Ralph Lazar is a writer, artist and illustrator. Partnering with his wife Lisa Swerling

Lisa Swerling

Lisa Swerling is a writer, artist and illustrator. Partnering with her husband Ralph Lazar, they are best known for their cartoon characters Harold's Planet, Vimrod and The Brainwaves....

, they are best known for their cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 creations Harold's Planet

Harold's Planet

Harold's Planet is a popular online cartoon character created by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar.Winner of the "Grand Prix - International Project Competition" at the Annecy Animation Festival in France in 1998, it has since grown to become one of the UK's most commercially successful cartoon...

, Vimrod

Vimrod

Vimrod is a cartoon character created by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar.Vimrod is best known for its greetings cards, which sell worldwide in the millions, and books, which are published by Harper Collins and Andrews McMeel / Universal Press Syndicate....

 and The Brainwaves

The Brainwaves

The Brainwaves are cartoon characters that populate Dorling Kindersley's children's reference books.The first title in the series, "How Nearly Everything Was Invented...by The Brainwaves" was first published in September 2006. It was written by Jilly MacLeod and Illustrated by Lisa Swerling & Ralph...

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Harold's Planet

Harold's Planet

Harold's Planet is a popular online cartoon character created by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar.Winner of the "Grand Prix - International Project Competition" at the Annecy Animation Festival in France in 1998, it has since grown to become one of the UK's most commercially successful cartoon...

 and Vimrod

Vimrod

Vimrod is a cartoon character created by Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar.Vimrod is best known for its greetings cards, which sell worldwide in the millions, and books, which are published by Harper Collins and Andrews McMeel / Universal Press Syndicate....

 sell as greetings cards in the millions, and have been published by Penguin Books

Penguin Books

Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

, Harper Collins and Andrews McMeel. The Brainwaves

The Brainwaves

The Brainwaves are cartoon characters that populate Dorling Kindersley's children's reference books.The first title in the series, "How Nearly Everything Was Invented...by The Brainwaves" was first published in September 2006. It was written by Jilly MacLeod and Illustrated by Lisa Swerling & Ralph...

 are cartoon characters that populate Dorling Kindersley

Dorling Kindersley

Dorling Kindersley is an international publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 51 languages. It is currently part of the Penguin Group....

's children's reference titles, published in over a dozen languages. Their artwork appeared weekly in The Financial Times and The Scotsman

The Scotsman

The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

 from 2006 to 2009.

Awards and nominations include The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (shortlist - 2008), Annecy International Animated Film Festival

Annecy International Animated Film Festival

The Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...

 Grand Prix winner 1998 (International Project Competition), The Royal Society Prizes for Science Books (shortlist - 2007 ), The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

 Book of the Week (April 2007) and The US Parent's Choice Awards 2006 and 2009
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Ralph Lazar was born in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1967, and has degrees in Law & Economics from the University of Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, and a degree in Economics from The London School of Economics

London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

. He was formerly an investment strategist at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...

 and Credit Suisse First Boston

Credit Suisse First Boston

Credit Suisse First Boston was the former name of the banking firm Credit Suisse.-History:In 1978, Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation formed a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture called the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston...

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He lives with his wife and children in Marin County, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

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