30th, 40th or 50th birthday gift: telling a decade

At thirty, people have often left their city, changed jobs, moved three times. The story is young, but it already has turning points.

What you can tell: studies and shared flats, the first real job, a defining trip, lifelong friends. A funny, energetic tone suits it, with a dynamic style such as American Modern or manga.

Forty is often the time of a full life: work, family, projects under way. It is also the age when you no longer quite remember how it all started.

What you can tell: the big decisions, a challenge met, how the person faced it. The tone can be moving or funny, with a warm mood: vintage or watercolor.

Fifty is a number that counts, often celebrated big. The story has chapters: childhood, the formative years, family life, children growing up.

What you can tell: three or four childhood scenes, meeting the person they love, a time when everything turned, and what they hope for next. A style that leaves room for memory fits: vintage or film noir.

At sixty and beyond, the book becomes an object of transmission: it tells a life for the children and grandchildren. It is also the time of retirement for many: see our illustrated retirement gift page.

What you can tell: childhood, a lifetime's career, the family founded, the places that matter. Children can bring their memories and choose the scenes together.

More than age, the person decides. To compare the six styles side by side, see our page which illustration style to choose. If the birthday person likes real comic panels, see also our personalized birthday comic book. The free preview shows the duo drawn before you order.

A round birthday is often celebrated with others, and the book can be prepared well as a group. Everyone brings a memory or an anecdote, and one person places the order and picks the scenes.

The book always has two heroes: the birthday person, and the one giving it, drawn from two photos. Friends, family and colleagues are mentioned in the story: their names, their jokes, what they lived together. A dedication, added after you order, can carry everyone's signature: see our book dedication ideas.

To give to a man or a woman, see our pages personalized gift for him and for her.

• ✦ Digital: €39, ready in about 2 hours (24 hours at most).
• ✦ Signature: €59, a 30-page printed book.
• ✦ Prestige: €129, a 40-page printed book.

You then have 48 hours to review and ask for up to 10 free revisions, then printing and delivery take 5 to 7 days. To celebrate a couple's anniversary rather than a birthday, see our illustrated anniversary gift page.