Digital illustration
Campaign art, social posts and app illustrations in a warm, textured style that still reads well at small sizes.
About
The illustrator behind the pencil
I’m Sama Al Helou, an illustrator in Amman. My work is mostly for children: picture books, school readers and the characters that live on cereal boxes and app screens. I start every project on paper, with pencil and gouache, then scan and finish it digitally so it is ready for print and screen. I have illustrated eleven picture books so far, four of them in both Arabic and English.
What I do
Three kinds of work, one careful hand
Most clients come to me for one of these. Many end up needing all three.
Character design
Mascots with full turnarounds, expression sheets and simple usage notes for your team.
Editorial illustration
Covers, spreads and spot illustrations for books, magazines and long-read features.
How I work
From first sketch to print-ready files
Sketches and concept
After a short call I send rough thumbnails, so we agree on characters and composition before any detail is drawn.
Colour and refinement
The chosen sketches are painted in full colour, with two rounds of changes included.
Print-ready delivery
You receive layered files and print-ready PDFs, checked for bleed, colour profile and Arabic text space.