For many new parents, pushing a pram through the streets with a sleeping baby is a common yet peaceful activity. This serene experience sparked an innovative idea for Jeremy Weil and his wife, Emma Barnett, a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, as they strolled through South London with their infant daughter.

Inspired by their surroundings and wanting to provide their son, who is now six, with creative entertainment, the couple began developing colouring books featuring local landmarks. ”He was five at the time, and I thought it would be special for him to colour in places that resonate with him,” Weil, 40, shared. They captured photographs of these locations and worked on transforming them into drawings, ultimately hiring illustrators for finalized images.

Initially, their son enjoyed colouring the illustrations, and the concept expanded from there. Despite experimenting with technology and artificial intelligence for image creation, Weil found that these methods were inadequate. Instead, they opted to collaborate with freelance illustrators who combined vector art and photo tracing techniques.

To minimize expenses, the couple stored their stock at home, packing orders during evenings and weekends. “Getting your first order is exciting, but as demand increases, the packing becomes overwhelming,” Weil remarked, noting how their daughter’s room became cluttered with book boxes. ”Thankfully, she’s too young to notice, but her room has about 50 boxes stacked up.”

They have since partnered with a Nottingham-based logistics firm that manages stock and order fulfillment via their Shopify platform. The colouring books are printed in Hertfordshire, utilizing vegetable-based ink and environmentally friendly paper. “Sustainability is important to us, and we want to keep our manufacturing local – not shipping products around the globe,” Weil emphasized.

This collaboration with a local supplier has also granted them flexibility. “We don’t need to order large quantities at once; we can produce smaller batches, which allows for quicker restocking,” he added.

Celebrating its first anniversary, Colour Your Streets now offers 100 different books, depicting regions from Edinburgh to Cornwall, and has even expanded to international locations like New York, Paris, and Berlin. Recently, the company introduced London Colouring Biscuits, allowing customers to colour and eat iconic London landmarks such as Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. With 10,000 books sold to date, Weil anticipates reaching total sales of £500,000 this year and aims for £1 million in the next one.

Weil attributes part of his start-up’s success to growing concerns among parents regarding children’s screen time. He and Barnett actively promote a screen-free environment at home, striving to prolong this lifestyle as long as possible. Their son “doesn’t watch TV daily… after school, he wouldn’t think to turn on the television.”

They became more vigilant about screen time when they noticed a decline in their son’s behaviour, stating, “We found ourselves needing a screen just to change his diaper. We questioned our parenting choices.” Although it took time, their son has adapted to the absence of screens. “When we travel, we fill a fun bag with activities, and he never even thinks to ask about screens,” said Weil.

Despite the challenges of managing a demanding job while nurturing a growing business and family, Weil aspires to rapidly expand their mapping efforts throughout the UK and beyond. “We’re in the process of creating one of the largest image databases in the UK, possibly even globally.” He noted an outpouring of community interest, with many people requesting that their neighborhoods be featured in colouring books.

“I’ve been amazed at how passionate people are about their local areas. It’s evident how significant these places are to them. I encourage community members to guide me to important landmarks and share images to speed up our process for creating a book,” he added.