About Me
I’m Katya Shabashova, an illustrator and book designer interested in telling stories through images, especially for children and young adults.
MY APPROACH: — Explore complex themes through familiar images and visual metaphors. — Draw on history, folklore, and childhood memories to develop characters and narratives. — Use color, composition, and scale to create atmosphere and guide the reader’s attention. — Integrate illustration, typography, and layout to shape the reading experience of a book.I believe that young readers deserve honest conversations about serious subjects. In my work, I seek ways to make these topics approachable while leaving room for interpretation, curiosity, and emotion.WHAT I CAN DO
✶ Book illustration✶ Book covers
✶ Book design and layout
✶ Character design
✶ Illustrated posters
✶ Illustration for merchandise
Bluebeard
✶ Illustrated book
Concept
This project is an illustrated edition of Charles Perrault’s fairy tale Bluebeard for readers aged 12 and older. Through contrasts in scale, dramatic compositions, and selective color accents, I explore the story’s themes of curiosity, fear, and power. I created the illustrations, cover, and layout, shaping the book’s visual rhythm to build tension as the story unfolds.
Developing a Visual System I built the visual language around the contrast between the heroine and Bluebeard. His oversized figure dominates the compositions, making her appear small and vulnerable. Diagonal lines and shifts in scale create a sense of unease, while detailed interiors invite the reader to explore the house alongside her.
A restrained palette of grey, blue, and red connects the illustrations throughout the book. Blue draws attention to Bluebeard, while selective red accents mark moments of danger. The recurring image of the key links the endpapers to the story, turning a small object into a central visual motif.
Final Product The result is a complete book design for Charles Perrault’s Bluebeard, incorporating original illustrations, a cover, endpapers, and page layouts. The color palette and compositions work together to guide the reader through the story and build tension. The book is presented through digital spreads and mockups.
39.3°
✶ Illustrated alphabet
Concept
39.3° is an illustrated alphabet inspired by Slavic mythology and the strange imagery of fever dreams. Each illustration introduces a mythological creature alongside its corresponding letter. Elongated figures, distorted spaces, and ornamental details bring these characters into an unsettling world where folklore and hallucination intertwine.
Developing a Visual System I wanted the illustrations to feel like fragments of a fever dream. Elongated figures merge with their surroundings, while distorted proportions make familiar settings feel strange. Each creature appears among objects and details associated with its role in Slavic folklore.
A limited palette of blue-gray, cream, and red unites the series. Ornamental borders and integrated letters lend each composition a shared structure, connecting the individual scenes into an illustrated alphabet.
Final Product The result is a series of six illustrations for an alphabet inspired by Slavic mythology. Each composition brings together a letter, a mythological character, and its surroundings. A shared color palette and ornamental details connect the images, while each scene reveals a different part of the strange, dreamlike world of 39.3°.
You Cannot Leave Until You Finish!
✶ Illustrated series
Concept
A series of large-format illustrations exploring familiar phrases children hear at the dinner table. Everyday objects and childhood scenes become visual metaphors for care, pressure, and guilt, inviting teenagers and adults to reflect on the memories these words carry.
When I eat, I’m deaf and mute
Developing a Visual System I utilized familiar objects—plates, spoons, and patterned tablecloths—to transform everyday phrases into visual metaphors. Exaggerated proportions and close-up views instill a sense of unease in ordinary dinner scenes.
