Children’s Book Design & Illustration

Challenge

Develop a visually engaging children’s book from an early-stage manuscript, creating a distinctive world and character style that would support both the storytelling and the emotional tone of the book.

Approach

The project began with character development based on the author’s brief and story direction. Multiple visual concepts and personalities were explored to establish a consistent style and identity for the main characters.

Once the character direction was defined, the focus shifted toward environmental design, scene composition, and the overall visual language of the book. This included developing backgrounds, colour palettes, page rhythm, and illustration layouts that supported the pacing and readability of the story.

The final stage involved book design, typography, layout, and preparation for print production.

Solution

Created a complete illustrated book prototype combining character design, environmental illustration, page layout, and print-ready production design. The final outcome balances playful illustration with a clean and readable layout designed for young readers.

What I Did

Character design & visual development
Scene composition & background illustration
Art direction & style development
Page layout & typography
Book design in Adobe InDesign
Illustration in Procreate
Image editing & pre-print preparation in Adobe Photoshop
Print production & preflight preparation

Tools

Adobe InDesign
Procreate
Adobe Photoshop

Result

A fully designed children’s book prototype developed from initial concept through to print-ready artwork, combining illustration, storytelling, and editorial design into a cohesive visual experience.