Who is Gil the Travelling Gecko and why is he here? These are questions we have been asked on several occasions.
- First of all, we wanted a character who would be child friendly to all children.
- Secondly, due to the long term plan for Gil, the character needed to be relatable to children in multiple countries as well.
The first generation of Gil was created as a collaboration with a good friend and 3D designer in Hungary, Gábor ‘Luxy’ Lukácsy.
Once the 3d software simulations were completed, Gil came into 3d life as a sculpture.
He was hand-painted by another friend and artist, Lisa Lennon.
During this time, Gil discovered his insatiable appetite
and took a particular liking to Danish pastries.
He travelled with us exploring the Costa del Sol,
and even visited Gibraltar for the day,
where he sat on an old fashioned red letterbox and enjoyed the view.
It was during this time, that 3D animation and AI really became mainstream. Seemingly overnight, Gil appeared to us, to be out-dated in his design.
Barely a few months into Gil being with us and it was time to modernize our little friend.
Who is Gil the Travelling Gecko – Mark II
Using AI design, 3D animation software and vast amounts of time, plus a lot of help from Luxy, Gil the Travelling Gecko entered a modern world which hopefully, you will come to enjoy.
We ‘tweaked’ many things which would allow for better consistency throughout the books. The new Gil was tested with kids, parents and grandparents and it was agreed that he was finally ready to be introduced to the public.
Gil Mk II
We hope that you like the latest iteration of our lovable, little gecko as much as we do.
So now that you know who Gil is, we would like to invite you to take a look at the bookshop of Gil the Travelling Gecko. Hopefully one or more of our travel guide stories, will be what you are looking for.
