Custom Watercolour Illustrations for Children’s Book “Unsere Zukunftshelden”
In 2023, I had the honour of illustrating a book in close collaboration with my client.
The book is in German and teaches values and all the things schools don’t really cover but that are important in adult life to children.
I did a lot of different illustrations for the book‘s 200+ pages - all hand painted with watercolours on paper. Below you find a little insight as well as some examples of my work for the book.
Cover Illustration
Song Illustration
The book was inspired by a song of a German rapper who dreams of a world where the values of diversity and love for one another were held high; a world where everyone could be just as he is and is accepted and appreciated that way.
My job was to communicate the song‘s message in an illustration that would act as a frame around the song text and that way communicate the goal of the book through images — which is to teach children all these values so that way we can create the dream world of the song in real life.
Illustration of the Main Characters
The two main characters, Luna and Ferdinand, the so called „Future-Heroes“ or heroes of the future, guide the kids through the different lessons, stories and exercises of the book. They teach the kids how to behave in considerate and responsible ways.
So I illustrated the two of them experiencing different emotions and situations so that the kids could relate to them and that way make the lessons and exercises more fun and meaningful.
Chapter Summary Illustrations
The book is structured in different chapters. Every chapter teaches the kids a different value like love, appreciation, time, traditions, etc.
I made an illustration for each chapter that represents the value taught in the chapter which come at the beginning of every chapter in order to evoke curiosity.
Book Chapter about Appreciation
Book Chapter about the Universe of our emotions and feelings
Chapter about preserving your energy through rest etc.
Chapter about personality
Chapter about time
Story Illustrations
The book includes 12 stories that show the kids how the lessons can be implemented in real life situations and what happens if not.
I illustrated every story to make them easier to read and more interactive.
Decorative Elements
Lastly, I painted different elements like boxes, frames, flowers and animals to make the exercise pages colourful, fun and interactive.
What my Client Alina said about the illustrations:
“I am so happy with how every illustration turned out. In the end, there wasn’t a single one that I thought ‘Oh, this could have been done better.’ Nicole clearly understood what I was looking for in the illustrations and has exceeded my expectations with many of them. I am so glad I found her as an illustrator because otherwise, this book would have still been an idea in the back of my mind.” — Alina Wunderlich, Author of ‘Unsere Zukunftshelden”
Our goal was to create a book so colourful and beautiful that kids and adults would look at it and be like „Wow, I can’t wait to read and work through it.“ And I think we managed to do it - what do you think?