Overview

In my independent digital study course, I challenged myself to write and illustrate a children’s storybook, creating a versatile product made for both digital and print formats. Utilizing Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, I brought the story to life with engaging illustrations, adapting my approach to efficiently meet project timelines.

The concept for this storybook was to introduce kids to the idea of the moon cycle. The intended age range for the book was ages 3 to 6. I was inspired to make a children’s book by my nieces and nephew, as they fall in the age range I aimed for with this project.

The art style I went for in the book utilized a lot of simple shapes combined with some linework for the main character. I also designed the two main characters, Mochi and Celeste, through various iterations. The design for Mochi was strongly inspired by elements of Bugs Bunny from Looney Tunes and Buster Bunny from Tiny Toon Adventures, since Mochi is meant to appear as a young boy. Celeste was inspired by various celestial art that often depicts suns, moons, and stars with personification. I chose to use a rabbit character based on the common Asian folklore about the rabbit on the moon, as I have seen this reference various times in different forms of media and felt it was fitting to use as a theme based on the original concept I had for the book regarding moon cycles.