About Family Titles

Hi there - I am Paul Cook, from Family Titles.
Paul Cook - Circa 2009


I am fascinated with graphic and web design, freehand and graphic illustration, Flash animation, music composition and film editing. Check out my portfolio on the 'Graphic Design & Illustration Gallery' Page (http://familytitles.blogspot.co.uk/p/competition.html).
I have been fascinated with graphic design for many years now. Strengthened initially by various projects at degree level, my interest in this field has grown deeper. More recently in New Delhi, India where I resided between 2009 and 2015, I have had the opportunity to study and work in many areas of design, within a very culturally vibrant climate. My exposure to different cultures in the work place has allowed my creativity to flourish as well as keeping me sensitive to the needs of different clients.

Art Serenity (India Habitat Centre)
I have acquired some valuable professional experience, varying from naming streets and villas for luxury golf course estates as well as designing sign posts for them; developing a website for an offshore engineering consultancy firm; creating vector graphic logos and illustrations accompanying billboard displays for both a sportswear and a corporate branding company, to creating a cartoon strip for an IT Engineering Firm’s newsletter as well as displaying graphic art in New Delhi’s prestigious India Habitat and Cultural Centre.


I have been very proactive in the many projects assigned to me during my recent course, Web Design, Flash Scripting and Animation, studied in India. 
Most recently, I have found a driving passion in the field of creative writing - More specifically with children's books... with a difference however. I make up one third of Family Titles and its very own writing team, 'The Fenn Cook Family' whose sole aim is to inspire its readership through a series of books, the content of which is provided primarily by its targeted readership... children.

The Fenn Cook Family out for a stroll
It is through the eyes and mind of a child, that the reader can fully immerse her or himself in the joyous aspects of everyday life we grown-ups just take for granted. And it is through the first body of work from The Fenn Cook Family's ‘Mikey’s Really Amazing Guides’ series, where we are committed to achieving this.

While I task myself primarily with design and layout, my wife Sherene handles proofreading and editing. Our son, Michael, now 8 years young, provides what we consider to be the brains behind the operation. The child-like narrative taking the reader through whatever amazing journey the title promises is the result of many family conversations - whether it is while eating dinner, travelling in the car, or looking through encyclopedias on or offline.

Taken from 'Mikey's Amazing Food & Drink Guide'


The challenge for us is doing justice to Michael’s verbal input by carefully extracting and channeling it accordingly. The illustrations, also provided by Michael are further proof that the imagination and personality of a child play an invaluable role in conveying the overall Family Titles style. 
This enchanting blend of words and pictures encompassing a child’s perspective, provides our books with what we believe is its unique selling point.

'Mikey's Really Amazing Guide' series appeals to children of all ages
Family Titles Creative Workshops started when I decided to share the experience of seeing our own child gradually creating the material needed for a storybook, with other families. The experience of seeing your child writing and illustrating their own story is rewarding enough, but witnessing the joy unfold while the finished storybook is read in all its glossy and colour graphic glory is nothing short of priceless and an experience guaranteed to charm the entire family.   

In fact, our workshops and tutorials offer an unbeatable way to encourage reading.
Aimed at children between 5 and 15 years, we are focused primarily on helping them unleash their imagination, no matter how wild and out of control, then developing a story from there.
Developing the stegosaurus page (now our beloved 'steggie' logo)

Although kids cannot wait to get their hands on the finished product, the actual reason why it 
may not look out of place on a bookshelf is simply because of the hard work put in. 
No amount of graphics, gradients and flashy font types can compare to the well thought out words and illustrations that really provide the content of a storybook the whole family will treasure.

So, the real brainstorming begins after a brief but uplifting introduction to the history of children’s books and how they still continue to captivate their readership, as well as influencing contemporary popular culture.
Each child is mentored individually throughout the process of what usually consists of 4 sessions each lasting one hour. These can be held over a period of 2, 3 or 4 days, according to preference. Every child will have his or her own story to tell and indeed their own pace and style of working. 
For a child struggling to embrace the creative requirements of the workshops, they will be given the required attention to ensure their story is told and realised in their own storybook.

 Everyone will have their own by the end of the process. Assistance can be given in both writing and illustrating. Essentially however, it is the creative mind of the children we want to flourish here.


Writing, illustrating and sharing their own stories is not only a sure way of improving a child’s interest in books… It is a proven self confidence booster as parents have often commented about their children feeling very proud every time they pick up their own books to read.

 We have also seen how time and time again, children can write stories adults find compelling and exciting. Let's feed their imagination! For any clarification on workshop content or the finished storybooks, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Family Titles own authorship, The Fenn Cook Family and the trilogy series of Amazing Guides
It doesn't just stop at kids. Here are copies of a book created by Family Titles, featuring the work from a Delhi based poet. She was thrilled to see illustrations accompanying her poetry also!


Recent flyer for the workshops based at GyanNet Innovations with Smithsonian (Spark Lab). March-April 2015
We are looking for some followers on our Twitter/Blog pages. Please join us! We are also on Facebook as Family Titles - Look for the stegosaurus logo repeated against a white background... And PLEASE 'like' our page, enabling us to keep you up to date with latest news and info.

Our YouTube Channel will at some point feature talking and even animated books!
For now, check out our promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YINUlWIGYGE

We hope you will all join us soon.

 Many thanks - All the best

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