Noughts and Crosses- sketches

first sketches playing with the symbols of noughts and crosses attempting to show the separation between black people (crosses) and white people (noughts). I wanted to show the noughts being viewed as less that the crosses. I also wanted to highlight the 2 main characters and how they we connected to each other and because of that, in a way separated from both groups. I thought of contrasting black and white lines to make up a composition of a face from both groups using the symbols of noughts and crosses for the eyes. One of the lines could continue around the entire cover to act as the line found on many penguin book designs. There are two other elements of the story I thought of including in some way but I am not sure if that will give away too much of the narrative. I think it will depend how I put the image together. One of the main characters is hung at the end of a book, just as they declare their love for each other. I thought of making a portrait combining both characters with a noose around their neck. showing how it effects both of them. The noose could also be symbolic of the effect of their relationship. At the end of the book they find out they are going to have a baby but the baby is not born until the sequel so I don't know if i can include a reference in this cover. I want to keep roughing and more further away from previous covers.