Ralph Lazar

Ralph Lazar is a UK-based writer, artist and illustrator. Partnering with his wife Lisa Swerling, they are best known for their cartoon creations Harold's Planet, Vimrod and The Brainwaves.

Harold's Planet and Vimrod are amongst the UK's most prominent cartoon characters, selling as greetings cards in the millions, and have been published in book form by Penguin Books, Harper Collins and Andrews McMeel. The Brainwaves are cartoon characters that populate Dorling Kindersley's children's reference titles, published in over a dozen languages. Their artwork appears weekly in The Financial Times and The Scotsman.

Awards and nominations include The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (shortlist - 2008 [cite news
url = http://www.awardannals.com/wiki/Annal:2008_Royal_Society_Prize_for_Junior_Science_Book
title = Annal: 2008 Royal Society Prize for Junior Science Book
accessdate = 2008-04-24
publisher = Award Annals
date = 2008-04-09] ), Annecy International Animated Film Festival Grand Prix winner 1998 (International Project Competition), The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (shortlist - 2007 [cite news
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6657843.stm
title = Happiness wins science book prize
accessdate = 2008-03-28
publisher = BBC
date = 2007-05-15] ), The Washington Post Book of the Week (April 2007 [cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR2007041401250.html
title = How Nearly Everything Was Invented
accessdate = 2008-03-28
publisher = The Washington Post
date = 2007-04-15] ) and The US Parent's Choice Awards (shortlist non-fiction 2006 [cite news
url = http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=21148&StepNum=1
title = How Nearly Everything Was Invented
accessdate = 2008-03-28
publisher = Parents' Choice Foundation
date = 2007-04-04] ).

Ralph Lazar was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1967, and has degrees in Law & Economics from the University of Cape Town, and a degree in Economics from The London School of Economics. He was formerly an investment strategist at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston.

He lives with his wife and Children in Muswell Hill (London). Swerling and Lazar hold an annual solo art exhibition at The Old Truman Brewery in London's East End as part of the London Design Festival.

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