This was probably the most fun I’ve had working on a project to date. For several years, Waterstreet Design has sent a set of coasters out to their clients as a “thank you” for their business, but they don’t send the entire set out at once. They send a single coaster out each month, which keeps the clients looking forward to the next coaster featuring a new design. When they called me into their offices, they explained that for this particular year, they wanted to tell a story. Start with a problem, and throughout the year use the coasters to illustrate their capabilities, and how they’re uniquely suited to solve the problem, finally ending with the happy resolution. They had come up with the story of a very unhappy little girl, and a smart and savvy ad exec who saved the day. I loved the concept and immediately signed on. We storyboarded the entire thing in their offices. I was told they wanted a Don Draper (Mad Men) type character as the heroic ad exec, and they wanted that same 1960’s era nostalgic type feel. I went back to my studio and began feverishly sketching out the story. I’d send over each panel as I got them done. Thankfully, each only required minimal adjustments, and the best part about the entire project was that they liked the pencil sketches so much, they decided to go with that style, rather than having me clean and polish everything up. Their designer took the emailed sketches, adjusted them, added in the 2 spot colors, then sent them on to the letterpress, where they were completed.