Neue Heimat

Cover Art

Publisher Tulipan, part of Penguin Random House
Role Cover art and illustrations
Technique Digital illustrations

The first children’s crime story by acclaimed author Frauke Angel is here, and I had the honor of creating the cover art! I’m beyond thrilled with how vibrant the printing turned out, especially with the bold Pantone colors we chose.

The story follows Enna, a girl who moves with her mother to a new neighborhood and quickly forms a close-knit gang—called “Neue Heimat”—with Vivien, Firuz, and the twins, Jack and Joy. Frauke Angel masterfully balances humor with moments of poignant social commentary, tackling themes like racism, poverty, and loneliness.

A circus in the backyard and a rat rescue unit at your front door – these are only two fun essentials of the round pages strong stories.

Vignettes

I am grateful for the creative freedom the team led by Annette Beckmann, Tulipan Verlag, gave me throughout this project. Initially, I explored black-and-white cover sketches, but the concept of adding a bold accent color emerged as a way to give the series its signature character. After experimenting with a range of neon hues, we landed on a striking orangey-pink shade that became the defining element of the “Neue Heimat” brand.

Also, the specific of the series “Neue Heimat is the changing perspectives from album to album. While in the first book, Enna is the main character, in the second book “Neue Heimat 0101”, it’s the point of view boy Firuz the story is told from. Nevertheless, each story puts its focus on the solidarity and team work among the teenagers.

For the cover art I chose to emphasize the character through size and pose. In the illustration style I combine a quick brush stroke, e. g. for the hair or grass with free shapes, filled with flat colors sliding into soft air brush gradients.

The inner illustrations where supposed to work in black and white and as a teaser for each chapter. Together with the author we discussed a list of mainly fun motives from which I created a series with pointed vignettes, that would also work as stickers or on various merchandise products around the “Neue Heimat”.