The Brief: Illustrate a seasonal children's picture book written by Natalie Horseman, centered around a unique, misshapen pumpkin finding where it belongs in the fall season.
The Problem: The holiday and seasonal children’s book market is incredibly crowded, with hundreds of pumpkin-themed titles launching each year. The creative challenge was twofold: the main character needed to look distinctly "imperfect" and bumpy without looking unappealing or scary to young kids, and the backgrounds had to feel deeply autumnal without becoming visually cluttered or overwhelming the text layout.
The Solution: I developed a character design for the pumpkin using soft, rounded, organic textures and highly expressive facial features to ensure he felt immediately lovable and endearing. To make the book stand out on shelves, I utilized a rich, warm, atypical autumn colour palette that emphasized cozy golden hours and deep jewel tones over standard bright oranges. I strategically designed the outdoor environments with generous negative space, providing clean areas for text formatting that maintained perfect readability.
The Impact:The book was highly celebrated for its charm and visual storytelling, ultimately winning the Bronze Moonbeam Children's Book Award in the Holiday Category.
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