I am Jim Steck, a seasoned designer and illustrator who specializes in creating engaging visuals for education, publishing, and brand experiences. As the founder and president of Steckfigures, Inc., I lead diverse projects and collaborate with teams to deliver lively characters, informative layouts, and animation that resonates with teachers, students, and families. My work spans 25+ children’s books, hundreds of magazines, and campaigns for major brands, all rooted in clear storytelling and purposeful design. My practice emphasizes inclusivity, skin-tone diversity, accessible layouts, and translating complex concepts into approachable visuals across books, digital teaching tools, and brand campaigns. I enjoy turning ideas into compelling visuals that spark curiosity and joy, while guiding cross-functional teams to maintain strong brand identity and high-quality results.…

Jim Steck

PRO

I am Jim Steck, a seasoned designer and illustrator who specializes in creating engaging visuals for education, publishing, and brand experiences. As the founder and president of Steckfigures, Inc., I lead diverse projects and collaborate with teams to deliver lively characters, informative layouts, and animation that resonates with teachers, students, and families. My work spans 25+ children’s books, hundreds of magazines, and campaigns for major brands, all rooted in clear storytelling and purposeful design. My practice emphasizes inclusivity, skin-tone diversity, accessible layouts, and translating complex concepts into approachable visuals across books, digital teaching tools, and brand campaigns. I enjoy turning ideas into compelling visuals that spark curiosity and joy, while guiding cross-functional teams to maintain strong brand identity and high-quality results.…

Available to hire

I am Jim Steck, a seasoned designer and illustrator who specializes in creating engaging visuals for education, publishing, and brand experiences. As the founder and president of Steckfigures, Inc., I lead diverse projects and collaborate with teams to deliver lively characters, informative layouts, and animation that resonates with teachers, students, and families. My work spans 25+ children’s books, hundreds of magazines, and campaigns for major brands, all rooted in clear storytelling and purposeful design.

My practice emphasizes inclusivity, skin-tone diversity, accessible layouts, and translating complex concepts into approachable visuals across books, digital teaching tools, and brand campaigns. I enjoy turning ideas into compelling visuals that spark curiosity and joy, while guiding cross-functional teams to maintain strong brand identity and high-quality results.

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Language

English
Fluent

Work Experience

Senior Designer PXD Product Experience Design, Illustrator at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
February 1, 2023 - August 27, 2025
Worked in a leading learning technology company serving over 50 million K-12 students globally. Responsible for designing, illustrating, and art directing instructional tools and materials including animated illustrations, anchor-charts series for PowerPoint lessons utilized nationally for social and emotional learning. Developed over 200 illustrations and backgrounds enriching tutorial book covers and spreads, incorporating research on skin tone diversity for inclusive content. Received overwhelming approval from focus groups of teachers and elementary students.
President / Illustrator at Steckfigures, Inc.
February 1, 1997 - Present
Operate as an internationally recognized digital illustrator and graphic designer, creating engaging and emotionally resonant visual assets for a wide range of clients including children’s books, magazines, restaurant campaigns, toy companies, and enterprises. Specialize in diverse illustrative styles, colorful backgrounds, character continuity, and typography across multiple mediums. Lead creative projects that inspire fun engagement, new challenges, and curiosity in kids through puzzles, games, books, toys, and souvenirs.
Senior Designer at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
February 1, 2023 - October 5, 2025
Guided the design, layout, and art direction of leading-edge instructional tools; developed an anchor-charts illustration series used in national PowerPoint lessons for social and emotional learning; contributed research-informed skin-tone diversity visuals; produced 200+ illustrations and backgrounds enriching tutorial book covers and spreads.
Art Director, Lead Designer at Ripley Entertainment Publishing
December 31, 2013 - September 30, 2015
Led design for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! publications with bold color schemes, typography, and layouts; crafted style guides for hardcopy covers and interior spreads; produced multiple annuals and souvenir books; coordinated production to meet tight deadlines.
Senior Designer, PXD Product Experience Design, Illustrator at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
December 31, 2016 - January 31, 2023
Guided the design, layout, and art direction of instructional tools; produced an anchor-charts series used in national PowerPoint lessons for social and emotional learning; contributed to skin-tone diversity research in digital content; created 200+ illustrations and backgrounds for tutorial book covers and spreads.
Senior Designer PXD Product Experience Design, Illustrator at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
January 1, 2017 - February 1, 2023
Led design, layout, and art direction for instructional tools; created animated illustrations and anchor-charts; contributed to social-emotional learning materials; implemented skin-tone diversity across digital content; produced over 200 illustrations and backgrounds for tutorial book covers and spreads while aligning with the HMH brand.
Art Director, Lead Designer at Ripley Entertainment Publishing
December 1, 2014 - February 1, 2016
Led design for Ripley’s Believe It or Not! publications; crafted style guides; produced major print pieces including annuals and souvenir books; managed production and ensured fresh brand visuals through strong color, typography, and layout choices; demonstrated cross-functional leadership to meet tight timelines.

Education

Degree in Visual Communications at Art Institute of Pittsburgh
January 11, 2030 - January 5, 2026
Degree with honors in Visual Communications at Art Institute of Pittsburgh
January 11, 2030 - February 10, 2026

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Education, Media & Entertainment, Consumer Goods, Travel & Hospitality, Retail, Professional Services, Software & Internet
    paper Listening 30 – Children’s Educational Illustration Series.

    “Listening 30” is a children’s educational illustration series created for Bricks Publishing Company in
    South Korea.

