James Grover paints a theatre land mural in Zizzi Ristorante on The Strand.

James's design was for the alcove space where he has represented a selection of the well-known theatres in the area. He says "The focus of the West End 'Theatreland' is of course the shows themselves, however the theatre buildings are often iconic and beautifully grand venues." Using acrylic pens and emulsion, James has drawn St Martin’s Theatre, Lyceum Theatre, Queen’s Theatre, Victoria Palace Theatre, Novello Theatre, London Palladium and Palace Theatre, along with characters from some well-known productions. He was also asked to produce a decorative mural for the George Bernard Shaw quote wall, which includes some theatre inspired elements, all this was completed over a period of six days.

James Grover is represented by Illustration 

Bill Sanderson designs stamps for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld

 Late last year had the chance to illustrate a page of stamps for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Emporium. For those who don’t know Discworld is a series of 40 books written by Pratchett, based on the fictional Discworld – a flat planet sitting on the backs of four elephants which ride through space on the back of a giant tortoise (of course)…

The stamps feature Sam Vimes – the chief of police of Ankh-Morpock, the biggest city on the Discworld. Although Vimes is a much-loved character from the series he had never before been featured on his own stamp. Discworld stamps are fast becoming collector’s items and have been picked up by The British Museum in the past, so we hope the Sam Vimes stamp will prove as popular as the rest.

Bill was honoured to be included in this strange world and the resulting stamp looks great. The Phosphor team were saddened to hear the news of Terry Pratchett’s death last month and wish to send their condolences to Terry’s family and all at the Discworld Emporium.

The stamp will be available to buy in two batches on April 11^th from the Discworld Emporium Website - 

 is represented by Phosphor Art

Handsome Frank branding & stationery

We’ve been working on our new stationery here at HF towers, something that’s always a tricky thing to do – stock samples, pantone chips, brand identity. It’s a dizzying task. It all began with some clever illustrated portraits of HF staff Tom, Jon and Stuart, created by Jean Jullien. These were then handed over to master-of-design George Bradshaw, who worked them into business card designs, which utilises the Circular typeface by Lineto. GF Smith Colorplan Cool Grey was the stock of choice, which was printed by the good folk at Darwin Press. Patrick Bateman eat your heart out.

Jean Jullien is represented by Handsome Frank

Kristyna Litten: Gucci Children’s Collection Spring Summer Catalogue

The luxury Italian fashion brand Gucci, commissioned Kristyna Litten to give their 2015 Children's Spring Summer Collection a picture book twist.

Kristyna created animal and kids characters and twenty three different scenes for their catalogue along with additional elements for their Look Book, to showcase their children's accessories. Using photographs of all the clothing and accessories, she developed each of the kid's characters around them, giving Gucci a variety of poses for other uses in the Look Book. The result is a fresh and vibrant series of spreads that beautifully display the clothes, hats, sunglasses, bags, shoes and belts in the range.

Kristyna Litten represented by Arena Illustration

Thomas Flintham: The Spy Who Loved School Dinners wins the Blue Peter Book Awards

CONGRATULATIONS!!! We are delighted to announce that The Spy Who Loved School Dinners has WON the Blue Peter Book Awards for Best Story Book, written by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by the marvellous Thomas Flintham.

Thomas proudly picked up his award from the UK’s Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman in a special World Book Day edition of CBBC’s Blue Peter.

Thomas Flintham was on the shortlist last year for Marvellous Maths with Jonathan Litten, this year he is the proud owner of a Blue Peter badge to wear and a trophy to display in his studio.

The enormously popular Blue Peter Book Awards, which are managed by Booktrust, celebrate the best authors, most creative illustrators and the greatest reads. 200 children from 10 schools across the UK read the shortlisted books and voted for their favourites. The Spy Who Loved School Dinners is the second book By Pamela Butchart in the series about Izzy following on from Baby Aliens Got My Teacher, recently shortlisted for the Red House Book Awards, and you can read more about the illustration process in Thomas’s questions on the Booktrust website.

Thomas Flintham is represented by Areana

Sue Hendra Leads March Storytime Sunday at The Doodle Bar!

The second Storytime collaboration between Bright and unique event space The Doodle Bar will see multi-award winning and 7th biggest UK selling Author Illustrator Sue Hendra leading a feast of creative activities for Storytime Sunday on 22nd March, 10am – 12pm. The exclusive 2 hour event will comprise of hilarious readings and fun crafts aimed at fans of Norman the Slug with the Silly Shell (Simon & Schuster) and Sue’s newly animated Wanda and the Alien (Random House). Signed copies of the books and an array of colourful merchandise will be available to buy on the day! This is a free event but booking is essential as places are limited. 

As advocates of promoting and sharing the joy of reading and story telling, Bright and the Doodle Bar are incredibly pleased to announce the next Storytime event occuring at the end of this month. With our ten years of industry experience, we understand the importance of taking a book beyond the book shelf and actively encourage every Bright creative to engage with their key audiences to drive discoverability and build the foundations of commercial success. Last year saw the yuletide success of our first Storytime Sunday, featuring Bright artists Nicola O’Byrne and Ben Mantle with their illustrated books Open Very Carefully(Nosy Crow) and Rudey’s Windy Christmas (HarperCollins). The event was a rousing success and a creatively indulgent Sunday was had by all. Read more about this event here.

Sue Hendra is represented by The Bright Group

Andrew Farley – Spy Dog

Here is Andrew Farley’s cover for the latest instalment in the brilliant Spy Dog series. ‘Spy Dog Storm Chaser’ sees Lara trying to solve the case of a strange cloud that is sitting mysteriously over  the town of Brickfield making everyone feel grumpy. At the same time sales of Ken Soop’s Chicken Soups are flying and chickens are going  missing from farms all over the country. Lara and her sidekick Professor Cortex have worked out that there is a strange connection  between these mysterious occurrences…. So an adventure involving, chicken snot, storm conductors and a giant oven follows! Andrew was thrilled to illustrate yet another cover for this fabulous series.

Andrew Farley’s is represented by Meiklejohn

Lee Hodges – Magnificent RHS Posters

Lee Hodges creates magnificent posters for this year's RHS events.

Working with Premm Design for the Royal Horticultural Society, Lee has produced a series of visuals for the various events during the year, with a bespoke illustration for each half-term and for the major campaigns at Easter, Summer and Christmas. The illustrations are being used on posters, flyers, press ads and onsite banners at each of the four RHS gardens.

Kevin McDermott, Premm Design Associate Director said of the project :-

“We felt that Lee’s vibrant, joyous style was perfect for this campaign. We are able to communicate the wide range of activities available at each of the RHS Gardens, along with the related flora and fauna, all with a strong sense of fun in a way that appeals to the 6-9 year old target audience and their families.”

Lee Hodges  is represented by Illustration Ltd

Paul Blow – VH1

This instalment sees Paul’s wonderful mark making brought to life by animator Kee Koo as the infamous guitar player explains how he made the best out of a bad situation. Be sure to see the short here – https://vimeo.com/120351437

Little fun fact: Did you know Tony’s middle name is FRANK?

Paul Blow is represented by Handsome Frank  

Shobhna Patel – intricate and complex paper cutting

Shobhna Patel has a very unique and creative style in paper cutting and design  which is why Artist Partners  her agents fell in love with her work - she recently produced this wonderful design for her developing packaging portfolio for the website.

Her work is both intricate and complex, but incredibly beautiful, and Shobhna's eye for detail is really inspiring.

To see more of Shobhna's beautiful paper crafting works  for both special book projects and packaging design,  please visit Artist Partners website 

Shobhna Patel is represented by Artist Partners