My guest today is the latest recipient of the prestigious Fauve d’Or award for a graphic novel whose innovative instincts will likely impact the publishing industry for years to come. Martin Panchaud is a Swiss graphic novelist, which is an interesting coincidence given the origins of the form I mentioned earlier, and his latest work is called “La Couleur des Choses” (The Color of Things). It’s a stunning achievement in that it presents all visual information not in the traditional form of pictures within panels but as somewhat abstract symbols, driven by data to reflect our technological era. The impersonal nature of the drawing is more than made up by the powerful characters and plot that Martin Panchaud has developed.

In today’s episode, Martin Panchaud and I discuss this book, his career path and his inspiration on how to build a completely new style of story-telling.

Books mentioned in the episode:

Best graphic novel he’s read recently: Fior di Latte, by Miguel Vila, an Italian graphic novelist.
Favourite book I’ve never heard of: How to Win Friends & Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
Best book he read in the last 12 months: Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, published in 1899
The book that he would take to a desert island: “In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust
The book that changed his mind: “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss


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