Hello! My name is Niina Aoki and I'm an illustrator and designer living in Perth, Western Australia. I'm also absolutely nutty about cats! Cats have been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember and I have cherished every moment and memory of all the cats that I have had the pleasure of having in my life.

Loving cats is easy. Drawing cats can be really hard! Some years back I wanted to get better at drawing cats realistically so my art zine “Pretty Kitties” was born. I created 2 volumes and considered a third but realised I needed a new angle to avoid repetition. During this time I had drawn a portrait of my exotic shorthair cat, Panko, and people absolutely loved him and all the products born out of his image. This gave me the idea that people love personable portraits, they want to know the story behind the picture. Thus “50 Cats of Perth” was born!

“50 Cats of Perth” is a project that has selected just a small number of the wonderful cats that live in the Perth metropolitan area. I sent a call-out on social media and chose 50 cats to be painted individually and then collated into an A3 archival art print. As I was pencilling and inking each cat I saw that each portrait looked amazing on it's own and like a page from a colouring book. When this realisation hit I became so excited as colouring books were a big part of my childhood. I have fond memories of colouring in and telling myself stories about the characters on the page.

Colouring books used to be just for children. Now they are also for adults as studies show they can reduce stress and promote creativity. And colouring in is just plain fun! I want to create a colouring book featuring “50 Cats of Perth” to realise my dream of publishing a book and to share with the world that little old Perth has a multitude of unique, beautiful cats.




The “50 Cats of Perth: The Colouring Book” consists of 52 pages of high quality art to colour in and enjoy. Each page features a cat, a surrounding pattern of objects related to the cat and a short story describing the cats character and interests. By the end of the book you will feel like you just made 50 new cat friends!

Pledging towards my project will give you the opportunity to receive a copy of the “50 Cats of Perth: The Colouring Book” as well as some great cat-centric rewards. I have a variety of pledge tiers for you to peruse and enjoy. I hope you will take part and make my dream come true! Panko and I are eternally grateful for all your support.

Have your name in the book

So what's next?

The whole $2000 will be used to print 150 copies of “50 cats of perth: The Colouring Book”. Each book has a full colour card cover and 52 pages of black and white illustrations on high quality paper. The budget also includes the purchase of an ISBN and barcode so that the book can be sold in stores worldwide. 

Any additional funds made will be put towards printing additional books. If the goal of $2000 is not met all pledges and rewards will be cancelled and no money will be taken from your accounts. This means there will be no “50 Cats of Perth: The Colouring Book”.

My biggest obstacle will be to meet the funding goal. If I can't meet my goal, all of the cat fans out there won't be able to enjoy my colouring book as it won't be printed. Although the "50 Cats of Perth" project will live on in the form of an archival art print, the colouring book adds another dimension to the project where the reader can get to know each cat personally and engage creatively in the project. I really hope you all share my enthusiasm and joy for my colouring book so you can help me get it printed.