Shalynn Franzen - The Process

The Process

Why silhouette art?

Iris does not consider herself an artist; she said that if the cover art showed remarkable skill, unattanable for the avarage 8 year old, that might make these books unapproachable. So she came up with using silhouette art, giving children just enough to imagine the characters, but not dictating how they ought to look. This way, Hound can look just like any child's own puppy.

How are these books made?

I use Affinity, a program that allows me to adjust images down to the vector. Beyond that, it takes a lot of playing with shapes and colors to find what looks good. Illustratables has specific logos and fonts to use, but beyond that, any color can be used. With great creative power comes responsibility to make things fun.

Since these are created for children, covers usually are vibrant with thick easy-to-read fonts and recognizable shapes. This allows children to imagine the animals or people however they wish, giving them just enough to get started without spoonfeeding designs. After all, these books are designed to help children imagine and illustrate what they want.

Animal Fables: Before

Animal Fables: After

Animal Fables: Before

Animal Fables: After

Using the same assets, shapes, and identity, I was able to create a unique design that skill kept the sillouette art that Iris likes. This style allows for creativity which aligns with the Illustratables' purpose.

Upcoming Titles

Sherlock Holmes A Study in Scarlet

Sherlock Holmes and the Red Headed League

Using silhouette art on a Sherlock Holmes cover is uniquely challanging, as the cover loses a lot of victorian-esque details. Creating a sort of conspiracy-wall was a compromise, keeping the silhouettes while adding additional colorful elements, like clocks and calling cards. This gives this version of Sherlock Holmes a unqiue identity, which is necessary when making a variation of an already popular work.

Every silhouette, paper scrap, and vial are a reference to the mystery; as children read it, they will learn what the pocket watch has to do with the Red Headed League.

This book will be released in June 2026!

Dracula

Dracula is a well-known monster story, documenting the vampire Dracula's

Unlike most Illustratables, which have vibrant covers, this one will be much darker, creating a larger contrast between the background and the title. The final design has yet to be chosen, but the boarder matches the other Halloween Illustratables book, Ichabod in Sleepy Hollow.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse