Project Overview

The Children’s Book Author & Illustrator Website is a concept project designed to present the creative work of a children’s book author and illustrator in a clear, engaging, and visually playful way.

The website aims to showcase illustrated books, characters, and creative projects while providing information about the author, their creative process, and available publications.

The main goal of the project was to design a website that combines visual storytelling with clear navigation, allowing parents, educators, publishers, and young readers to easily explore the author’s work.

The design emphasizes:

• visual storytelling
• playful but structured navigation
• clear presentation of books and illustrations
• accessibility for different audiences

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Understanding the Challenge / Goals:

Author and illustrator websites often serve multiple purposes: they must showcase creative work, present information about books, and connect with readers, parents, educators, and publishers.

However, many portfolio websites for illustrators focus primarily on visuals and sometimes lack clear navigation or structured information about books and publications.

The goal of this project was to design a website that balances visual creativity with usability, allowing visitors to easily discover illustrated books, explore characters and artwork, and learn more about the author.

The design needed to support both storytelling and discovery, creating an engaging experience that reflects the imaginative nature of children’s books.

Role: Web Designer / UX Designer
Tools: Figma, Wix, Adobe Photoshop
Scope: UX structure, UI design, content organization

Problem

Websites for authors and illustrators often contain beautiful visuals but lack clear organization for visitors who want to explore books, characters, or learn about the author.

Parents and educators looking for books may struggle to quickly find information about titles, age groups, or story themes.

Publishers or collaborators may also need a quick overview of the author’s portfolio and creative style.

The challenge of this project was to design a website that presents illustrated books and creative work in a visually engaging yet structured way, making it easy for visitors to explore stories, characters, and publications.

Research & Insights

Research included analysis of illustrator portfolios, children’s book websites, and publishing platforms.

The goal was to understand how creative work is presented and how users explore illustrated books online.

Users

Target audiences include several different visitor types.

Parents

Looking for engaging books for their children. They need clear information about book themes, age suitability, and visuals that communicate the story style.

Educators

Teachers and librarians searching for books for reading programs or classroom activities.

They require brief summaries, visual previews, and information about the author.

Publishers & Collaborators

Professionals interested in the author’s illustration style, previous books, and potential collaboration opportunities.

Young Readers

Children who may browse the website together with parents and are naturally attracted to colorful characters and playful visuals.

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User Journey: Discovering a Book

A typical user journey might look like this:

Parent discovers the author’s website
↓
Browses illustrated books
↓
Opens a book page to see characters and illustrations
↓
Reads a short description of the story
↓
Finds purchase links or information about the book

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Key Insights

Several insights influenced the design decisions.

• Visual storytelling is essential for children’s book discovery
• Parents prefer quick summaries and clear book previews
• Publishers want easy access to a portfolio overview
• Character illustrations strongly influence engagement with the content

These insights informed the layout and navigation of the website.

 

Information Architecture

The website structure was designed to highlight books and illustrations while keeping navigation simple.

Home
│
├ Books
│ ├ Book1

│ ├ Book2

│ ├ Book3

│ ├ Book4
│ └ more
│
├ New
│
├ BIO
│
└ Contact
 

This structure allows visitors to quickly navigate between books, artwork, and information about the author.

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Design Implications

Several design decisions were made to support a playful and engaging experience.

• Card-based layouts for displaying books and illustrations
• Large visuals to highlight characters and artwork
• Simple navigation suitable for parents and casual visitors
• Bright and friendly color palette reflecting the tone of children’s books
• Responsive design for browsing on mobile devices

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Competitors

Research included reviewing websites of children’s book authors and illustrator portfolios.

Common patterns included:

Illustrator portfolio sites
Strong visual presentation but limited information about books.

Publisher book pages
Detailed information but often less visually engaging.

Children’s book marketplaces
Large selections of books but limited storytelling about the author.

Opportunity

Create a platform that combines visual storytelling with clear information, allowing visitors to explore illustrated books in an engaging and intuitive way.

​

Design References & Inspiration

Visual inspiration was taken from children’s publishing websites, illustration portfolios, and creative platforms.

Key UX patterns included:

• card-based galleries for books and illustrations
• large character visuals
• simple and friendly navigation
• storytelling-focused layouts

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UX Process / Methodology

1. Research

Analyzed illustrator portfolios, author websites, and children’s publishing platforms.

Identified the needs of parents, educators, and publishers.

Outputs:

• user personas
• inspiration boards
• competitor analysis

2. Define Problems & Goals

Defined the main design challenge:

How to present illustrated books in a way that is both visually engaging and easy to navigate.

Outputs:

• problem statement
• project goals
• user stories

3. Ideation & Wireframing

Developed site structure and navigation flow.

Created wireframes for key pages including:

• homepage
• book pages
• illustration gallery
• author biography

Outputs:

• sitemap
• wireframes
• user flow diagrams

4. Design & Prototyping

Designed visual elements such as:

• book cards
• illustration galleries
• character previews

Created high-fidelity screens and interactive prototypes in Figma.

Outputs:

• UI design system
• interactive prototype
• responsive layouts

5. Testing & Iteration (Planned)

Planned usability testing scenarios including:

• browsing books
• exploring characters
• finding author information

Feedback from parents and casual readers will help improve navigation and content structure.

Solution

The final design provides a visually engaging platform that highlights illustrated books and characters while maintaining clear and intuitive navigation.

Key features include:

• clear sections for books, illustrations, and author information
• visually rich presentation of characters and artwork
• simple navigation suitable for different audiences
• balanced layout combining storytelling and information
• responsive design for mobile and desktop users

Outcome

• The project demonstrates how a well-structured website can support both creative storytelling and practical information needs.

• The design creates an engaging environment for discovering children’s books while also presenting the author’s work professionally to potential collaborators and publishers
   

• Reflection

This project helped explore the challenges of designing for creative portfolios and storytelling platforms.

One of the key design challenges was balancing playful visual elements with clear information architecture.

Future improvements could include usability testing with parents and educators as well as expanding interactive features such as book previews or downloadable activities.