Ralph Cosentino, an Argentinian who grew up in New York, is the son of flamenco dancers. As a young boy, he often coerced his younger sister out of her piggy-bank money so he could buy super-hero comics. At age 12 with a pile of comic book drawings under his arm, he walked 17 blocks from Grand Central to Marvel Comics HQ for a job. At 15 he worked for the Dolly Madison Bakery Co. and wore a vile smelling “Snoopy” costume outside stores to attract customers. He was often flipped off and cursed at, but held his composure and was determined to make Charles Schultz proud ( he was a consummate professional ). He now cringes at the site of “Zingers” but loves telling stories and creating innovative characters.
After studying at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Ralph worked for various advertising agencies in Cleveland as a designer and illustrator and held senior posts at American Greetings and Hallmark Cards. His clients include Target, Viking Books, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., DC, Hallmark, Fred and more.
His characters including Honk-Honk-Ashoo have been licensed as toy lines in Target. His self-produced Kaiju Kidz toys sold out at retailers such as Kid Robot and Tower Records and the IP was also developed as an animated TV series with Cartoon Network. Ralph is the author and illustrator of various children’s books including “The Story of Honk-Honk-Ashoo and Swella-Bow-Wow,” “The Marvelous Misadventures of Fun-Boy”, and the best selling, super-hero origin series for Viking Children's Books; “Batman The Story of The Dark Knight,” "Superman The Story of the Man of Steel," and "Wonder Woman the story of the Amazon Princess." All of which have been translated into numerous languages and sold throughout various countries.
Kitty Cones and Peanut Bear are his latest series of books published by Insight Editions and are also currently licensed for a variety of products throughout the U.S.
He lives in Ohio with his wife, their three children, two dogs, and three cats. Ralph hopes to return to Argentina someday and become a gaucho.
Work history
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Creative DirectorMecha Punch
United StatesFull Time
Develop unique kid-centric characters and brands for product, publishing, mobile apps, licensing and entertainment. He is also a children's book author and illustrator.
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Senior DesignerHallmark Cards
- Kansas City, United StatesFull Time
Develop/design new fresh styles of existing Hallmark character properties such as Rainbow Bright and licensed properties such as Star Wars and Batman for product and digital media. Collaborate with licensing department to obtain approvals from licensors.
Conceptualize and produce from start to finish animated e-cards. Facets include storyboards, animatics, and final animated flash files and or converting to video. Position includes collaborating with editorial, sound & music departments and continually establishing a streamlined more efficient pipeline for production. In addition, as a Senior Designer, my responsibilities also included development /design of new character properties for Hallmark’s Retail book division including authoring and illustrating books for Hallmark Crown
stores and designing ancillary product.
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Skills
- Art Direction
- Creative Direction
- Digital Design
- Animation Design
- Illustration
- Production Management
- Publishing Design
- Writing
- Advertising
- Brand Management
Education
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BFA Graphic DesignCleveland Institute of Art
- Cleveland, United States
Major in Graphic Design, Minor in Photography