WHAT LEAD YOU TO PUBLISH YOUR FIRST BOOK?

Up until the release of our first self-published book in 2015, we had focused solely on designing t-shirts. Joey was a fulltime children's books illustrator before taking on Akumu Ink, and Happy Unbirthday gave him the opportunity to pour his knowledge into producing this book.

Aldora and Joey came up with the idea to make this book while working at a comic convention on Halloween. While inspired by a Danny Elfman concert they attended in Los Angeles, they thought "Wouldn't it be fun to make a book with our characters?" They came up with a very rough story, and with very simple drawings, they put the idea up on Kickstarter and got the project funded by their awesome customers!

Years have passed, and the book has been sold out since 2017. Now with the release of our Alice and Fairytales book, we had a few customers asking if they could get our Happy Unbirthday book. So for Akumu Ink 15th Year anniversary we thought, "how about we reprint the book?" As much as Joey loved Aldora's story, he felt his art had evolved so much since the original book was printed. This prompted Joey to redraw the entire book during his winter break. Without a doubt, his efforts are worth his time, as the redrawn book reflects where Akumu Ink is currently and is heading towards.

We thank you for your support!