Laura Fearn

Laura Fearn – Designer

I am an award-winning freelance Senior Book Designer, Illustrator and Artist with 25 years experience in the Publishing industry.

Overview

I have designed a wide variety of books ranging from young children's picture books, to sticker books, Shakespeare's stories, atlases and illustrated & photographic encyclopaedias and reference books. I design and illustrate covers and book interiors. Before going freelance I worked at Usborne Publishing for 10 years where I was Senior Designer.
Services
Fiction
Anthologies Picture Books Poetry Short Story
Non-Fiction
Children’s Non-Fiction Education & Reference Music Nature
Languages
English
Awards
  • Usborne Picture Books: On the Moon, The Rainy Day, In the Nest, The Dinosaur - Gold in the Practical Pre-School Awards for Usborne Picture Books 2005
  • On the Moon - Highly Commended in the Right Start Best Toy Awards 2004.
  • The Usborne Internet-Linked Children’s World Atlas - SiIver in the Geographical Association Awards 2002
  • Usborne Complete Book of the microscope - Winner of the Learning Magazine Teacher’s Choice Award 2000. Winner of the Rhone-Poulenc Junior Science Book Award 1998. Parent Council Ltd. Award 2000.
  • Planet Earth - Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award 2000
  • The Encyclopedia of the Ancient World - Parent Council Ltd. Award 2000
Certifications
  • BA(Hons) Graphic Design (Illustration)

Work experience

Self-employed

Jan, 2007 — Present

Working freelance as a designer, illustrator and artist providing layout, book cover design, style setting books and series of books, interior page layout, commissioning illustrators, picture research, card design, watercolour, pen and ink street scenes, acrylic on canvas portraits, public art and pencil drawing.

Usborne Publishing, London

May, 1998 — Nov, 2004 (over 6 years)

Style setting and designing books and series of books, covers, visualising illustrations, commissioning illustrators, managing teams of up to 8 designers, picture research and preparing books for print.

Usborne Publishing, Wolverhampton

Dec, 1996 — May, 1998 (over 1 year)

Designing book interior layouts, cover design, visualising illustrations, commissioning illustrators, picture research and preparing books for print.

Portfolio

Usborne Internet-Linked Essential Atlas of the World (Usborne Atlases)

Gillian Doherty

Every home needs an atlas and the "Usborne Internet-linked Essential Atlas of the World" introduces the basics of geography and mapping in a fun, colourful way. A wealth of full-colour maps, facts, diagrams and photographs help children to understand the geogr... read more
The Usborne Internet-linked Children's World Atlas

Gill Doherty

A new edition of this modern world atlas with 60 pages of maps. Features an introduction to each continent, satellite photography of the Earth's most dramatic landscapes, and a gazetteer of facts about the countries of the world. Includes internet links to a w... read more
Dinosaur (Usborne Picture Books)

Anna Milbourne

This is a wonderfully imaginative artist-led picture book taking young children on a gently informative and enjoyable journey into prehistoric times. Beginning with a little boy wondering what real dinosaurs were like, the story transports readers into the pre... read more
Butterflies (Usborne New Spotters' Guides)

George E. Hyde

This title is part of the "New Spotter's Guides" series offering enthusiasts, keen to discover the many fascinating aspects of the natural world, a pocket-sized field guide. Each title contains spotters' score cards, glossaries, maps, reference materials and i... read more
Butterfly (Usborne Picture Books)

Anna Milbourne

This is a delightful new title in the rapidly expanding "Usborne Picture Books" series, which introduce the youngest of children to engaging subjects in a friendly way. Young children will love following the charming story of a greedy caterpillar transforming ... read more
The Nest

Anna Milbourne

An evocative artist-led picture book superbly illustrated by international illustrator Laurence Cleyet-Merle. The gently descriptive yet informative text takes the form of a story which explains how birds nurture their young. The tale follows the first days an... read more
Rainy Day

Anna Milbourne

This is a new edition of this artist-led picture book that begins with the question 'Have you ever wondered what clouds are made of?' This title includes fabulous watercolour paintings and evocative text that lead very young children through the effects of a r... read more
On the Moon (Usborne Picture Books)

