Working on the book – Death is my only beloved
Recently I worked on the Book Cover Design and Illustrations for the book –‘Death is my only beloved’ by Laudeep Singh.
Most of the projects I work on for an extensive amount of time, sometimes leave an imprint, in some way on my understandings and dealings with life. That’s why I do like associating with the kind of work I can recognize with.
Although I do keep my professional work and my personal thoughts separate for my projects, I did feel like sharing my personal understandings of this book. However, this is not a review of the book, just my thoughts during and after working on this project.
Be Lost Even though all roads guide back home, nobody ever arrives home. We all go astray somehwere on the way.
I happen to work on the illustrations for the book comprising of 100 heart-touching poems. I created a total of more than 100 illustrations for each poem along with the book cover design. I must say that I totally enjoyed the creative freedom that came with this task, as all the illustrations are simple line art delivering one idea. In my experience, minimal strokes tell a story in a way no other medium can. This style especially suits the prose & poetry as it gels well with the delicate aspects of the subjects, and that’s why we chose not to add any colors to it and keep it monochrome.
The purpose of writing All writers put pen to paper in order to be able to write that which cannot be written.
When I started the project, I struggled to give shape to the words but as the project caught its pace, the drawings and more importantly the ideas started flowing more freely.
We are our own shadows Initially, while looking at my own silhouette, I discovered that I exist.
The writings of the book are an ‘honest & bare confession’ by the poet which hits you directly in the heart. Each one of us hides so many secrets in our hearts. This book somewhere dives into those hidden doors & windows inside us. The poems do have a dark undertone to them.
With most of the media articles circulating around staying positive, I feel we somewhere forget that we need to be realistic first. We need to appreciate life in all its shades – happy, gloomy, or dejected and not just stress over staying happy & positive 24/7. Although I personally have an optimistic outlook towards life, the thoughts in this book questioned me to get real.
A love affair Books are not our best friends but our worst enemies.
I don’t completely agree with all the thoughts of the poems but they did make me wonder about things which I earlier didn’t even acknowledge, and I feel that is the beauty of this book.
Nobody Tells The rays of the sun often cast a non-penetrable darkness in me.
The book at times questions our set beliefs and at other times gives a completely new perspective to our thoughts.
It is not a self-help book, but it’s an enlightening experience to read through and find meanings in our heads, the meanings then take us places to our imaginary worlds. In my view, the poems delve deep into many contradictory thoughts to cliched notions which make us pause for a moment and reflect back at our understandings about life.
Slay Kill me right away if you wish to make me immortal.
Here I have shared a few selective illustrations from the book along with a few lines from the poem. The book is not for the rigid minded but for people who are open to contradictions and accept life in all its hues. The simple words leave a lingering impact long after you have finished reading the book.
You can check out more illustrations from this project at
The book is available on Amazon. Here is the link to buy a copy.
