BEAR HUG!

Remember back in grade school when you'd celebrate Valentine's Day by giving away packets of tiny cards to all your friends and classmates? Well, I recently had the chance to create those very cards for Just Like Me magazine, produced by  Baxter International.  Just Like Me is a publication specially tailored for kids with PI (primary immunodeficiency disease).

This series of kiddie cards was printed as a special insert in the Spring 2011 issue of Just Like Me. They feature the magazine's resident mascot, a blue bear named Igi V.

Igi V. exists in the 3D world as a plush toy that is given to all the children who read the magazine. He is a comforting friend and companion on their regular trips to the doctor's office, where they receive immunoglobulin medicine that helps fight infection. 

It was my privilege to be commissioned to design the 2D cartoon version of Igi V. and his friends, as well as the world they inhabit. Every issue of Just Like Me includes an Igi V. coloring page, comic page and look & find puzzle. The stories and pictures often feature Igi V. going to the doctor's office, making new friends, and generally experiencing the fun of being a normal kid.

As we speak, JLM issue # 4 is going to press and the art for issue # 5 is now under way. In the future I look forward to sharing more illustrations and comics from this very special publication!