Anna Milbourne

This is an artist-led picture book, which introduces young children to the vastness of the universe, how far away the moon is, what gravity is and the concept of space travel through a gentle and captivating story about an imaginative little girl. Combining fu... read more
The First Christmas

Heather Amery

Elena Temporin's rich and textured watercolour illustrations bring to life this simple retelling of the Nativity story, each page featuring a beautiful original painting. Age 2+
Peoples of the World (Usborne Internet-linked Reference)

Gill Doherty

This engaging book introduces children to the diversity of people all over the world. Organised on a continent-by-continent basis, each section takes a look at the different ways of life, cultures, cooking and faiths. Simple, informative text is illustrated wi... read more
Internet-linked Encyclopedia of World Geography Including Complete Atlas (Internet-linked Encyclopedias)

Gillian Doherty

Places the world at your fingertips, with key geography topics explained in a lively and accessible way. It oncovers the drama of the physical world, looking at whirling tornadoes, fiery volcanos and more. Hundreds of recommended Web sites take the reader on j... read more
Stories from Shakespeare

Anna Claybourne

A re-telling of some of Shakespeare's best known plays, in story form Includes a synopsis, quotations and list of characters from every play alongside information about Shakespeare's work, life and poetry, to put the plays into context. Ages 10+
The Usborne Internet-linked Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece

Lesley Miles

This encyclopaedia seeks to help children explore the many facets of Ancient Greece and learn about the environment from which Greek myths and classic legends sprung. The illustrations combine with the text to offer a sense of what life would have been like at... read more
The Usborne Internet-linked Introduction to Music

Eileen O'Brien

This introduction to music covers topics from sound recording and the rock business to reading music and composers. It is packed with suggestions for tracks to listen to, plus a useful glossary of musical terms. The history and development is explored along wi... read more
Internet-linked Complete Book of Astronomy and Space (Usborne complete books)

Alistair Smith

This guide is based on contemporary information from astronomers around the world, and space probes around the galaxy. It contains illustrations of exploding stars and how black holes are formed, star maps so the reader can navigate the night sky, and recommen... read more
The Internet-linked Complete Book of the Microscope (Internet-linked complete books)

Kirsteen Rogers

This volume reveals the secrets of the micro world, from algae to atoms, dust to DNA and flies' eyes to flu viruses. There is practical information on buying and taking care of microscopes, plus over 20 step-by-step projects for use with your own microscope, a... read more

Laura has 7 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Joel G.

Joel G.

Jun, 2022

Laura is great!!! Laura’s visuals where exactly what I was looking for. She is professional and went above and beyond to help a new author succeed.
Laura F.
Thank you Joel, I thoroughly enjoyed working on your book and I am glad you are happy with my illustrations and design. I wish you the best of luck with your publication.
Russell N.

Russell N.

Jun, 2022

Laura was excellent to work with! I love her style. She helped take my illustration notes and ideas into actual illustrations. I found her very easy to work with, always gave good suggestions, and was willing to receive corrections. Will be working with her to illustrate my whole book!
Laura F.
Thank you Russell, it was a pleasure to work with you, your brief was detailed and thorough. I am looking forward to illustrating your book.
Kate S.

Kate S.

Mar, 2022

It was such a pleasure to work with Laura! Laura designed my book cover. The end product was excellent. Laura was able to retain the vibrancy of the original colour drawings (as we transferred from RGB to CMYK) which is technically difficult. She also framed the image with a font that matched the style and she gave the font a colour that complimented the image. Laura was very responsive a...
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David G.

David G.

Nov, 2020

Laura was an absolute pleasure to work with. She helped me create a gorgeously beautiful drawing of my fictional universe which looks fantastic in color and black and white. She made sure I was completely satisfied and was patient with all of my changes. The work was completed early and I’m very pleased with the outcome. I look forward to our next collaboration.
Laura F.
Thank you David, it was a pleasure to work with you too. I hope we can work together again soon. Good luck with the book.
Marie R.

Marie R.

Aug, 2020

The collaboration with Laura was excellent. She provided a great quality design for my book cover. I was able to communicate frequently with Laura and together we were able to iron out any issues which occurred during the process. Laura even provided me with some extra suggestions which I was delighted to incorporate into the design. Laura worked in a very professional manner and was a plea...
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