Creative Studio

Zuzana Svobodova Illustration

I create playful illustrations, covers, and visual storytelling for children’s books that spark imagination from the very first glance. Feel free to browse my portfolio and get in touch if you’d like to work together.

Character Design

We bring your characters to life with unique traits, emotions, movement, and style.
Perfect for picture books, chapter books, branding, and licensing.

Cover Design

We create covers that sell – attractive, age-appropriate, and genre-specific.
Includes custom illustration, typography, back blurb layout, barcode placement, and print bleed setup.

Book Layout & Typography

We handle full book composition: placing illustrations, setting text, and creating a rhythm that works for young readers.
Clean, balanced, and professional every step of the way.

Storyboarding & Visual Planning

We guide your book’s flow from page to page using detailed storyboards and thumbnail sketches.
Essential for pacing, visual structure, and planning page turns.

Print Design & Production-Ready Files

From trim size and margins to professional resolution and CMYK profiles – we ensure your book is print-perfect.
We support:

  • Print-on-demand (POD): Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu
  • Traditional offset printing
  • eBook formatting: Kindle, EPUB, PDF

Publishing Support

We help both authors and illustrators with all publishing steps:

  • Choosing the right platform (Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, etc.)
  • Formatting for print and digital
  • ISBN, copyright, uploading, pricing
  • eBook and paperback versions

Promo & Marketing Visuals

Need launch graphics? Instagram carousels? Banners for Kickstarter or Amazon? We create:

  • Promotional characters
  • Sneak peeks of your book
  • Animated gifs or reels (optional)

Logo & Visual Identity Design

We create custom logos, brand elements, and color palettes tailored to authors, illustrators, and small publishing brands.
Your visual identity should speak your story before the first page opens.

Consultations & Creative Mentoring

Personalized guidance for:

  • Writers: Story, age-appropriate text, self-publishing
  • Illustrators: Portfolio feedback, pricing, process planning
  • Author–Illustrators: End-to-end visual storytelling

Licensing, Copyright & Legal Support

We help define contract terms between illustrators and authors:

  • Work-for-hire vs. licensed illustrations – Clarifying whether the artwork is a one-time purchase (work-for-hire) or licensed for specific uses.
  • Why Retain Licensing Rights?
  • Copyright ownership – Determining who retains the rights to the illustrations (you or the client).
  • Credit and usage terms – Ensuring proper attribution and defining how, where, and for how long the artwork can be used.

We also help you prepare licensing packages for character usage outside the book (e.g., merchandise, animation, adaptations).

Online Courses (Coming Soon!)

We’re preparing two signature courses to help you bring your story to life:

🖋️ Step-by-Step Publishing for Authors

A complete beginner-to-intermediate course:

  • Writing & editing
  • Book structure & pacing
  • Choosing illustration styles
  • How to work with illustrators
  • Publishing on Amazon KDP & IngramSpark
  • Budgeting & book marketing

Online Courses (Coming Soon!)

We’re preparing two signature courses to help you bring your story to life:

✏️ Illustrate Your Own Children’s Book (and Live Your Dream)

For aspiring author-illustrators (or illustrators who want to self-publish):

  • Page layout & visual storytelling
  • Composition & working with text
  • From sketch to final art
  • Print-ready files & self-publishing
  • Cover design & visual branding
  • Optional module: drawing in Procreate on iPad

Suitable for motivated beginners to intermediate creators.

Support My Work on Patreon

Get behind-the-scenes content, tutorials, downloadable resources, early course access and more:
👉 patreon.com/ZuzanaSvobodovaIllustration

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