Creative Director Toufic Beyhum’s ‘Book About Nothing’ Is Everything You Could Ever Dream Of

Creative Director Toufic Beyhum was inspired by his son's doodles. At first glance, they might appear to the untrained eye as just that, scribbles.

To a Creative Director, though, there was vast potential for a gorgeous project. The Book About Nothing is a project that has been two years in the making. Beyhum commissioned ten professional illustrators globally to create their version of each page of the book. With no brief and all the creative liberty you could imagine, the final result is an amalgamation of the purest form of inspiration. The creativity within the pages of this book is unmatched, and keeping his kid's handwriting adds a special personal touch.

It all began one Sunday when two of my sons, Bilal and Laith, aged 8 and 6 at the time, decided to write me a book. What I expected was the usual humorous scribbles…

What I wasn’t expecting was something quite so profound.

And so profoundly hilarious.

Yet while I loved the words and concepts, the Creative Director in me had to admit that the illustrations were sloppy and rushed – even by their standards! Then a thought came to mind: what would happen if I asked 10 professional illustrators from around the world to give their own unique take on each page of the book? I would get this done without my boys knowing about it, so I could surprise them with a lovely gift when they’re older. So, I started trawling the internet and putting together a wishlist of artists.

This was a self-funded project, so I had to approach the illustrators cap in hand and ask for the job to be done at their minimum rates. Luckily, the artists loved the idea and happily worked within my budget.

There was no brief – they were encouraged to approach their illustrations with complete freedom. To say that I was blown away by their skill, creativity and enthusiasm is an understatement. Whereas the illustrations in the Book About Nothing were created by professionals, I kept Bilal and Laith’s original handwriting throughout so as not to lose the essence of what was written all those years ago.