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 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.
The cover of "In Whispers" showing two Native American children whispering to each other. The girl has an eagle feather in her hair and is dressed in red, while the boy is dressed in orange.
In a world shaped by loss and resilience, Simon and Carolina's young love endures the shadows of the Indian boarding school era written for a YA audience.
The Makoons cover with a illustration of a black bear with her cub riding on her back.
Through the loving eyes of Makoons’ mama, readers are invited into the cozy den of a bear cub learning the ways of the world.
A look at the interior spread of the book with a second book showing the cover laying on top.
This middle-grade novella shares the indigenous history of Vashon Island through the eyes of a young girl and the cedar tree she befriends.
Cover and sample interior spread showing title of book, "Dancing on Wild Rice." Cover features an illustration of a girl from the thighs down in leather boots stepping on wild rice.
A heartfelt story that follows the journey of a young girl who learns the significance of her Ojibwe heritage through the tradition of wild rice harvesting.
A new cover refreshes the second edition and reimagines these “Midwestern Gothic” stories on their tenth anniversary.

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