A estória do sol e do rinoceronte

A picture book about strength and tenderness

Illustration and book design2020

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For Ondjaki’s picture book, I created the illustrations, cover, lettering and interior layout, then prepared the files for printing. Published by Alfaguara in Portugal in 2020, the story follows a rhinoceros who asks the sun for help with the sadness in his heart.

Publisher: Alfaguara · Portugal
Format: 40-page picture book
Deliverables: Illustrations and character studies
Cover and interior layout
Hand lettering
Print-ready files

Editions and recognition

Published in Portuguese, English and German, with editions from four publishers. My cover, lettering, layout and print-ready delivery were for the original Portuguese edition.

Portugal · Portuguese: AlfaguaraOriginal edition · 2020
Brazil · Portuguese: Pallas MíniA estória do sol e do rinoceronte
Germany · German: Schaltzeit VerlagDas Zweihorn · 2022
UK · English: Tate PublishingThe Sun and the Rhinoceros · Hardback and paperback

The illustration and book-design project was featured in Best of Behance.

The German edition was recommended by the German Academy for Children’s and Young Adult Literature in its literary Advent calendar, January 2023.

The characters

Studies of the sun and the rhinoceros establish their shapes, expressions and colours before they enter the story.

Character explorations for the sun and the rhinoceros

Illustration and lettering

The handwritten text sits within the landscapes, alongside the sun, water and plants. I designed each spread as a composition of words and images, not as an illustration with a separate text box.

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Planning the pages

The pencil layouts bring the text, drawings and centre fold into the same plan. This is where I worked out the composition of each spread before finishing the artwork.

Pencil spread layout with handwritten text for A estória do sol e do rinoceronte

Cover, endpapers and interior

My work included the complete book layout and the files delivered for printing. The cover and endpapers use the same plants, colours and lettering as the story.