Sarah Fountain

Sarah Fountain – Designer

Children's graphic designer and book illustrator specialising in publishing, creating beautiful and engaging books and products.

Overview

Hi there!


I have been professionally designing and illustrating for children since 2007, after completing a BA (hons) in Illustration in 2006 from Camberwell College of Arts. I have worked mainly in design for this time, including as an in-house children’s designer at companies including Pearson Education, John Brown Media and Redan Publishing. Now I do children’s design work for many companies, including leading publishers such as Dorling Kindersley and Arcturus.


For the last few years I have been doing more and more illustration work, and honestly, I love it. I always wanted to be like Beatrix Potter, and now, very often I feel that I am.


I run a small creative design agency on the North Shropshire, Wales border with my husband, Noel. We have two children and two cats, a lovely old house and a dog called Shadow.


I will work with you closely, and we will have a video call to start us off. This is by far the most valuable piece of time, where I get to understand your wants and goals for your project.


My knowledge of the children's publishing industry and its processes it vast, and I will help you navigate your journey from manuscript to finished, beautiful book!

Services
Non-Fiction
Children’s Non-Fiction Comics Non-Fiction Education & Reference
Fiction
Middle Grade Picture Books Young Adult
Languages
English
Certifications
  • BA (hons) Illustration

Work experience

Self-employed

Apr, 2020 — Present

Fountain Creative is a small creative agency I own with my husband. Together we work on projects big and small. My specialism is children's publishing - working on all kinds of books for children from picture books to fact books, to educational reading books, to complicated puzzle books!

I can help you take your manuscript to a finished book that you can be proud of, that will look good enough to sit on any child's book shelf.

Self-employed

Jun, 2016 — Present

Working across different projects, including primary educational content for Dorling Kindersley, and many activity books and fact books for Arcturus Publishing.
I have self-published my own picture book, and help many authors publish their picture books and chapter books.
I genuinely love my work. Children’s books have been my passion since I was a child, and I love helping others realise their publishing dreams.

Pearson Education

Aug, 2013 — May, 2016 (over 2 years)

Project managed and design-led two major Primary education products for Pearson UK: Bug Club and Abacus.
Both these projects included designing books, art-directing illustrators and designers, whilst also creating digital content and overseeing budgets and schedules.

John Brown Media

Oct, 2007 — Aug, 2013 (almost 6 years)

Worked across many branded and licensed characters on various children's magazines and partworks, including Dora The Explorer and Hello Kitty, as well as high-profile brands such as Bupa and Pets at Home.

Redan Publishing

Jan, 2007 — Oct, 2007 (9 months)

Designed and edited pages for children's magazines, Fun To Learn Friends, and Peppa Pig magazine.

Portfolio

It's Carnival time on the beautiful island of Canario Bonito. Come join the party! Let's have some fun!However…You may think it’s cool to swim with dolphins at a waterpark?Lottie Saves the Dol... read more
Cover Design
‘It’s a scary fact that if the world’s bee population dies, eventually all living things may die.’ Lottie is suffering from explosive sneezes. It’s that time of year when the pollen count is so high she wishes her twitching nose and itchy-scratchy eyes could b... read more

Sarah has 11 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Sue D.

Sue D.

Jul, 2023

Sarah was a delight to work with and cheerfully waded through a bunch of disorganized files to reformat my book. I'm hoping she will be able to help me out with reformatting books 2 and 3!
Sarah F.
Thank you, Sue :)
Brynndah C.

Brynndah C.

May, 2023

Meeting Sarah Fountain through Reedsy has been a very positive experience for me. As a newcomer to the Children’s Book Publishing process, I appreciated Sarah’s response to my questions with clear explanations. I am super impressed with Sarah’s integrity, and confidence in her finished product, but most importantly her detailed outlines of the creative process. From interpreting my story, a...
Read more
Sarah F.
Thank you Brynndah, those are lovely words! Sarah
Kelly K.

Kelly K.

Nov, 2022

Sarah has been delightful to work with throughout. She brought great creativity and sensitivity to the whole process. I highly recommend her and would work with her again.
Sarah F.
Thank you so much Kelly! I loved working with you, and I hope very much we can work together again!
will R.

will R.

Nov, 2022

The reason I chose Sarah was because her design work stood out to me as uniquely creative, and I wasn't disappointed in the least. She is an incredibly talented designer and I was more than satisfied and happy to have worked with her.
Sarah F.
Thank you Will ☺️ I loved developing your book, and I wish you every success with it!
Rowan A.

Rowan A.

Mar, 2022

Sarah has been great so far. She clearly has the requisite experience and is patient and professional.
Sarah F.
Thank you Rowan, thats lovely feedback :)

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