Any new project has its challenges, but for Agafito Pelaes, a Colombian graphic designer, winning the contract to design for a well known brand for children’s products was a special kind of challenge. As it would be for any of us. When you design for children, there are a few considerations to keep in mind:

• Are you in tune with what children like these days?
• Is your drawing style appropriate for children, or can you tone it down if it isn’t?
• Can you draw gender differentiating designs?

For Agafito, the biggest challenge is designing for girls, as he openly admitted in an interview with Mishes magazine. He does a lot of research into everything from street art to children’s magazines to stay in touch with children’s tastes and preferences.

Finding Inspiration

You cannot design for children if you do not spend some time in their world – this is one of the biggest lessons Agafito Pelaes has to share with other designers from his experience. Go out in the street and watch children going to school, learn who their favorite superheroes are. Watch cartoons and find inspiration in the way they are designed and from the dynamics of the characters.

The important thing to remember is that your designs must be aimed at children, but not childish. Do not overdo bright colors and funny typeface. Before children get to see your designs, they have to be approved by the client. And, most definitely, your client is not a child and may not have a very tolerant sense of humor.

Start from Scratch

You have no swipe file for children’s products design. That’s alright, you can build it now. Make the first basic sketches and save them for future inspiration. As you walk around, sketch quickly something that caught your eye: a piece of graffiti, a backpack decoration or a scene of children playing with various toys.

Practice makes perfect, so keep sketching until you feel that you have mastered the art of designing that would pass the approval of a cartoon movie director. The more you develop this skill, the easier it will be for you to imagine new characters, situations and poses which will get approved by your client.

Don’t Get Too Personal

During this entire process, it is very easy to let your own tastes dictate on the design, warns Agafito Pelaes. A graphic designer must refrain from infusing his design with what he likes. The final design piece must be generic enough to be liked by a lot of children, from different countries, of various backgrounds and with different cultural values.

Just like everyone loves Tom and Jerry because they are timeless characters, you have to develop characters and designs that become universally accepted and identify with the children’s ideas of a superhero or another fictional character that they love.

 Author Bio: VectorVice represents a group of graphic designers who believe that good quality graphic vectors should be outstanding and affordable. We’re the alternative to big stock photo companies – a small team with great ideas and friendly prices. Why VectorVice? Because we are passionate about graphic design. Our artwork is royalty free and includes only original designs. We believe in providing designers with top quality graphic vectors to help them become even more awesome than they are.