Custom Gruffalo-Inspired Children’s Book
Budget: $40 – $60 USD
I’ve rewritten The Gruffalo so the brave little adventurer is my son, Rian, and the woodland creatures have become Mom, Mama and Mimi. All the words are finished and I already have plenty of reference material—family photos, style samples I like, a PDF of the original book and some rough AI-generated mock-ups—so what I need now is an illustrator / designer who can transform everything into a fully laid-out, print-ready book I can slip straight into a home binder.
The look I’m after is cartoonish, playful and fun, with a bright, vibrant palette that echoes the energy of the original story while still feeling unique to Rian. Imagine chunky shapes, expressive faces and colourful backgrounds that will pop off the page when printed on a standard ink-jet printer. Page count will closely mirror the source book, but we can adjust spreads if it helps the pacing.
Because the project is strictly for personal use, there’s complete creative freedom—no licensing worries—yet I’d still like professional polish: consistent character design, clean typography and balanced layouts that guide young eyes effortlessly through the story.
Key deliverable:
• A high-resolution PDF (A4 or US Letter—whichever suits home printing best) with crops/bleeds already set so I can print, trim and drop the pages into a binder.
Optional—but appreciated if you work this way:
• Layered source files (Procreate, Photoshop or Illustrator) in case I ever want to tweak a colour or add a dedication page later.
If lively cartoon illustration is your thing and you love bringing family stories to life, I’d love to see a few samples or a quick character sketch of Rian to kick us off. I am fine with you using AI to generate the rest of the images of course.
The look I’m after is cartoonish, playful and fun, with a bright, vibrant palette that echoes the energy of the original story while still feeling unique to Rian. Imagine chunky shapes, expressive faces and colourful backgrounds that will pop off the page when printed on a standard ink-jet printer. Page count will closely mirror the source book, but we can adjust spreads if it helps the pacing.
Because the project is strictly for personal use, there’s complete creative freedom—no licensing worries—yet I’d still like professional polish: consistent character design, clean typography and balanced layouts that guide young eyes effortlessly through the story.
Key deliverable:
• A high-resolution PDF (A4 or US Letter—whichever suits home printing best) with crops/bleeds already set so I can print, trim and drop the pages into a binder.
Optional—but appreciated if you work this way:
• Layered source files (Procreate, Photoshop or Illustrator) in case I ever want to tweak a colour or add a dedication page later.
If lively cartoon illustration is your thing and you love bringing family stories to life, I’d love to see a few samples or a quick character sketch of Rian to kick us off. I am fine with you using AI to generate the rest of the images of course.