Textbooks
Some illustrators think that textbook illustrations limit our creativity. I don’t agree.
To me, it’s just a different kind of playground.
My goal is to help students grasp the context and assist teachers in capturing their attention.
And how I do this? With beautiful illustrations!
Everyone involved in producing educational books shares the same goal: to educate. That’s why I value every request for adjustments or questions that come up along the way.
The challenge is to make the content easier to grasp while also attracting and engaging the student’s attention.
I believe achieving this with young, energetic students is truly an act
of magic, involving many wizards.
When I'm working on textbooks,
I pay extra attention to all kinds
of representation.
I believe it helps children feel seen
and naturalize differences.
Of course, my aim is always to depict the real world of kids—the people, fashion, culture, architecture, and biodiversity.
This way, I bring children closer to the art universe, showing them that their reality can be a realm filled with fun and beauty.
(No more tall, muscle, blond dads to Brazilian kids, please!)
Beyond exercises, textbooks give illustrators
a chance to play with storytelling: short stories, puzzles, board games, comics, and more.
I absolutely love it.
I understand if educational material isn’t everyone’s cup of tea — but then, let those who love it do the work ❤️
O Livro do Desporto
To celebrate the 2024 Olympics, the Penguin Random House Publisher calls me to illustrate this incredible book about sports.
It was a long, and complex project in which the task was to organize a large amount of information and illustrate it in a fun way.
The more complex step was, at the same time:
to brainstorm creative solutions to illustrate the information,
to balance the amount of text with the space for the illustrations to stand out,
to ensure the text flows smoothly on the page.
Phew!
I was the happiest each time I succeeded.
It was like solving puzzles!
Noticing a pattern in the text,
I suggested a graphic pattern to creat
a more intuitive reading:
1) basic technical info under the sport's name, on the upper left;
2) a black box for the historical facts;
3) the iconic athletes depicted on stickers;
4) the "Where to find it" box in the bottom right, with a funny mascot related to the activity;
5) the background is the area where the sport takes place.
Every spread has great illustrated solutions that make the learning process easier and funnier.
I'm very proud of my work here and it wouldn't have been possible without the great material provided by the writer, Luís Cristóvão, and all the support and guidance of the editors. It was a great team ❤️