A studio service
Seek-and-find scenes worth a long look.
A child should still be finding new things on the tenth visit. We paint crowded, original scenes for seek-and-find and hidden picture books, with the lists and answer keys that make them puzzles.
N° 01Busy on purpose
Busy on purpose
Each spread holds dozens of small moments, so the scene is worth exploring after every item is found.
N° 02Things to find
Things to find
Objects and a recurring character are placed away from the centre fold and checked at print size.
N° 03Lists and answers
Lists and answers
Picture lists for non-readers, word lists for readers, and a small answer key for each scene.
N° 04Your character or ours
Your character or ours
Send a character you own, or we design one that appears in every scene.
N° 05How it is made
How a book like this comes together.
01
A different place on every spread
Each scene has its own setting and its own colour mood, so turning the page feels like arriving somewhere new.
02
The find list is written first
Items are agreed before painting, so they are built into the scene and not added on top.
03
Easy, medium and hard in every scene
Each list mixes a few items in plain view, several smaller ones and one or two that take real looking.
04
Small stories that carry on
A side character can be up to something in every scene. Readers follow it from spread to spread.
05
Room for the list
The strip or panel that holds the find list is part of the composition from the first sketch.
N° 06What goes wrong
Common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
01
An item that appears twice
The list says find the red kite and the scene has two. Every listed item is counted on the final art.
02
Hiding that is unfair
An item almost fully covered cannot be recognised. Enough of each item is left showing to be sure what it is.
03
Copied crowd figures
Readers who look closely notice repeated figures. Each person in the crowd is drawn as a separate figure.
04
A list that does not match the picture
The list says ball and the picture shows a balloon. Final lists are checked against the finished art and approved by you.
N° 07Your brief
What to send us to get started.
You do not need all of it. Send what you have and we will ask in writing for anything missing.
• The theme and the list of settings
• The age of the reader
• Artwork of your character, if you own one
• Items you want hidden, or a note asking us to propose them
• Picture lists, word lists or both
• Trim size and where you plan to print
N° 08Peek inside
Pages like these.
Sample artwork made by Kompanie to show the kind of pages we make. Not client work.
N° 09Investment
Three packages, fixed prices.
Little Book
From $1,125
Board books, first-words books and short picture books. 4–5 weeks.
- Up to 2 characters, with a character sheet
- Up to 12 pages and 8 illustrations
- Cover illustration and title lettering
- One revision round on sketches
- Print-ready PDF and ebook cover
Picture Book
From $2,175
A full 32-page picture book. 6–8 weeks.
- Up to 3 characters, with character sheets
- 15 illustrations plus cover
- Two revision rounds per illustration
- Endpapers and title page
- Print-ready PDF and fixed-layout ebook
Big Book
From $3,675
Longer books, nonfiction, cookbooks and books for older readers. 8–12 weeks.
- Up to 4 characters plus settings
- Up to 30 illustrations
- Diagrams, maps or step-by-step art where needed
- Two revision rounds per illustration
- Print-ready PDF, EPUB and fixed-layout ebook
Before you choose
What you get
- A fixed price for the scope listed
- Sketches or a first draft to approve before anything is final
- Print-ready and editable files, yours to keep
What we don’t do
- Writing or editing the story
- Printing and shipping
- ISBN, publishing account setup or marketing
- Translation
Extra pages, slides or revision rounds are quoted before we start them.
N° 10Questions
The answers we give most often.
- How is this different from your personalized search-and-find book?
- That is a gift with one child drawn from photos. This page is for authors and publishers making a book to sell.
- How many scenes do I need?
- Fewer than a story book, since each spread holds attention for a long time. Six to twelve spreads is common, and the count is agreed before we paint.
- Which package does a seek-and-find book need?
- Scenes count toward the illustration count. The Picture Book package has 15 illustrations plus the cover and the Big Book has up to 30; the count for your book is confirmed in the quote.
- Can this be the first book in a series?
- Yes. The character sheet is kept with the project so the character can match in later books. Each book is its own package.
- Does it work as a print-on-demand paperback?
- Yes. A glued paperback hides a little of each spread at the fold, so we keep listed items away from it. Your printer decides the print specifications.
Start your book
Ready to make your book?
Tell us what you're making. You'll get a fixed price and a schedule within two business days.