Fantastic Flora: The World’s Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants by Ann McCallum Staats and illustrated by Zoë Ingram
Art direction & book design for middle-grade nonfiction title
Creating the field-guide-like layouts for FANTASTIC FLORA was a fun challenge. Illustrations included full spreads, spot pieces, and linework, all of which went through multiple rounds of art edits for accuracy. The number of unique illustrations was limited, so I created a design that used art effectively, leaving no spread empty while also avoiding too much repetition. The text design needed to highlight multiple levels of information, from the species and locations noted in the chapter openers, to glossary words, sidebars, and captions throughout. Despite all this complexity, the final book is clear, interesting, and, above all, beautiful.
FANTASTIC FLORA | ON SALE: 05/2025 | TRIM: 7.08″ x 9.01″ | AGES: 8-12 | EXTENT: 144 | TYPE: CHAPPARRAL PRO AND NEUE KABEL
Text copyright © 2025 by Ann McCallum Staats. Illustrations copyright © 2025 byZoë Ingram. Published by MIT Kids Press. All Rights Reserved.