Illustrada Design Portfolio

A sampling of Paul Nylander’s book designs

Bold, daring book covers are crafted to capture attention.

Meticulously designed interior layouts focus on readability and an immersive experience.

Each unique design combines a personal touch with universal appeal, resonating at first sight and leaving a lasting impression.

Illustrada is crafting books that open our eyes, expand our minds, and enrich our souls.

A view of the book cover laying on top of the book open to an interior spread.
A spooky story with a fun twist, The Garden Ghost was a great collaboration between design, illustration, and author.
The cover laying on a open spread of “Midadventures in My High Heels.” Cover features a prominent illustration of a red high-heeled shoe, while the interior shows high-heeled footprints.
The ups and downs of this bold life-in-stories memoir, including the fabled red stilettos.
Debra Lee Won't Break by Katherine Pickett, looking at front and back covers
Developing the cover of a powerful debut novel about friendship, trauma, and inner strength—set in motion by two women, one bike path, and a ride toward healing.
"The Real-Life Story of Crazy Ralph" by Boppa Harmon, Illustrations by Dmitry Gitelman.
A grandfather’s bedtime stories—now illustrated—of the enduring bond between a family and their adventurous dog.
Picking Sweetgrass by Kent Estey cover and sample interior spread
A tender, intergenerational story of gathering sweetgrass, beautifully designed for young readers through close collaboration between illustrator and designer.
A sample interior spread of the book is shown with a sweeping red pine, shown under a cover featuring the title “Ishkode: A Story of Fire."
Principles of Anishinaabe land stewardship and Western scientific knowledge are intertwined in this stunningly illustrated and thoughtfully designed children’s story.
This collection of essays, stories, and poems of eleven Native authors combines haunting cover art with every possible writing style.
The Land Knows The Way by Ricardo Levins Morals, shown open to a chapter page.
A collection of essays and artwork by Ricardo Levins Morales, crafting a unified visual language that reflects the book’s themes of resistance, ecology, and transformation.
Cover and sample interior spread of the hardcover version of "Young Man Grown Old." Cover features a small old photo of a young man arm outstretched to lean on a tree.
A lifetime of poems by Kenneth Firnstahl, brought together with restored photographs and beautiful design to honor his legacy.
The cover of "Belzi's Blizzard" showing a reddish brown Finnish Spitz in the snow facing toward the distance where a cabin sits in the snow, with the silhouette of a girl walking out through the snow.
Caught in a blizzard with a grandmother she barely knows, 12-year-old Belzi uncovers a family secret that changes everything.
Cover of "Vendetta" with an illustrated silhouetted woman in front of a noir stylized view of the Louvre, the French flag proudly flying above.
A perilous quest to uncover hidden truths leads Colette Richelieu through a web of art, espionage, and family secrets in Vendetta.
The cover of "Little Birdie Babies" featuring two eggs and a cute and fuzzy trumpeter swan. Behind is another copy of the book open to a page showing an egg, baby, and adult blue heron.
Adorable baby birds delight readers as Little Birdie Babies blends playful illustrations with fascinating facts in Heather Boschke’s third book.

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