Gunjan Ahlawat, a prominent book cover designer, shares insights into his work on covers for International Booker Prize winners like Tomb of Sand and Heart Lamp. In an interview, he explains his philosophy of translating literary essence into visual art while balancing collaboration and creativity. His designs for authors such as Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie highlight his role in shaping readers' first impressions of celebrated books.
Gunjan Ahlawat has created visual narratives for leading Indian and international authors, including Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Orhan Pamuk. His covers for the International Booker Prize-winning novels Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree and Heart Lamp by S. Y. Masud stand out as key achievements.
In discussing the Heart Lamp special edition, Ahlawat describes a collaborative process where editor Deepa Basti suggested pomegranate seeds. After reading the manuscript, he embraced the motif to capture the stories' themes of womanhood, love, loss, and tradition. 'I kept returning to the image of a pomegranate—bold, vibrant, full of life, but also fragile,' he says. The design features a full-color illustration layered with delicate line motifs to reflect duality and resilience.
For Tomb of Sand, Ahlawat aimed to embody the protagonist's defiance against conventions. The special edition depicts a flock of black crows in flight, symbolizing freedom and release. The paperback edition uses an atmospheric photograph to evoke memory and constraint, suggesting rather than illustrating the narrative.
Ahlawat emphasizes reading full manuscripts for fiction to connect deeply with the story. He balances inputs from authors, editors, and sales teams through iterative discussions. 'Design is service. It’s about loyalty to the text,' he notes, prioritizing clarity and originality amid digital viewing challenges.
Among his favorites are covers for Mir Taqi Mir by Ranjit Hoskote, Arundhati Roy’s non-fiction box set, and Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh. He regrets the unchosen design for Salman Rushdie's Knife, which he felt was conceptually sharp. Timeless influences include designs for The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir and The Fraud by Zadie Smith.