THE CURIOUS CASE OF CANADIAN CRYPTIDS
2026
Editorial, Publication, Illustration
OBJECTIVE
The objective of The Curious Case of Canadian Cryptids was to create a children’s activity book themed after myths and monsters from Canada. It's aimed towards children ages 7-12, and consists of easy to read encyclopedic pages about cryptids, various puzzles and activities, and a few blank pages for the kids to fill in with their own discoveries.
APPROACH
My approach to this project was to mainly focus on the overall look and aesthetic. The information itself, though very important, were ultimately secondary compared to the illustrations, formatting, and decorative elements. To pull off the messy case file look successfully, the visual aspects needed more attention than the formatting of the text.
I wanted it to feel more like a scrapbook than government case files because the subject matter is an inherently silly thing taken seriously. The loose paper scraps, stains, doodles, and conversations in code bring that unseriousness and unprofessionalism. Stylized illustrations were used instead of realistic illustrations because, though yes it’s aimed towards children, it’s also a reflection of how cryptids are always word-of-mouth instead of evidence based.
The case documents themselves are designed in a way that should be loosely reminiscent of real case documents. Using a typewriter font and formatting text in big blocks helped achieve that look, as well as two different people (unhelpfully) annotating the pages.
My sketches focused almost solely on just the creatures, since I had a feeling I would be playing with the text formatting a lot. I had a general idea of what the creatures already looked like, but it still took some ideating because these cryptids are almost entirely description only.
