Because of Winn-Dixie follows the story of a girl in a new town whose adopted dog helps her build friendships and mend family bonds.

DISCIPLINES

Illustration
Storytelling
Print Design

TIMELINE

Fall 2025
4 weeks

TEAM

Solo Project

ROLE

Graphic Designer
Illustrator

Process

CONCEPT
SKETCHES
REFINED
LINEWORK

With title, author’s name, blurb, stickers

Book cover titled 'Because of Winn-Dixie' by Kate DiCamillo. Illustration of a girl with a flashlight and a dog lying on a bed.

I did quick sketches, practicing staging various scenes that were important to the story. It was difficult to choose exactly which scenes were the most crucial to include. Ultimately, I narrowed it down based on the emotion I was looking to convey.

For next time…

I narrowed it down to these two compositions. The first one shows Opal's close companionship with her dog. She'd stay up late telling him stories. The second one shows the mistake tree, where she learns that she shouldn't judge the people she meets right off the bat and that one mistake doesn't define someone.

Final Illustration

I began with color block-in and brush experimentation in Adobe Fresco

Pushed the lighting further and leaned into using minimal linework

TAKEAWAYS

With this project, I had the opportunity to experiment with Adobe Fresco and play with intense lighting, contrast, and utilize different brushes to create an inviting, immersive, and updated cover for one of my favorite childhood books.

If I were to do this project again, I'd push the contrast even further, but I quite enjoyed exploring Adobe Fresco and how to take the key components from the book and turn them into engaging compositions.

PROJECT BRIEF

I created the front and back cover illustrations and added custom typography to create these revitalized book covers.

STORY OVERVIEW

In a quiet Florida town, a lonely girl named Opal adopts a stray dog who transforms her world, leading her toward unexpected friendships and teaching her about empathy, belonging, and the weight and healing of loss.