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Children's Book Illustration and Design
ILLUSTRATION
& DESIGN
Working closely with Author Stephanie Mees, I illustrated and designed the children's book "Mom, Me and the Candy Cane Tree"
Points of Interest (aspects intended to be captured in each portion of the story):
- Goes through the emotions of children when learning to make good or "not so good" choices (contemplation, lack of self-control, shock, worry, and then disappointment in their actions)
- Redirection from the parent; forgiveness, understanding, and loving affirmation
Finalized front cover
Initial cover concept art
Sent this illustration to the author so she could get a sense of my art style.
Key Points from the author:
- Little girl, 6 years old
- Light brunette with a high pony tail and bow
- Christmas-themed jersey style t-shirt
- Red high-top converse
- Green-to-hazel eyes
- Christmas tree with colored lights
- Very ornate and festive home, "ready for the holidays"
- Homey and cozy, not large
- Target the age of children who understand the wonderment of the Christmas holiday, anticipating Christmas morning with "so much joy and very little patience"
Initial character concept art
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Adjusted character illustration based on edits listed by the author.
Sketched out each splash page on Procreate, then polished illustrations with color and blocking (chose background color based on emotions evoked at each portion of the story), and finalized with highlights/line art.
Book Design
Uploaded page spreads into Adobe Illustrator, then researched other published books that targeted the same demographics in order to choose the fonts, both for the cover and body text.
The typefaces "Neato Serif" and "Neato Serif Rough" had the playful, childlike look needed, along with evoking the intended holiday feel.
Body Text
Typeface
Cover Text
Typeface
Finalized spreads (sample)
