To celebrate the release of The Lost Robot, we sat down with author and illustrator Joe Todd-Stanton to learn all about his creative process. Click the link below to get your copy now!
This is your ninth book with Flying Eye! How would you say your process has changed over the years?
I think I spend a lot more time planning and thinking about everything. When I first did Arthur and the Golden Rope I was so eager to try and prove myself and create something I just dived straight in and made a lot of mistakes. Now I really try and enjoy the build up to making the book. Thinking about the characters and the world. Collecting inspiration. Making playlists. It has become the thing I love the most.
Your first books with Flying Eye were graphic novels, but you’ve also created several picture books, how do you feel the processes are different? Do you think your experience creating comics informs your approach to picture books?
Yes definitely. I think the difference between them is basically the same as the difference between a novel and novella. Both picture books and comics use the same visual language and I feel like it’s just the scope and some of the details that change. I think that’s why I love picture books so much because from the outside they might seem mundane but in reality they can be so experimental and subversive. I’m also so happy to see this explosion in the popularity and the destigmatisation of comics.
We’ve heard that the original pitch for The Lost Robot was for a wordless book- do you tend to think of your stories in images before words?
Yes, I’ve always loved daydreaming and for some reason those daydreams have pretty much always been world-less so that’s how most of my stories start out. I think it’s really helpful to view picture books from that famous movie saying “show don’t tell” and I think my favourite picture books could all be understood with or without the words.
How do you process initial images from your imagination into final artwork?
I just make sure I sketch everyday so hopefully when it comes to drawing the final images of a picture book that inevitable gap between what you have imagined and what ends up on the page is as small as possible. Without sounding too dramatic I still find it painful most of the time but normally I can come back to a book a few years later and appreciate it more and not just see “what could have been”. I think it’s all worth it for those moments when you make something that looks and feels exactly like you imagined it to be.
How did the idea for the Lost Robot come to you?
The idea for The Lost Robot came out of daydreaming while listening to an album called Magic Oneohtrix Point Never. It’s a concept album based around a radio station that sounds like it’s in a dystopian future. I kept thinking of this image of a broken and abandoned robot that sees a billboard ad for itself. That feeling of looking at shiny new “perfect” version of yourself felt like a good visual metaphor I kept thinking about it and the rest of the story grew from there.
Your illustrations show a city where there is a big contrast between how different people are living. While it doesn’t feel like the main focus of the story, it seems like you were interested in showing inequality as a theme, was it always something you wanted your work to discuss?
Yes, I really wanted to show how never ending consumerism affects a society that’s already very unequal. How those with the least are normally the ones forced to live with the environmental consequences of those who want the most. That being said I also wanted a hopeful message about how there is another option.
What inspired you to write a story about found family?
I think occasionally everyone can feel unlovable or like an outsider and I guess I wanted to tell a story about how no matter how intense that feels there are people out there who will see something completely different. They will see the beautiful loveable version of you and it’s important to trust what they see and believe that you are worthy of that love no matter how broken you might feel.
The Lost Robot
By Joe Todd-Stanton
Deep in the heart of a rubbish dump, a little broken robot woke up . . .
Mio can’t remember where they came from or how long it’s been, but they know they’re not meant to be there. They go in search of their memories and the home they once knew, only to discover that everything has changed.
A stunning picture book with a beautiful message about loving yourself and knowing there is always a place where you belong.
