The secrets behind our puzzles 🤫

1. It all starts with the name of the puzzle

Most often, in the history of Jour Férié, the name of the puzzle comes before the idea for the illustration: "I've thought of a title!Eating Out. " And with that name, a whole world takes shape in our minds. Everyone associates it with happy memories, and together we come up with elements that could make up the scene: grilled food, tomato salad, olive oil, chips, the shade of a tree... When we all like the idea, Céline begins her creative work!

2. The creative moodboard

Imagining an illustration in our heads is easy! On the other hand, choosing a point of view, a color palette, the different levels of reading, the key elements that will help us progress in the creation of the puzzle, is a different kettle of fish. To help us project ourselves, Céline presents us with a moodboard of inspirations. In this way, the idea becomes more concrete and the future puzzle design becomes clearer. And above all, she always surprises us with her funny, poetic and sensitive proposals.

3. The color palette

It's no secret that we love color here! Even down to the choice of shades for the box. After imagining the moment, Céline draws inspiration from everywhere to find the right color combination. She then pulls out her pencils, gouaches, color charts, papers and textures to create the specific color palette that conveys a new mood. Our wish: a new color harmony with every puzzle creation!

4. Preparatory sketches

At Jour Férié, each puzzle design is created using colored pencils and gouache. But before moving on to the full-size 50 x 70 cm version, Céline works on several small sketches. And they are magnificent! Even though we love them all, we choose the one with the most potential to become the perfect puzzle. It is at this stage that we determine the level of difficulty: the more elements there are in the drawing, the easier the puzzle will be to assemble. The manufacturing process is taking shape!

👉 Also read: Gluing a puzzle without puzzle glue

5. To your pencils! 🖍️ 

Once the sketch has been chosen, Céline begins the most difficult part: coloring in every detail of the future puzzle, in this case La Tarte au citron. With gouache and pencils, going back and making changes is more complicated. That's also what we love about working by hand: the imperfections, the mistakes, the unexpected. Céline's drawings convey a moment of sensitive poetry rather than a perfect reality. That's also what theJour Férié spirit is all about: artistic and artisanal creation!

6. A scan and the final touches 💻

The drawing is ready! Off to the professional scanner to digitize the work in ultra-high quality. Once the illustration has been scanned, the final touches are made on the tablet. Very fine typography, tiny details, and the illustration is ready to be printed and cut into small pieces. Now you know how our puzzles are made!

👉 Also read: Are you cephaloclastophilic?