Shadab Khan

Cover design for Ram Murali’s debut novel “Death in the Air,” which is at once a sophisticated locked-room mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie, and a provocative literary whodunit for the twenty-first century. Think “The White Lotus” meets “Knives Out” meets “Crazy Rich Asians”. Out in June, 2024. @manasisubramaniam @shubhi_dooby_doo @penguinindia :)

Immensely chuffed to share the cover for Saikat Majumdar's "The Remains of the Body". Dive into an intricate story of friendship, intimacy, and the complexities of immigrant life this June, 2024! Commissioned by the best @eliofkottayam ✨

Super excited to share the cover of "The Memoirs of Valmiki Rao" by Lindsay Pereira, a shortlisted author for the JCB Prize for Literature, 2021. About the book: Mumbai, in the early 1990s. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement is at its peak, and the Babri Masjid has just fallen. Decades later, in a corner of the metropolis, a retired postman living alone in a dilapidated room tries to recall those months of madness and how they changed everyone he knew. This is the story of Rameshwar Shinde and Ravinarayan Kumar, a young woman called Janaki, and the neighbours they live with, in the shadows of towers. It is a story of families torn apart by bigotry, an unmissable retelling of the epic Ramayana set in a time when blood mixed with the grime of Mumbai’s streets. A tale more pertinent than ever, in a country once again teetering on the edge. ______ Forever grateful to @ahlawat.gunjan for putting faith in me. And, of course, @thetwistedtooth , because none of this would have happened if it weren't for her.

Presenting the special edition of "Lallan Sweets" by Srishti Chaudhary (@death.of.the.author ), where every detail has been imagined as an extension of the story itself. Illustrated by Apoorva Lalit (@apoorvalalit ) and art directed and designed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ), this edition brings Siyaka to life in the most thoughtful way. There’s a quiet symmetry running through the cover, where each motif finds its place: laddoos, storefronts, signboards, and those small, everyday moments that carry so much warmth. The colours do a lot of the storytelling too. Shades like rich vermilion, soft marigold, and hints of teal and cream create a familiar, festive shades that feel like memory and celebration rolled into one. Printed on uncoated paper for a soft, tactile feel, with delicate touches of gold foil that catch the light just so, this edition is made to be held and cherished. Sprayed edges add a sense of indulgence, while the accompanying postcards, a bonus chapter, an illustrated map, and a specially curated playlist extend the experience beyond the page. Out in May 2026, this special edition is meant to be a keepsake, for those who already love the book and for those discovering it for the first time.

Presenting the cover of "Slow Burn" for the Indian subcontinent, designed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ). When we started thinking about the design, duality kept coming up again and again, it’s at the heart of the story. So Shadab approached the type almost like it had two personalities. You’ll notice how the title is split and slightly out of alignment, with red and black versions sitting side by side but never quite locking into place. That tension is intentional in which it reflects the protagonist’s two lives, existing in parallel. The falling figure came in as a way to capture that moment of crossing over. Is he falling, or is he slipping through? We wanted it to feel a bit ambiguous. The cracked surface works like a mirror, but also like a portal, something breaking, something opening. Bringing all of this together with a loud, cinematic colour palette, we wanted to convey the chaos of the world the protagonist steps into. Written by Amal Singh (@cheeesusmaximus ), "Slow Burn" comes out in April, 2026.

Presenting the cover of “Gangrene” Illustrated by The Big Fat Bao (@thebigfatbao ) and designed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ), the cover is stark and deliberate. A minimalist brushstroke silhouette of a person stands facing his own shadow, still, solitary, self-confronting. Cutting across the composition is a line in red and orange, slicing through the shadow as it passes over it, like a wound that refuses to close. The distressed white of the title feels worn and weathered, while the sharp orange subtitle "Punjabi Dalit Short Stories" strikes against the electric blue ground with uncompromising clarity. The minimalism here is intentional and the silence, charged. Carefully curated and translated by Akshaya Kumar and Navdeep Singh, this volume features stories on a variety of issues ranging from caste identities and rural exploitation to urban life and housing. Searing in its indictment of casteism, this volume is a window to a better understanding of Punjabi society. Out in March, 2026 from @penguinindia

