Ride the Wave was created for author Jeff Buesing and published under Flowstate Media LLC. My role included character development, illustration, page layout, print-ready book design, and promotional creative.

Client: Jeff Buesing / Flowstate Media LLC Project: 24-page illustrated children’s book Role: Illustrator, visual developer, layout artist

The goal was to create a professionally illustrated children’s book on a tight timeline, with the artwork and layout built for final print production from the start.

The project needed a custom main character based on the author’s son, a visual style inspired by classic children’s books, and a complete 8x8 layout prepared for publishing. The artwork also had to support the rhythm of the story and sit naturally with the text on the page.

I began with quick sketches based on Jeff’s son, then used AI-assisted exploration to test a style inspired by modern children's book illustrations . From there, I refined the design in Photoshop, explored skin tone variations for approval, and created a turnaround to keep the character consistent throughout the book.

This helped us arrive at a strong final character quickly and with minimal back-and-forth.

Once the character, story, and format were established, I built a fast first pass for the pages. The focus at this stage was mood, composition, pacing, and how each image would support the poetic rhythm of the writing.

After the first-pass art, I moved into layout to test bleed, safe zones, composition, and text placement. This made it easy to see where images needed adjustment for stronger balance and readability across the book.

The final stage was a hand-finished Photoshop pass to unify line quality, composition, and color across the project. This gave the book a more cohesive, crafted feel and helped elevate the work beyond raw generated output.

Selected final pages from the completed book, showing the balance of character storytelling, page design, and illustration.

The book was designed as an 8x8 hardcover, with the same format also suited for a more affordable paperback edition. Building for the final product early kept the process efficient and avoided late-stage redesign.

I also created a cinematic promotional ad built around the emotional bond of parent and child reading together. Rather than animating the story itself, the ad helped position the book as a shared family experience.

My workflow starts with the final deliverable. Once I understand format, audience, and story goals, I combine sketching, AI-assisted ideation, layout testing, and final hand refinement to move quickly without losing cohesion or quality.

Ride the Wave became a fully realized children’s book with custom character design, cohesive illustration, print-ready layout, and supporting promotional creative.