For years, The Children’s Dental Center had the idea of a children’s book centered around their mascot, Jacques. It was finally made into a reality when we were commissioned to illustrate and print the first run of The Adventures of Jacques. Originally hand drawn and digitally painted, this sweet story about Jacques the peacock and his zebra friend, Zoe, going to the dentist was made for kids to enjoy when waiting in the office or reading at home.
The Children’s Dental Center has been a longstanding client of Abuv, and in that time they have always had the idea of making a storybook based on their mascot, Jacques. Their idea finally came to fruition and I was able to co-write and art direct the project for them.
My first step was writing the story while laying out what the visuals should be. The book was meant to be given to children to help ease their mind about going to the dentist, as well as give a bit of an origin story as to why Jacques the Peacock was the TCDC mascot. Once the story was complete and approved, we moved on to the sketching phase. I worked closely with our illustrator to figure out the composition of each page and worked with how we wanted to tell the story. We also pulled elements from the real office including the colorful lite brite style wall, and the mosaic examination room doors. After the composition was completed, we moved on to the final drawings and digital coloring. I wanted to make sure the book showed off how vibrant the office is, utilizing a lot of bright and saturated colors.
One of the last steps was for me to lay out the pages and typeset and do a small print run. Approval was given quickly and we worked with one of our vendors to print over 20,000 books.