Story: The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Andersen
Adaptation and illustration: Lana Pajdas
This is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's timeless tale, The Ugly Duckling, adapted and illustrated in 2025. My goal was to present the emotional core of the story through clean vector artwork, muted seasonal color palettes, and a child-friendly accessible typography.
Moodboard and initial sketches
The character design is based on vector graphics in a rather abstract form; the main lines are straight with sharp angles, with mild curves used only to highlight the areas that are naturally the most curvy. The main lines inside of each figure is made by cutting through the shapes, meaning that lines are transparent and showcase the background.
Select compositions
Front and Back Cover
The back cover is a presentational one, to be presented to a potential publisher.
Layout Design
The chosen format is A5 landscape, so that spreads are wide and therefore enhance the feeling of the story flowing. It is also a practical small format that easily fits inside a child’s backpack and a parent’s handbag or briefcase.
Each spread is made with the illustration on the right being a continuation of the one on the left, and the text is balanced to follow it. The semi-abstract approach to the illustration has the aim to put the visual storytelling first and the text second. It focuses on the main flow of the story through the gestures.
Typography
Mockups
This is all. I also made this book in Greek and Croatian. If you are interested in publishing this story, or you are an author or publisher, enthusiastic about my work, please reach me out on lana.pajdas[at]gmail[dot]com.
Thank you for your attention!