Alisa Baldwin Email & Phone Number

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Leads the visual development and identity for Owlkids Books, including the design and art direction of all books, reprints, conversions, special projects, and corporate marketing materials from concept through to completion

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Collaborates with editors and illustrators on all stages of art from concept, to sketches, to final art, on 12 to 16 original illustrated children’s books per year.Sources and pitches illustrators for up to 20 books per year (10 books per season), including picture books, juvenile nonfictions, middle grade chapter books, graphic novels, and board booksParticipates in monthly pub boards to select original manuscripts and/or translations for the publication of about 30 new books per year, while considering a range of voices, communities, and experiences as well as the quality and level of engagement of the stories being toldDesigns publicity and marketing materials as needed, including catalogues, booth displays, print ads, and web assetsHas collaborated on over 120 books, including the 2022 Governor General’s Award winner, The Sour Cherry Tree

Toronto, Canada Area

Designs for children’s publishers, nonprofits, and small businesses, including work on children’s picture books, juvenile nonfiction, annual reports, identity systems, posters, album covers and websitesIllustrations and original artwork for educational children’s books, middle grade novels, magazines, greeting cards, maps, licensed products (secondary artwork), and personal commissionsClients have included: Owlkids Books, Scholastic Education, Annick Press, Lobster Press, Owl Magazine, Exclaim! Magazine, Illustration Quebec, The History Education Network (THEN/HiER), College-Montrose Children’s Place, Canadian Franchise Association, and the University of Saskatchewan

Toronto

Oversaw all creative and production for the Beaver Books imprint, a mass market publisher of educational workbooks, activity books and novelty products for preschoolers (ages 0-5). Duties included project management, art direction, design, product development, market research, creative briefs, and assisting with copy writing and secondary illustrations Opened and managed an office in Toronto, growing from a two-person operation (myself with one full-time, in-house illustrator) to leading a team of four in-house designers and illustrators in a 30 month periodSourced, hired, and directed freelancers: including illustrators, graphic designers, industrial designers, editors, and translators, and was the main contact to licensors (including Nickelodeon and Canada’s Cookie Jar Entertainment)Worked on over 200 titles and 25 new products including high-profile licensed properties like Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer and Bubble Guppies Water Magic series, and Cookie Jar’s Doodlebops Rockn’ Roadshow Workbooks

Montreal & Toronto

First sole in-house designer responsible for developing new products and series designs from concept through to print production, re-designing existing covers, and formatting new and existing designs into multiple languagesImplemented systems of file naming and organizing as well as established internal processes across all creative and production