Je suis le héros was one of my first large-scale creative ventures — a series of fully personalized children’s books where each copy was unique and made for one specific child. Parents would fill out a form with their kid’s name, city, hairstyle, skin tone, eye color, favorite color, and even a friend’s name. That information would be used to generate a custom-illustrated book, printed and shipped directly to their home.

I built the personalization engine myself, entirely in AppleScript, automating Photoshop to produce final print-ready PDFs around the clock on three iMacs. Every book was assembled locally, with two binding options (softcover or hardcover), and distributed in French or English. Orders came in through an online store, or even by paper form in schools and libraries.

We produced four different stories in the series, all linked by the same personalization system. I created the full engine and developed the illustrations and layouts for the first book, while two of my team members worked on the others. Over 3,500 unique books were sold and shipped, thanks to strong press coverage and simple, word-of-mouth marketing.

This project combined everything I love: illustration, system building, technical problem-solving, and direct connection with the reader. It gave me real-world experience in automation, local production, customer service, and how to scale something creative without losing its soul.