Jim Smith - Illustrator

Jim Smith is The most boringly-named graphic novelist in the world. That's why he calls himself Waldo Pancake.

When he was a kid, Jim collected coke cans. Now he's grown up, he draws on paper cups and sugar sachets for a coffee shop chain called Puccino's. He also writes the Barry Loser kids' books which have sold over 850,000 copies and won him the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Laugh Out Loud Book Award. In his spare time, Jim makes little birds out of bits and pieces he finds in skips.

After graduating with a first class degree in advertising, graphic design and illustration in 1997, Jim Smith was spotted by the owner of a small coffee shop chain and brought in to fill the walls of their flagship store with his paintings. It was a three month contract; over twenty years years later, Jim is head of design at Puccino's Worldwide Ltd, now an international coffee shop franchise with stores across the world.