Character design
Turnarounds and expression sheets so a character stays consistent across the whole book.
Book illustration
Book illustration
Illustration inside a book has a harder job than a single striking image. It has to hold a style across dozens of pages, keep characters recognisable from spread to spread, and leave room for text without looking like it was cropped to fit.
Overview
What this service covers
We illustrate picture books, chapter books, illustrated non-fiction and adult trade titles. Work starts with the manuscript and the reading age, then moves through character development and a style sample before any final artwork begins.
Artwork is produced digitally in a way that survives print: correct resolution, CMYK-aware colour, and bleed built into every full-page image.
What we provide
Everything included in the scope
Full-colour spreads
Double-page and single-page artwork composed around the text placement.
Spot illustration
Smaller drawings that carry pace between the major scenes.
Cover artwork
A cover drawn from the same hand as the interior, not commissioned separately.
Endpapers and extras
Endpaper patterns, maps and back-matter artwork that extend the world.
Print-ready files
Layered sources plus flattened CMYK artwork at the resolution your printer needs.
Process
How the work runs
01
Manuscript and reading age
We read the text and agree how many illustrations the book needs and where.
02
Character and style
Character sheets and one sample spread approved before the rest is drawn.
03
Roughs
Every spread sketched at layout stage so pacing and text fit are settled cheaply.
04
Final artwork
Approved roughs rendered in colour and delivered with sources.
Benefits
What you get out of it
Consistency across the book
Character sheets keep spread forty looking like spread four.
Text-aware composition
Space for type planned into the artwork, not carved out afterwards.
Cheap changes early
Problems get caught at rough stage, where fixing them costs almost nothing.
Print-safe colour
Artwork checked in CMYK so nothing goes muddy on press.
Portfolio
Related work from the studio
A sample of studio work in this category.
Who it suits
Typical clients for this service
Briefs come from single projects and from teams commissioning at volume.
Children's publishers
Trade and literary publishers
Educational publishers
Self-publishing authors
Book packagers and agencies
Questions
Before you brief us
Anything not answered here, ask directly and you will get a straight answer.
Ask a questionA standard thirty-two page picture book usually carries twelve to fourteen spreads. We will map the text against the page count and tell you what it actually needs before quoting.
Within reason. We can work close to a reference style you like, and will tell you honestly if a reference sits outside what our illustrators do well rather than delivering a weak imitation.
You do, on final payment, including layered source files. Illustrators retain the right to show the work in a portfolio unless you need an embargo.
Typically eight to twelve weeks: two for character and style, then roughs and final artwork in batches. Longer books and complex styles take more.
Ready to brief this project?
Send the details and a scope, schedule and fixed quote come back within one working day.