Danielle George ’07 Illustrates Children’s Books
She makes the D in CMD really shine! D for Design. In December 2008, Danielle George’s first book illustrations went into print in The Adventures of Sylvie & The Magic Trunk by Sylvia Fletcher. Two more books are planned in the Fletcher series, and George will do the illustrations for them as well.
The Magic Trunk is based on Fletcher’s earliest performances in front of her elementary school class when she was learning ventriloquism. The central character, Sylvie, is a shy girl who nonetheless can make almost anything talk and uses that talent to make people happy.
“The design process took about five months from when I first met with the author,” explains George. “We planned each illustration based on the story she had written. I worked online mostly, sending her electronic copies of the illustrations for approval and feedback before moving onto the next stage in which I hand sketched each page, scanned it, and inked and colored it digitally with a tablet.”
George also is currently working on illustrations for a series of five children’s books for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, the first of which, The Applesauce Bandit, is due out in March 2009. The book will be given to school libraries throughout New York State in celebration of National Agriculture Week. Volunteers will read the book to second graders who will complete follow-up educational activities as well.
According to George, “Each story line is based around the adventures of two main characters in the Empire State as they uncover ‘the big story’ on the book’s topic. Each book in the series will center on one of the top five products of New York State, such as apples, timber, and dairy farming.”
George is employed full-time at PSD Consulting in Ithaca where she works on marketing, branding, website, and instructional design projects. In May 2008 she had her first art exhibit at the Pixel Lounge in Collegetown where she sold six of the eight paintings she submitted.
Now a published illustrator, Danielle George ’07, is starting her own business, DGC Studio, which will focus on website and print design. She credits the project management skills gained in the communication management and design (CMD) program as highly influential in winning her design assignments. “The organizational skills acquired in course projects really gave me the edge, proving to prospective clients that I am both capable and professional.”
She explains further, “In freelance work, I have to be careful how I write my contracts and assign accountability. Both illustration projects came to me with tight time demands. The most important part of the contracting process is breaking the total job down into manageable stages in which I can accurately estimate how much to charge based on hours of work per stage throughout the whole project.”
George thinks that applying practical organizational skills to her creative process has been invaluable. “It allows me to have a social life for one thing,” she says, “and really sets the entire effort into perspective. I would be a mad-cap mess without it!”
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