Most professional contributors to a graphic novel

The most professional contributors to a graphic novel is 171 on the "Pieces Project - Pieces Book 2", and was organised by Jakub Mazerant of "IllustrateYourLife" (Australia), in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 30 July 2021.

The goal of having a Guinness World Records title has always fueled Jakob's imagination. As explained by Jakob: "The thought of doing something unique and doing it to the best of your capacity was very stimulating. I wanted all of us - the “Pieces Project - Pieces Book 2” co-creators to feel the excitement and honour of breaking a world record! I wanted to pay my respects, reward and recognise everyone involved in our project."

Pieces 2 was an extremely time consuming and lengthy project. Over nine years, he has collaborated with 170 international artists. The creative project consisted of two main stages: first - work on the comic (contacting the artists from all around the world, discussing ideas, preparing layouts for comic pages, translating, watching over a cohesive character of the story); and the second which was the release of the book (collecting biographies from the artists, editing, translations, graphic design).

The most exciting but challenging part of the project was each contributing artist's individual creative approach and workflow. Some of them could provide a finished "piece" (comic frame) within a day or two. Some needed months.

Jakob says "The biggest highlight is the human connection we were able to generate. The project provided a unique opportunity for collaboration between artists from the farthest parts of the world. It has been very satisfying to see the excitement when they browse through the finished piece."

"Times have changed, and the way we connect with others is very different from 15 years ago when we started the project's first edition. It was all about research and matriculate selection browsing art books and magazines back in the days. In the beginning, I had to find ways to get in touch with the artists. After a while, when the project built its reputation, more and more submissions started coming in. I am proud that the Pieces' team grew to almost a quarter of a thousand excellent artists from nearly 40 countries worldwide (two editions of the project)."