Zoe Waring is an Illustrator, Author and Picture Book Designer.
She is represented by the Bright Agency, published in over 12 languages (last time she checked!) and has many clients across Europe and the US Including; Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Scholastic Children’s Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, UNION SQUARE & CO, Ladybird Books, Auzou Editions, Little Tiger Press, and more.
Zoe has recently worked on an exciting commission for Spotify… more to follow on that soon!
Zoe also illustrates the Peppa Pig, Little Golden Books series for Penguin Random House. She has just finished illustrating the 8th title is this series.
Check out BOOKS to see more of what’s published and coming soon!
What is Zoe like…
Zoe is a positive, friendly, warm and hardworking! She can proudly say she’s never missed a deadline and has many happy clients who return for more.
She loves drawing, making up songs, has a rather silly sense of humour and a vivid imagination. Which is probably why she loves Children Books so much!
Prizes and awards…
Selected for the Bookbug bag by Scottish Book Trust 2023 Peek-a-Boo Baby: Zoo published by Pat-a-Cake, Hachette Children’s Group.
Selected for the Bookbug bag by Scottish Book Trust 2021 Peek-a-Boo Baby: Moo published by Pat-a-Cake, Hachette Children’s Group.
Finalist in the Progressive Preschool Awards 2020 with the Peek-a-Book Baby range of books, published by Pat-a-Cake, Hachette Children’s Group.
Shortlisted for the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award 2020 with Peek-a-Boo Baby: Zoo published by Pat-a-Cake, Hachette Children’s Group.
Tigerprint Future of Design Award 2003
Highly commended for the Macmillan Prize 2001
Her style…
Zoe tends to illustrate with digital brushes working with fun palettes and texture, but she also enjoys escaping the screen and playing with her lovely pens, pencils, paints. She has sketchbooks packed with pages of funny characters waiting to be brought to life. Zoe loves to experiment with her personal work, which has led to her having a couple of styles to choose from. This adds lots of variety to her commissions, but whatever style the client prefers, her main goal is to create warm, likeable and engaging characters.
Background…
Zoe grew up in the small market town of Darlington, surrounded by colouring pencils, penny sweets, two equally silly sisters and three crazy cats.
She studied Graphic Design at Teesside university, specialising in illustrating Children's Books.
In 2001 she was selected and highly commended for the Macmillan Prize.
After graduating in 2003, she moved to London and exhibited at New Designers. Here she won the Tigerprint Future of Design Award, which included a placement with Hallmark Cards where for three years Zoe worked as in-house designer and illustrator.
Her love for books, ever present, led to Zoe moving on to becoming a Picture Book Designer. She worked in-house for Usborne Publishing, Random House Children’s Books, Scholastic Children's books and then finally Bloomsbury Publishing.
As a Senior Designer, Zoe helped create some award winning picture books and got to work with a huge list of fantastic artists, such as Marc Boutavant, David Tazzyman, Debi Gliori, Sue Hendra, Jim Field, Sam Lloyd, Yasmeen Ismail, Emily Mackenzie, Tom McLaughlin... to name but a few! She filled her boots with knowledge, whilst her evenings were spent filling sketchbooks with her own characters and stories.
Zoe longed to have her own books out there, and in 2014 she finally took the leap, signed with The Bright Agency and became a freelance Illustrator and Designer!
Zoe now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with her husband Neil, daughter Freja and furry friend, Frodo!