The Story of INC

A man and his robot struggle to stay alive in this well-produced picture book for grown-ups

A man and his robot struggle to stay alive in this crowd-funded picture book and concept art resource.

Back in 2012 Neil Blevins, a Canadian concept designer who was then working at Pixar, teamed up with fellow artist Bill Zahn to begin a passion project. Soon, a number of other artists came on board, and The Story of Inc is the finished result.

At the core of this Kickstarterfunded publication, which is now available to buy online, is a picture- book story for grown-ups: the heartwarming adventure of a man and his robot struggling to survive on a desert planet. The final third of the book is taken up by a ‘making of’ section, with detailed breakdowns of the art for the various characters, vehicles and environments.

You’ll also find a link to a ton of related material online, including written tutorials and almost two hours of video explaining how all the imagery was created.

This part storybook, part art-of book that’s been six years in the making is one of the oddest publications we’ve seen in the ImagineFX office. And yet we enjoyed it, largely because the high quality of the story absolutely matches the quality of the artwork. If you fancy splashing the cash, an extra £4 will get you a copy of the book’s Premium edition, which features a faux cloth cover and gold foil emblem.

Although multiple artists worked on the story, the book’s illustration style remains consistent.

The lead character Landis spends time getting to know INC, his new robot companion.