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Editorial illustration
2024
Tidepool Books
A series of picture book covers about a curious kid who lives by the sea.
Role
Editorial illustration
Timeline
8 weeks
Client
Tidepool Books
Year
2024
the challenge
A cover that has to work on a shelf
Tidepool wanted covers that a five year old would grab and a parent would trust. Each one had to read from across a bookshop and still reward a close look.
We kept one recurring character, one big shape and one bright colour per book, so the series looks like a family on the shelf.
my approach
Thumbnails first, then the sea
Every cover started as twenty tiny thumbnails in pencil. We picked two, painted them in gouache and tested them as printed mock books on a real shelf.
The winning layouts were cleaned up digitally, with room left for the title and the publisher mark.
the results
covers in the series
6
print run in a year
2nd
Client said
Kids pick these up before their parents do.
