Sretni princ · Ines Babić

Two hardcover copies of Sretni princ stacked on a grey surface; the front cover shows a large blue swallow flying over the golden crowned head of the prince, with Oscar Wilde and the title in blue serif type

The brief

Illustrate and design a complete Croatian edition of Oscar Wilde’s short story “Sretni princ” (The Happy Prince), made in the illustration workshop of the Visual Communications and Graphic Design master’s programme at the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka in 2021/2022: a set of illustrations, the jacket and the full interior layout.

The approach

The illustrations are kept minimal so the atmosphere of the story carries them. Each one joins two key elements of the narrative in a single image, and the swallow runs through all of them as the motif that ties the book together: perched on the golden statue’s shoulder, flying to the reed, and finally kissing the prince’s grey lips. The cover is part of the same sequence, set between the second and third illustration, with flakes of gold leaf falling away as the swallow strips the statue, until the prince loses his shine completely and turns grey in the last illustration. Inside, the body text is set in a classic serif with generous margins, and the illustrations bleed off the page rather than sitting in frames.

The outcome

A 32-page book from half-title to the final page, a hardcover jacket with the swallow across the back, spine and front, and hardcover mockups, presented together on a single board.

Illustration of the Happy Prince as a golden statue seen from behind, crowned, with a tiny blue swallow perched on his shoulder, on white — The Happy Prince, still covered in gold leaf, with the swallow on his shoulder.

Illustration of a small blue swallow flying towards a brown cattail growing among green reeds, on white — The swallow and the reed he fell in love with.

The last illustration: the gold is gone and the swallow says goodbye.

Cover illustration: a large blue swallow flies across the frame above the prince’s golden head, while flakes of gold leaf scatter over the white background — Cover illustration. The gold leaf falling away places the cover between the second and third illustration in the story.

Full hardcover jacket laid flat: back cover with a short biography of Oscar Wilde and a barcode, the spine, and the front cover with the swallow, the prince and the title Sretni princ — Jacket spread: back, spine and front.

Opening spread of the book: the imprint page in small centred type on the left, the title page with Oscar Wilde and Sretni princ in blue serif capitals on the right — Imprint and title page.

Interior spread: a page of serif body text on the left, the swallow and cattail illustration bleeding off the right-hand page

Interior spread: body text on the left, the golden prince statue seen from behind on the right, cropped by the page edge

Illustrations bleed off the page instead of sitting in frames, so text and image share one page.

Hardcover mockup.