Rico Schacherl is a highly experienced cartoonist and illustrator in corporate communications, science and education, television animation design and children's illustration; he's also worked on a wide range of projects for children in print, television, animation and education.

Born in Austria in 1966, Rico couldn't stand the weather so he decided to emigrate to South Africa in 1968, bringing his parents along with him.

After less than successful stints at studying architecture and graphic design, he decided to do the cartoonist thing and got hired to work for Laughing Stock magazine in 1989. This is where he met Stephen Francis with whom he later co-created the Madam & Eve cartoon strip in 1992 (www.madamandeve.co.za), which was eventually syndicated all over South Africa and has also been republished in France, Denmark and Sweden.

He was editorial illustrator for the Weekly Mail until 1994 as well.

While keeping a regular supply of daily cartoons going, Rico also works on a wide variety of illustration and cartoon projects with clients, ranging from editorial, corporate communication, education and magazines to publishing, comics and advertising. He works mainly in pen and ink, watercolours and Photoshop.

Recent very happy clients include Finweek, GQ South Africa, First Rand Banking Group, Pick n Pay, Department of Science and Technology, SABC, Telkom and Old Mutual.

He has also had several stories published by US comics anthology Graphic Classics and has taken part and exhibited at the Angouleme Festival and the Recontre Internationale Du Dessin De Presse, both in France, and has taken part in many local exhibitions.

Email Rico at , follow @ricoschacherl on Twitter, see more of his work at www.rico.co.za and read his blog at dogatesketchbook.blogspot.com.