Today on The Mag we have Michael Smith, children’s book illustrator, graphic designer and dad of two. Learn more about Michael and his work, what inspired him to start illustrating children’s books, his dream design collaborations and much more!

Introduce yourself, your family, and brand.

My name is Michael Smith and I'm a full-time graphic designer living in the suburbs of Pennsylvania with my wife and 2 daughters. I started the Dadsigner blog when we were expecting our first daughter and built up an audience posting about well designed kids products, intentional parenting, and some tongue in cheek kids book reviews. It was through that brand I also self-published my first children's book, Eyes.

What inspired you to start illustrating children’s books?

As I mentioned I'm a graphic designer, but most of my day work is digital in nature. There is something special about holding something tangible that you created so I always look for those opportunities. As I began reading books to our daughter she was the spark of inspiration for the book. I was struggling with where to take Dadsigner, and when the book idea came to mind I knew it was the best next step for me.

There are also a ton of children's book illustrators whose work I admire and I wanted to take a stab at it.

Why is the representation of fatherhood so important in modern parenthood?

I think that father figures are frequently seen as passive or uninvolved in the lives of their children. I didn't want to be that dad and I know a ton of other men with the same feeling. The biggest problem is that we aren't great talking about this with each other, so that's the first area we need to work on to begin to shift that perspective. I also feel like fatherhood representation also matters for partners. Mom's are incredible, but having an involved father helps to carry the load and hopefully helps to improve their emotional and mental health.

Do you have any tips for aspiring illustrators who are juggling parent life and their passions?

It isn't easy as there is so much going on and generally with young children, there's the whole sleep issue too. So I think what ultimately helped me was to define clear deadlines and assemble checklists of tasks to achieve those. I'm currently working on my second book and now having 2 kids time feels like it whirls by even faster. I try to capture downtime moments when I'm brimming with ideas to make notes on my phone. I actually wrote the rough draft for the whole book in a 30 minute span while I was on the couch.

Do you have any dream design collaborations you’d like to see happen?

I'd love to see Owen Davey (UK based Illustrator) team up with Andrea Beaty (Iggy Peck Architect author) for a series on inspirational people of color.

Name up to three small businesses that you admire.

Candy Lab toys are so amazing - Makes being an adult fun

My book would be less successful were it not for Bookroo, the kids book subscription box

Goose Grease is also making some beautifully simple wood people

Anything else you’d like to add?

Consistency is hard! – whether that's consistency in parenting, creating a project, or making time for mental health. The thing is, it's the only way to make progress. Finding habits and routines that enable you to be consistent will pay back in big ways.