Rodney Peppé

Art director, illustrator, writer, inventor, engineer, pioneer.

Rodney Peppé was born on June 24, 1934, in Eastbourne, England. The first eight years of his childhood were spent living near Birdpur, in the Uttar Pradesh region of India. Peppé’s father, Lionel, co-managed estates there. At the onset of World War II, Lionel joined the Royal Indian Navy. That was when Peppé, along with his mother and twin brother, moved back to Eastbourne.

In 1958, Peppé earned a National Diploma in Design from the Eastbourne School of Art. A year later, he earned a certification in Illustration from London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts. He immediately found work as an art director for advertising agency, S.H. Benson. Peppé’s first professional illustrations were seen on posters for Guinness and British Petroleum.

Within a decade, Peppé became a sought-after advertising art director; he married textile artist, Tatjana Tekkel; and he became a father to Christen and Jonathan. He was already many things, but in 1968, he added “children’s book creator”.