Luana Smith

This book design explores Brazilian folklore through a bold and contemporary visual language, combining vivid color with hand-drawn illustrations. Centered around a striking orange palette, the project brings traditional myths into a modern editorial format.
Each spread highlights a different character, using simplified forms, high contrast, and expressive imagery to capture the essence of these folkloric figures. The layout is guided by a strong grid system, balancing negative space with full-bleed compositions creating rhythm and hierarchy across spreads. Bold display typography for titles contrasts against structured body text, reinforcing clarity.
Rooted in a fusion of Indigenous, European, and African influences, the content reflects how these stories were historically used to explain the unknown and shape behavior, often through fear. Darker spreads are introduced throughout the book, using deeper tones of red to reflect the more unsettling realities behind these myths.