Permission To Exist

Permission to Exist is a deeply personal book about social anxiety, healing, and transformation. The author wanted a cover that captured the weight of those emotions but also the hope and light that comes with healing.

The Challenge:

How do you visually capture the invisible weight of anxiety, the journey of transformation, and the courage to simply exist as yourself?

I wanted readers to feel seen — to pick up the book and immediately think, “this is me.”

The Concepts:

I explored two very different visual directions:

1: The Watchful Eyes

The first cover is about that feeling of always being watched. I imagined what it feels like to be surrounded by eyes, constantly judged, and yet smiling anyway because you’ve grown into a version of yourself that feels safe, even under that gaze. The cheerful pop of colour represents healing and transformation, showing that peace is possible despite the pressure.

2: The Weight of Thoughts

The second cover focuses on the inner world, the heaviness of your own thoughts. It shows a figure literally carrying the weight of her mind. Because that’s what overthinking feels like sometimes, like you’re holding up the whole world in your head. The muted colors and composition communicate that struggle, but also hint at resilience.

The Result:

Both covers are deeply personal, and both tell a story. For me, this project was about creating something that people with social anxiety could see themselves in before they even opened the first page.