Geneviève Smal, the creator
Provoking change
The raison d'être of Si-Trouille: to provoke change. "I noticed, whether in teenagers, adults, or the elderly, that a simple work on scenic characters could modify their personality, often lastingly. I thought that if it worked for them, it could also be as effective for leaders, politicians, etc."
Corporate seminars initially, then quite quickly, business leaders, politicians, lawyers... They want to improve the impact of their communication. She offers tips straight from the theater: use of scenic characters to shine in public, voice projection, enhancing speech, etc. Humor is very often an excellent ally!
Creating constantly and continuing to learn
Geneviève recently completed studies in Synergology in Paris. The purpose of this discipline is to decipher the functioning of the human mind based on its body language, in order to offer the most suitable communication.
Geneviève also authored a toolkit book for everyone: "Public Speaking for the Shy, the Stressed, and Other Stunned Ones" published by EDIPRO. And another one, in collaboration with Chilina Hills: "97 Offbeat Exercises, to Speak Anywhere, Anytime, and with (Almost) Anyone!" published by Eyrolles.
With a mother who was an actress and declamation teacher, and a father who was a politician but above all a poet, Geneviève Smal was immersed in a literary world throughout her childhood, in the heights of Namur where she was born.
By following her mother to the Conservatory and arguing with her father, who taught her the fundamentals of negotiation, she quickly took on the role and voice of multiple theater characters. She dreams of being a clown or perhaps... a writer. Or both!
At the Liège Conservatory, she studied the art of speech and won a first prize. At the same time, she took courses in communication and later enrolled in a pedagogy training. Phew! In the meantime, why not try out a first media experience? It will be Radio Contact, it will be Nostalgie.
Oratory
After spending five years in Turkey, Geneviève will be a teacher of declamation, the art of speech, and oratory at the Conservatory of Namur.
She also offers more technical teachings to adults and adolescents, such as speech therapy or diction.
In parallel, she teaches communication to the elderly at the University of the Third Age. And she founds an association, L'impact, through which she acts in and writes plays. And then, as if that weren't enough, whenever she can, Geneviève returns to Turkey to continue her study of the language. And in the process, she takes 4 years of Turkish courses at Marie Haps. "I've become a knowledge addict. It's probably my educational background that pushed me there. It was quite convoluted! I decided not to waste any more time."
She further adds to her skill set by completing a postgraduate degree in management and business consulting, studying finance, accounting, and law. In 2007, she leaves the Conservatory and founds her company in Liège, Si-Trouille.
"You only think about playing."
She heard that phrase, sounding like a reproach, a mockery. "Playing is my natural way of living. Everything is learned through play, everything is experienced, and everything is much faster. You can change an incredible number of behaviors through play, acquire phenomenal data. Playing should not be a reproach, but a fabulous springboard!"
"Takattak came naturally, after business seminars on the Art of the Comeback. "Playing is the best way to train and be able to respond on the spot."
A meeting with Sullivan later and the desire to move from jokes on paper to a real illustrated game, and Takattak took shape, with the success we know now, and a few months later, Takattak À la Récré took over.
The illustrations
Sullivan Hismans, the illustrator of Takattak, Takattak À la Récré, and Satyrik
Immersed in the culture of early animated manga, Sullivan Hismans has always drawn. He is praised by all for his "gift" and naturally continues in this direction, with artistic humanity, higher studies at St-Luc Brussels (illustration section) and then La Cambre (graphic communication). He remains faithful to this dual approach to creation, illustration, and graphic design, but not only that.
"Mastery of traditional drawing techniques is very important to me, it's my foundation. But I also cultivate an attraction to contemporary artistic forms, a taste for precise and neat graphic design, balanced typography, and effective compositions."
His first professional experience of 2 years, as a video editor for an international thematic TV channel, adds a new dimension to his animation work. He takes the opportunity to acquire a professional level in editing but also in TV graphics post-production, collaborating with journalists.
He became a freelancer in 2001, working in paper graphic design, illustration, web design, video editing, painting, sound...
"Self-taught in web programming, I now work with WordPress, which I use to develop strong and highly customized universes while providing my clients with an incredible array of content management tools. This CMS is perfect for our current communication environment, where blogs and social networks abound."
Since 2011, he has reformulated his approach. Under the name Hiskills, he has expanded into multiple areas of activity and projects. A new "hype" beer brand, comic books, a children's book project...
"The notion of style doesn't seem relevant to me. I like to overturn expectations, create surprises that arouse interest, make great leaps between disciplines and into unknown territories. It's fearless, unbridled, that I approach each new creative adventure."
"I really like to operate on a gut feeling. I invest in projects I believe in. There's an impressive number of young entrepreneurs, people with great ideas. Sometimes they just lack the translation of these ideas into shapes, lines, colors, and graphics that will make these projects exist in the eyes of people and that they will love them."
Cédric Vandresse and Xenia Morgun illustrated Takattak Trash.
Cédric Vandresse is the founder of Mad Cat Studio (Animation Films). He is an illustrator as well as a producer, director, and author of animated films.
"Léopold, roi des Belges" (47 min - Arte production), that's him.
He is also a color supervisor and colorist in Belgian animation studios.
We can see his talents in :
- Le magasin des suicides (1h30 – Patrice Lecomte)
- Avril et le monde truqué (1h30 – 1st prize at the Annecy festival )
- K3 (TV series - Netherlands )
He is also a freelance graphic designer (playing cards - training manual - anti-violence campaign for the International Youth Bureau...), a painter of American cinema sets (Luxembourg), and exhibits his work (Belgium).
And he can also be found at the Saint-Luc School of Fine Arts (Belgium) for a Master Class on digital color.
Xenia Morgun was born in Moldova. Her passion for graphic arts has led her to cross borders, first to France (European School of Image in Angoulême) and then to Belgium (Saint-Luc School of Fine Arts), where she has been based since 2015.
She has had a passion for drawing and painting since she was very young. As a child, she was in awe of the illustrations in children's books. Unable to read yet, the image became her guide to discovering the world. She was impressed by the power of transmission through drawing. For her, it was magical, and she still works in this spirit today: to transmit magic!
Do you want to see? https://becaricature.com/fr/
Greg Bruwier, the inspirer of Satyrik
It was he who, one January morning, suggested creating a game about caricatures.
Moved by current events, like all of us, he invites us to reflect on the meaning and impact that caricatures can have on us. As often, Greg has a very global vision of events. He likes to take on the role of all stakeholders.
A civil engineer, he worked for 12 years as a consultant and then as a manager in the telecommunications industry. Curious and insatiable learners, he returned to school to refine his education and obtained a specialized Master's degree in finance from HEC.
Yet he feels like he's going in circles and finds that his job no longer has the meaning he deserves to give it. After all, isn't life a permanent game?
He gets back in the saddle and not content with just playing, creates numerous games. It must be said that Greg, if you ever have the chance to meet him, is a walking, bubbling brain.
So, much to everyone's surprise, he decides to become... a math teacher. And it's in his classes that he allows his students to play with him.
Playing is indeed the best way to learn, isn't it?
He even sells a first game concept to Cocktail Games. The famous KEEP COOL.
And since studying is so much fun, almost on a whim, he dives back into a year of training to obtain his teaching qualification.
And that makes him laugh...
