Anomaly and the Monolith: Inside the Deeply Personal Universe Amir Zand Has Painted Since 2015
Amir Zand is an Iranian-Turkish digital artist and senior concept artist, born September 27, 1990, now based in Paris after years working out of Istanbul.
Zand’s career began at age 22 when an indie author discovered his work on DeviantArt and commissioned a book cover — a break that unexpectedly opened doors to major franchises. Over the past decade he has designed more than 50-75 book covers and created illustrations for Dune, Star Wars, Warhammer 40K, Halo, Mortal Engines, and The Wandering Earth, working with publishers like Tor Books, Macmillan, and Games Workshop’s Black Library. In 2017 he expanded into concept art for animation and video games, taking on clients such as Amazon Prime Video, Microsoft, Disney, Psyop, Axis Animation, DreamWorks TV, and Quantic Dream, and he has spent six years contributing to the visual development of Star Wars Eclipse.
His style blends traditional painting sensibilities with digital technique, producing surreal, futuristic landscapes populated by solitary, mysterious figures — imagery that evokes suspension and anticipation rather than action. His accolades include three features in the Spectrum Fantastic Art annual and a spot on the Japan Illustrators’ Association’s “100 Most Attractive Illustrators” list in 2020.
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