“I’m Not Boring”:
children’s book design
The story concept, execution, creative direction, words, handwritten letterforms, and binding (for this dummy book) are all by me. I collaborated with Boston-based illustrator Brenna Cameron Lopes, who listened to my vision for a page spread, came up with a creative way to work in the perspective I was looking for, and executed my idea — bringing it to life in a way I hadn’t even dared hope for.
I used a small corner of her illustration, with her blessing, again as a tiny peek of a teaser on the front cover, to entice readers, showing them that there is more beyond the bland cover than they might initially judge.
I am responsible for the rest of the illustration and color. While I had to be very clear for the sake of this project where the division of work was, the intention is to one day fully collaborate with Brenna beyond the scope of this submission. Ultimately, I hope we will replace my illustrations with her own, but the timeline for submission was too tight for the scope of what we dreamed. I see this as the starting point for this exciting collaboration with Brenna.
It is important to me to have a diversity of representation in children’s literature, but as a white woman, I didn’t want to write another story about a little white girl. On the other hand, it’s not appropriate for me to write anyone else’s story (even with a lot of research I just can’t imagine it would ever feel quite right), so I thought of another way to have the reader see themselves in the story: I designed this to be read from the reader’s literal point of view.
I was very intentional about the use of color in this story. I wanted the muted tones to slowly become more infused with vibrancy as the main character/reader finds adventure waiting for them in the world around them.
Swipe through to read this children's book design and see detailed shots of some of the more uniquely-constructed pages.
