DUCK’s Chouinard Illustrates Holiday Book for Saks Fifth Avenue

TRUST COLLECTIVE November 17th, 2009

In an acknowledgement of his uniquely dazzling artistic skills, luxury specialty chain Saks Fifth Avenue selected DUCK cofounder Roger Chouinard to illustrate the latest edition of its iconic Christmas Book. His illustrations will be transformed into the chain’s legendary animated Christmastime window displays at its New York City flagship location.

“The Saks Fifth Avenue window displays are a really big deal, and it is a testament to Roger’s skill and vision that such an important cultural icon would single him out to create something that is central to their whole image,” noted DUCK EP Mark Medernach. “The book looks fantastic and we are very eager to see the artists at Saks put them on display for New York’s holiday millions to see.”

The book, Twinkle Twinkle Little Flake, written by Emmy Award-winning television comedy writer and children’s book author Mike Reiss, is the imaginative story of an anthropomorphic snowflake named Twinkle who falls from her cloud onto the adventure-filled streets of New York City.

To create the illustrations, Chouinard, who has previously worked as a writer and illustrator of children’s books, pushed his trademark combination of real materials and simple ink line to a more complex level, working with more color and texture than ever before. The result is a series of stunning illustrations, portraying a surrealist vision of New York in full holiday décor, its bustling streets, towering buildings, and thronging street life the backdrop for the adventurous snowflake’s explorations of the city. Chouinard incorporates a dazzling color scheme and his well-known humor to make each panel a memorable piece of art.

“I was honored to hear that I had been selected from among several other artists to create Saks’ yearly Christmas book which is used to create their famous window displays,” stated Chouinard. “The main challenge was to make the book different from their previous Christmas books, especially the 2008 edition, which was written by the same author and was also about a snowflake, but I worked closely with HarperCollins Art Director Kathleen Servidio throughout the creative process and we were able to come up with something really special.”

Twinkle Twinkle Little Flake will be published exclusively for Saks by industry giant HarperCollins.

About DUCK:

Los Angeles-based DUCK, is a continually evolving creative studio producing commercials, music videos, short films and web content. DUCK offers a wide range of services, including live action and integration, character design, film title design, 2D and 3D animation, digital compositing, digital/traditional ink & paint. In recent years, the studio has expanded, adding an original content division that works with writers and animators on unique ideas for film and TV.