENT - Rupa Publications (for Queer Sapien by Sharif Rangnekar)
I had the incredible honor of illustrating and designing the cover for Queer Sapien, a powerful new book by one of India’s most celebrated queer voices, Sharif Rangnekar. This collaboration with Rupa Publications was both humbling and exhilarating, allowing me to contribute to a project that celebrates queerness, identity, and expression in all its eloquence.
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PROJECT OVERVIEW
The design process was deeply collaborative and layered, spanning multiple iterations, feedback loops, and creative discussions. My goal was to visually capture the essence of Sharif’s voice: fearless, compassionate, and deeply introspective. I approached the cover with a sense of balance between elegance and rebellion, using visual metaphors and refined color sensibilities to echo the book’s exploration of humanity and queerness. The project took weeks of refinement, with every line and hue crafted to reflect authenticity and pride.
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ROLE - Illustrator, Cover & Layout Designer
I was responsible for both the illustration and the complete cover layout design. From the conceptual sketching phase to final print-ready artwork, I ensured every element harmonized with the tone of the book. The design was envisioned as a dialogue between text and image, dignified yet dynamic, bold yet poetic. Seeing the final cover embraced with love at the book launch was a surreal moment, marking a personal milestone in my artistic journey.
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1. Visual Exploration
The visual exploration for Queer Sapien began with a deep reflection on the book’s philosophy, that queerness is infinite, fluid, and intrinsically tied to nature. As I read Sharif Rangnekar’s preface, his words about queerness being an awareness, a consciousness that connects us to our truest selves, became my foundation. I visualized queerness as an energy that flows like the elements of nature, wind, water, earth, fire, and space, constantly transforming, collapsing, and rejuvenating.
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I explored ways to translate this energy into form and texture. Using oils and acrylics with brushes and spatulas, I created physical textures on paper that became the ocean’s base, while watercolors added softness and fluidity. These traditional media were later merged digitally to build layers of movement, light, and balance. The artwork integrates birds in flight to signify air, waves for water, fresh greens and florals for earth, and a glowing sun to represent fire, all enveloped in a mint and soft pink sky, evoking peace, rebirth, and harmony.
2. Early exploration
The visual journey began with this image, a symbolic portrayal of a man and a woman coming together, representing the union of masculine and feminine energies within oneself. It was a reflection of balance, of queerness as both strength and softness existing in harmony.
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As the idea evolved, we explored a new direction, one that felt more universal and elemental. The concept shifted towards the natural world, where the sun, sea, earth, and air coexist seamlessly. The final artwork became a much simpler yet deeper expression of that idea: the sea and earth in an intimate embrace, with air and water represented through the flight of birds and dramatic waves of the ocean, respectively.
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This transformation marked the journey from human form to natural form, a quiet celebration of queerness as nature itself.
3. Essence and Evolution
Queer Sapien evolved through many layers of thought and visual discovery. What began as an exploration of human form grew into something larger: the harmony between identity and nature. Through this evolution, I discovered that the essence of queerness lies in transformation itself, the ability to flow, adapt, and thrive like the elements that inspired the art. This project became a reflection of that endless becoming, of finding strength in softness and purpose in beauty.
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Designing this cover became a journey that went far beyond aesthetics. It became about storytelling, representation, and creating a visual language that celebrates diversity. The artwork invites viewers to pause, feel, and see queerness as part of the natural order, fluid, infinite, and ever-changing. It stands as a reminder that art has the power to both mirror and move the world we live in.
