Daniel Kondo

Author, Illustrator & Book-Object Designer

I am a Brazilian author, illustrator, and book-object designer working with picturebooks, visual narrative, and reading as experience.

My books explore how page turns, rhythm, silence, format, and material decisions can shape narrative. I develop author-driven projects in which the book is not only a support for images and text, but an active reading object.

My work moves between children’s literature, editorial design, visual communication, education, and cultural projects, in collaboration with publishers, educators, universities, and institutions in Brazil and internationally.

Core Areas of Practice

Picturebooks

Author-driven picturebooks that treat the child as an active reader, capable of engaging with visual complexity, silence, humor, and formal experimentation.

Book-Object & Design-Driven Narratives

Projects in which the book’s structure, format, and materiality function as part of the story itself. Design decisions become part of the narrative structure, shaping rhythm, sequence, scale, and the reader’s physical engagement with the book.

Education, Talks & Exhibitions

Lectures, workshops, and exhibitions focused on visual literacy, reading experience, and the picturebook as a cultural and pedagogical object.

Selected Projects

Lobo Mau com Dor de Dente

A Big Bad Wolf with a Toothache
A picturebook built around the page turn as a physical and narrative gesture. Minimal text, strong visual rhythm, and a book-object structure in which the wolf’s mouth opens through the act of reading.
→ International rights available

Refloresta

A literary and visual project developed in dialogue with environmental education and collective memory.

Eletricista

A book-object project exploring energy, infrastructure, and visual narrative through design.

International Recognition (selected)

My work has been recognized in international design and illustration contexts, including:

  • Communication Arts

  • AOI (Association of Illustrators)

  • AI-AP (American Illustration – American Photography)

These recognitions situate the projects within visual culture and design discourse, beyond traditional children’s publishing categories.

Talks, Teaching & Institutional Collaboration

I regularly give lectures and workshops for universities, art schools, and cultural institutions. Common formats include:

  • Guest lectures (45–60 minutes)

  • Masterclasses and workshops (90–120 minutes)

  • Project-based discussions with students and educators

Typical topics:

  • Page turn as narrative engine

  • How absence creates tension in picturebooks

  • The book as an active reading object

  • Visual rhythm and pacing in children’s literature

  • Picturebooks as artist books

Rights & Professional Contact

For international publishing rights and professional inquiries:

comunica@kondoestudio.com

This page is intended as an overview.
Specific projects, rights information, and teaching proposals are available through direct contact.

Capas de livros com títulos e autores, um com fundo marrom com desenhos geométricos amarelos e um azul escuro, e outro com fundo azul e amarelo com círculos e linhas, sobre fundo alaranjado.
Capa de livro Lobo Mau com dor de Dente, preta e vermelha com ilustração de um lobo com olhos brancos e dentes afiados, o título é "Lobo mau com dor de dente" de Daniel Kondo.
Livro branco intitulado 'Eletricista' de autores Augusto Massi e Daniel Kondo, com detalhes em preto e elementos de design de cruzes no canto direito, sobre fundo cinza claro.
Capa do livro "Andar com fé", de Gilberto Gil e Daniel Kondo, em fundo azul. Desenho da capa de um casario
Gilbero Gil e Daniel Kondo, com um deles com óculos de armações retangulares pretas, estão posando juntos na sala, um deles segurando um livro com capa colorida. O livro é Refazenda, a cena é no Theatro da Paz.