Deano The Dinosaur
About the Project
Deano the Dinosaur is a joyful children’s picture book that I illustrated and designed, bringing author Linda Rigby’s story to life through colourful illustrations and playful character design.
Linda Rigby is an SOS-Trained Feeding Therapist and Early Childhood Teacher who creates books to support children’s learning and development. Deano the Dinosaur uses storytelling to encourage healthy eating habits, build food confidence, and help make mealtimes a more positive experience for young children, particularly fussy or picky eaters.
The story follows Deano, a hungry little dinosaur who ventures into his garden to pick fresh vegetables for his mother to cook for dinner. Along the way, he discovers a variety of vegetables, from crunchy carrots to leafy greens, learning that exploring new foods can be fun, colourful, and exciting. Through its playful rhymes and engaging illustrations, the book aims to help young children, particularly fussy or picky eaters, build food confidence and develop a more positive relationship with food.
Deliverables:
Full-colour illustrations, Character design and development, Storyboard sketches for client approval, Font placement and book design, and Cover design for both softcover and hardcover editions.
My Role & Process
I collaborated closely with Linda Rigby to bring Deano the Dinosaur to life, using colourful illustrations, character design, and visual storytelling to create an engaging reading experience for young children.
The process began with developing Deano's character and creating storyboard sketches based on Linda's manuscript. I worked around the story to plan each scene, considering the composition, character expressions, and flow of the illustrations to ensure the visuals complemented the rhyming text and supported the book's message about healthy eating and exploring new foods.
One of the highlights of this project was bringing Deano to life as a lovable and expressive dinosaur. I wanted his character to feel friendly, playful, and full of personality, making him someone young readers could connect with. I also enjoyed illustrating the garden scenes, incorporating a variety of recognisable vegetables and vibrant colours to create an inviting world full of details for children to discover.
Once the initial sketches and character concepts were approved, I developed the full-colour illustrations, focusing on expressive characters, lively compositions, and engaging visual details. Each scene was designed to support Deano's food adventure while helping vegetables feel familiar, approachable, and fun.
Alongside the illustrations, I worked on the overall book layout, including typography and text placement, ensuring the words and images worked together cohesively. The final design was carried through to the cover, creating a consistent and polished book across both softcover and hardcover editions.
Having worked with Linda on several children's books, including Lulu's Rainbow Feast and Ten Hungry Carrots, it has been wonderful to continue developing our creative partnership. Each collaboration gives me the opportunity to bring a new story to life while adapting my illustration style and design approach to suit the characters, themes, and message of the book.
The Outcome
Overall, Deano the Dinosaur was a rewarding project that allowed me to combine my love of colourful character illustration with thoughtful visual storytelling. It was a pleasure to collaborate with Linda Rigby once again and help bring another meaningful children's book to life, using creativity, colour, and a lovable dinosaur to make exploring healthy foods a little more fun.