Melissa Gandhi – Designer

Hi, I’m Melissa, an art director and designer with over a decade of experience creating bold, engaging illustrated books for children and adults.

I began my career at Usborne before becoming Art Director of Quarto’s Design Eye imprint, where I helped build a new illustrated list from the ground up. Since becoming freelance, my clients have included Hachette, Penguin, DK, Thames & Hudson, Bonnier, Post Wave, Tappi and Heriot-Watt University.

I specialise in illustrated non-fiction, preschool and educational publishing, picture books, activity books and complex visual formats. My work combines art direction, editorial design, typography and information hierarchy to make ideas clear, distinctive and enjoyable to explore.

Recent projects include design and illustration for a 32-page illustrated public-engagement publication for Heriot-Watt University, developed collaboratively with academics to communicate complex research to a broad audience. I also do ongoing art direction for children's preschool publisher, Tappi.

I’m particularly well suited to:

• Illustrated fiction, non-fiction and reference books

• Educational and public-engagement publications

• Children’s activity and learning resources

• Complex, highly visual page layouts

• Complete book design, from initial visual direction to print-ready files

• Art direction and collaboration with authors, editors, illustrators and organisational stakeholders

My preferred visual style is bold and contemporary, but every project is shaped around its content and audience. I care equally about how a publication looks and how naturally readers can navigate and understand it.

I work with established publishers, organisations, independent presses and ambitious creators. Some clients arrive with a detailed brief; others have a strong idea that still needs its visual direction and structure. I enjoy joining at either stage and developing projects collaboratively from concept through to print-ready artwork.

If you’re creating an illustrated book or publication with real ambition behind it, I’d love to hear about it.