Design process for Illustrating Children’s Books: Part 1

Everything has a developmental process and children’s books are no different! I want to talk about the design process that I go through as an illustrator to design my books.

If I happen to be the writer and illustrator for a book, I would write my manuscript first and arrive at a “final draft,” or I would receive a final draft from a writer. After reading it and digesting it for a bit, I would start by producing a thumbnail sketch.

Thumbnail sketches are a series of small drawings to visualize an idea quickly. They can range in size from ¾” to 2” or more. It should not be very fancy or detailed. This drawing should only take about 30 seconds or less to produce. This is where it would be beneficial to sketch several for each page. That way you have a few compositions to choose from. Once you have an idea of the page design, the next step is to produce a comp.

Comps are a bigger more detailed sketch (5”x7” to 8.5”x11”, or bigger) of the chosen thumbnail. Where thumbnails are usually drawn in graphite or ink, comps are usually sketched out and then finished in color if needed. This gives the best idea of the final page. If you happen to be illustrating for a publishing house, this is the stage that editors and art directors become interested in seeing sketches. Any problems can easily be caught here and changed without any issue. At any rate, it is much better than redoing a final drawing.