AN ARTIST from Carlisle has worked on an official children’s book for young Arsenal fans, another big moment in his dream career.
Artist and football fan Adam Doyle of Carlisle secured a book deal with Arena Sport to produce Where’s Gunnersaurus? an official Arsenal Search and Find book.
It is a dream gig in which he is creating artwork, his dream job since he was a youngster, and collaborating with a major football team.
The journey began with Adam’s Search and Find Games Facebook page which he believes could now be the biggest in Cumbria.
His company Henshaw and Doyle Limited are in talks with more Premier League clubs to produce their own versions of the children’s book.
Although Manchester United are not on board yet, he admits it would be the dream contract.
Where’s Gunnersaurus features a different scenario in the world of Arsenal FC on each page, tasking readers with finding the mascot amongst the hoards of adoring supporters.
And Adam’s latest creation has seen success since its release in October, breaking into the top 10 on Amazon for Arsenal products.
Where’s Gunnersaurus is currently ranked at 31 for children’s books about football.
Manchester City and Chelsea are also interested in producing a search and find style app with Henshaw and Doyle, featuring the accomplished puzzle artist’s quirky artwork.
It has been an eventful journey for Adam from Denton Holme in Carlisle. He said: “I graduated from university about 12 years ago, then I lived out in America. I was a personal trainer doing this on the side.”
He studied art at Middlesex University in 2010 before flying the nest.
At the time, Adam’s art was found in magazines like Men’s Health and Loaded.
Adam is pleased to make this big step into high profile children’s books and games.
He said: “It’s huge, it’s a big deal. It’s where I was wanting to go, you can’t stay in editorial forever.
“This is the kind of thing that keeps on going.”
Adam’s Search and Find Games Facebook page is regularly updated with Where’s Wally style challenges for children featuring his own artwork.
Even in the daily search and find challenges, football is a big influence on his quirky and imaginative art work.
His tongue in cheek artwork is bringing joy and laughter to over 230,000 people on Facebook.
The team describe their games as “A wide variety of themes and pictures for all ages from the world of sport and animal adventures to party unicorns.
“The perfect stress buster with detailed, quirky illustrations by published puzzle artist Adam Doyle.”
Adam hopes that his puzzles have been a distraction for young people during the difficult period of lockdown.
Having struggled with reading as a youngster, he hopes that children will enjoy the simple artwork based games.
“When I was young, I couldn’t read I just liked looking at the pictures.
He said: “I know there will be children exactly like me.”
The Denton Holme based artist is busy at the Old Mill based publishing firm with business partner Martin Henshaw.
The company has to date forged business partnerships with Arsenal FC, Curioso games and independent Scottish book publisher Birlinn.
Working with the creators of globally popular online game Roblox is also a source of pride to Adam. Where’s Gunnersaurus was released a year to the day that Adam’s officially licensed Roblox themed book came out.
And more exciting projects are in the pipeline.
Adam said: “We’re working on an app called The Daily Woof.”
After seeing people post pictures of their dog on social media, Henshaw and Doyle decided to create a network specifically for snaps of beloved pooches.
Artwork being used to promote Where’s Gunnersaurus is a search and find game in itself.
Fans who look closely can spot Olga the Fox, the mascot of Adam’s beloved home team, Carlisle United.
The artist used the Blues’ iconic home of Brunton Park as a reference point when creating artwork of football stadiums for his books and games.
To see Henshaw and Doyle’s work and for updates on the latest releases, visit: www.searchandfindgames.com/
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