    The project consists of 30 illustrated lessons designed for both print and web-based learning, combining character-driven storytelling with clear visual cues to support listening comprehension and early language acquisition.

    Each lesson features recurring characters, expressive environments, and visual narratives that help reinforce vocabulary, sentence structure, and context through engaging, age-appropriate scenarios.

    This project highlights my experience working with international publishers, collaborating on structured educational programs, and creating illustrations that balance fun, clarity, and instructional purpose.

    Project scope
    • 30 fully illustrated lessons
    • Print and digital formats
    • Character-driven educational storytelling
    • Early language and listening comprehension support

    View selected samples from the Listening 30 program on Behance

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com

    paper Littleheads – A Collection of 400 Playful Character Illustrations.

    Littleheads is an original illustration collection featuring 400 quirky, expressive character faces, each designed with bold shapes, playful color palettes, and strong personality.

    This collection explores exaggerated expressions, graphic simplicity, and retro-inspired styling—making each character instantly readable, memorable, and full of charm. Every face is unique, yet visually cohesive as part of a larger system.

    Littleheads was created to be highly versatile and works especially well for:

    • Branding & mascots

    • Apparel and merchandise

    • Children’s media and education

    • Stickers, icons, and digital products

    • Editorial and marketing illustration

    The collection is currently licensed and sold through platforms such as Etsy and Creative Market, and has been used by creators looking for artwork that feels fun, friendly, and character-driven.

    This project highlights my strengths in character design, expressive illustration, and building large, cohesive visual collections with commercial applications.

    View the full Littleheads collectionhttps://www.twine.net/signin

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com

    paper The Everything Kids’ Football Book – Illustration & Game Art.

    Illustrations created for “The Everything Kids’ Football Book (8th Edition)”, published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

    This project included a mix of spot illustrations, character-driven scenes, and interactive game-style artwork, designed to support young readers while keeping sports concepts fun, clear, and engaging.

    The illustrations were created to complement instructional content, explain rules and gameplay, and add visual energy to activities and puzzles throughout the book. Emphasis was placed on readability, humor, and age-appropriate design for middle-grade readers.

    This project highlights my experience working with major publishers, creating illustration systems for nonfiction children’s books, and balancing educational clarity with playful, expressive artwork.

    Project scope
    • Spot illustrations
    • Game and activity artwork
    • Sports-themed educational visuals
    • Print publishing

    View selected illustrations from The Everything Kids’ Football Book

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com

    paper The Everything Kid’s Baseball Book – Illustration & Game Art.

    Illustrations created for The Everything Kid’s Baseball Book , published by Adams Media , an imprint of Simon & Schuster .

    This project included a combination of spot illustrations, character-based scenes, and interactive game-style artwork , designed to help young readers understand baseball rules, terminology, and gameplay in a fun and accessible way.

    The illustrations were developed to support instructional content while keeping the tone light, engaging, and age-appropriate. Visual problem-solving, humor, and clear storytelling were key components throughout the book’s games and activities.

    This project highlights my experience illustrating nonfiction children’s books, creating repeatable illustration systems, and collaborating with major publishers on educational content.

    Project scope
    • Spot illustrations
    • Game and activity artwork
    • Sports-themed educational visuals
    • Print publishing

    View selected illustrations from The Everything Kid’s Baseball Book

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com

    paper Retro-Inspired Cereal Box Illustrations.

    This project features a series of original cereal box designs inspired by the bold, playful packaging styles of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The illustrations celebrate mid-century optimism through expressive characters, vibrant color palettes, and hand-crafted typography reminiscent of classic breakfast brands.

    Each concept was designed as a complete packaging system, including front-of-box illustration, product naming, mascots, promotional callouts, and side-panel details. The goal was to capture the charm and visual storytelling of vintage cereal packaging while maintaining modern clarity and production-ready design.

    This collection highlights my strengths in character-driven branding, retro illustration, and concept-based packaging design, and demonstrates how nostalgic aesthetics can be reimagined for contemporary audiences.

    Key elements include:
    • Retro character and mascot illustration
    • Vintage-inspired typography and layout
    • Full cereal box packaging concepts
    • Mid-century color palettes and textures
    • Branding and product storytelling

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com

    paper Nasty Cat — Card Game, Stationery & Product Illustration.

    Illustrations created for Nasty Cat, a character-driven card game and product line featuring humorous, expressive feline personalities. The project includes card illustrations, note cards, and mug designs.

    The artwork focuses on strong silhouettes, bold color choices, and exaggerated expressions to create memorable characters across multiple product formats.

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com

    paper Illustrated T-Shirt Designs for Etsy (Pickleball & Holiday Apparel)

    This project showcases a series of original illustrated T-shirt designs created and sold through my Etsy shop, featuring a strong focus on pickleball-themed humor and seasonal holiday graphics.

    The work blends bold, graphic illustration with playful character design and clear, readable typography, optimized specifically for apparel production and online marketplaces. Designs are created with scalability and print clarity in mind and are adapted across multiple garment styles and colorways.

    This ongoing collection highlights my experience designing commercially viable artwork for e-commerce, including niche sports communities, gift-driven holiday markets, and trend-based apparel.

    Key focuses include:
    • Pickleball-themed illustrations and slogans
    • Holiday and seasonal shirt designs
    • Character-driven graphic concepts
    • Apparel-ready vector artwork

    Visit my Etsy apparel shop
    https://www.twine.net/signin

    Visit my full portfolio at steckfigures.com