Today I’m super stoked to present a killer client project from PrintFirm loyalist Ron Noble! Ron’s a man of many talents; he’s an Emmy-Award winning animator, illustrator, artist, and director. You’ve probably seen Ron’s work on the beloved Nickelodeon shows Rugrats, All Grown Up, As Told by Ginger, and The Wild Thornberries. (On a side note God I miss the Rugrats).
As a cartoonist, Ron’s naturally been involved with children’s entertainment for most of his career. He also illustrated 8 children’s books over the years. His latest venture blends entertainment and education to help kids learn to read! Call it infotainment, if you will.
Letter Beasties Custom Booklet Printing Project
Letter Beasties marks a milestone for Ron as it’s his first time serving as both illustrator and author. Inspired by a Tim Burton exhibit, he set out to create an alphabet with unique, memorable monster characters as letters. Here’s the end result, fresh off our press:
As you can see, the colors are true to his original artwork design:
Ron’s custom booklets involved a set of precise tech specs to bring his artistic vision to life. The booklet features a thick 14 pt. cardstock cover with UV coating for extra gloss. He wanted the inside pages to more or less match the shiny cover effect, so we added aqueous coating to the standard 100 lb. glossy paper. Perfect binding completes the retail ready appearance.
Feedback and the Beasties Future
As soon as I laid eyes on the finished product, I knew Ron struck gold. Luckily, I got to meet him and his girlfriend when they stopped by to pick up their order. After I finished gushing over the awesome design, we talked about the feedback he’s gotten so far from kids and parents. He finds the kids relate to the concept of each letter as a character, which means they catch on quickly without having to make abstract associations. The accompanying animated series reinforces the message by using the same characters to form a word of the day.
There’s lots of merchandise in the works, such as trading cards, plush toys, posters, and even jewelry! Ron kindly brought me the Kraken Beastie letter K necklace. It happens to be my favorite color (purple); we agreed this coincidence meant the universe must be aligned in his favor. You can see all the rest of these adorable necklaces on his eBay and Etsy stores—be sure to follow him on Twitter so you don’t miss a minute of his remarkable story!
For more information about our booklet printing services, please click here.