Here is a sneakpeak into the process behind my artwork for Khushwant Singhs Train to Pakistan by @penguinindia @designbypenguin Shoutout to @__eitheror for giving me this opportunity to work on this project. . Huge props to @thecoffeesnorter for helping me with the research and editing this video

Presenting the rejacket of "Train to Pakistan". When we began thinking about this cover, we kept coming back to the train itself. In the novel, it carries rumours, fear, bodies, hope. So we chose to make it overwhelming, almost larger than the landscape around it. The smoke becomes a quiet reference to the ghost trains of Partition and the pyres they carried with them. The train here is movement, but it is also menace. It is history refusing to slow down. The palette stays in deep reds and maroons, holding the weight of violence and inevitability. Figures cling to the train. The scene feels crowded, tense, on the brink. The title, rendered in Aditya Damle’s stylised handwritten lettering, sits inside the artwork rather than on top of it, as if it belongs to the same moment. And then there is Juggut Singh. His sacrifice is the emotional core of the book, and we wanted that to remain central. One man making a choice in the middle of madness. Illustrated by Aditya Damle (@dam_adi_ ), and designed and art directed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ), this cover is our way of revisiting a story, and of paying respect to Khushwant Singh’s unforgettable novel.

Presenting the cover of Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake by Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe. Illustrated by Sohan Bhattacharya (@eyepatch_draws ) and designed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ). This cover came together through many sketches, colour studies, and conversations around how to visually hold a story shaped by love, memory, and inherited violence. The final cover brings together the house, the island, and the cake as a shared centre across time. It is a novel of parallel lives, set on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, exploring the legacies of colonial exploitation and slavery. Moving between the seventeenth century and the present day, the story is linked by a house and a recipe born of the spice trade. Swipe through to see some of the rough sketches, colour explorations, and behind-the-scenes moments that led us here. Out February, 2026 from @penguinindia

Meet the cover of Unruly, a bright, playful laboratory where science runs joyfully out of control. 🧪🐄🍕🍌 Illustrated by Jeevanath Viswanath (@jeevdraws ) and designed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ), the cover brings together visual nods to past Ig Nobel Prize–winning research: zebra-striped cows, pizza-powered health studies, slippery banana peels, and tiny scientists busy at work. Every element is a wink to the strange, serious, and surprisingly thoughtful questions that define the Ig Nobels: science that makes you laugh first and think later. Out February, 2026 from @penguinindia

Some more wonderful news! We are thrilled to announce that "The Remains of the Body", designed by Shadab Khan (@__eitheror ), has been shortlisted for this year’s Oxford Bookstore (@oxfordbookstores ) Book Cover of the Year award. Congratulations to Shadab on this outstanding recognition! 🎉

A very special project I had the privilege to be a part of, and one I can finally reveal today. Designing this special edition of “The Vegetarian” was an opportunity to step inside a story where the human body becomes a battleground, where desire, control, trauma, and escape all carve themselves into flesh. For the special Indian Subcontinent edition, I wanted the design to reflect that fracturing with honesty and intensity. The central silhouetted figure fading into cyanotype flora mirrors Yeong-hye’s steady surrender of the physical world, her longing to root herself somewhere beyond harm. The botanical forms rise delicately yet defiantly, echoing the novel’s quiet, unstoppable rebellion. To deepen this tension, the cover explores a Pantone-enhanced cyanotype palette, printed on aqueous-coated paper so the blues feel both cool and clinical, like a bruise beginning or a memory fading. Against this, the acidic half-jacket acts as an intrusive force, the external world that keeps trying to contain her. Peel it away, and the full cover reveals a world without boundaries, where the character’s identity dissolves, beautifully, tragically, into the natural forms she longs to become. Finished in PLC hardback, this edition is shaped around transformation: controlled on the outside, wild beneath the surface. Oh, there’s also a special endpaper tucked inside, a quiet surprise I’ll let you discover on your own. ;) [the vegetarian, han kang, deborah smith, booker prize, nobel prize in literature]