Benji Davies is a picture book writer and artist. In his work he aims to capture how it feels to be a child. By immersing themselves in the stories he writes and illustrates, Benji hopes that children will find a quiet confidence with which to navigate the noise and bustle of the real world.

Since hailed a modern classic, his first self-penned picture book, The Storm Whale, won the inaugural Oscar’s Book Prize and was Dutch Picture Book Of The Year. His second, Grandad’s Island, garnered similar plaudits, winning the children’s book category of the AOI World Illustration Awards and being crowned Children’s Book of the Year at the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards. In 2020 he won Oscar's Book Prize for a second time with Tad, a story about a tadpole making its way in the big, wide pond. All three of these books have been adapted for the stage.

Jim Field is an award-winning illustrator, character designer, and animation director. From music videos and title sequences to advertising and picture books, Jim has worked on a variety of projects.

I talked with Matthew LeBaron, agent and founder of Much Creative, about his experiences and lessons learned from representing artists for over a decade. We dive into the ins and outs of having an agent and explore the state of the illustration industry in our current economy.

Tad Carpenter is a designer, illustrator and author based in Kansas City. He run the Carpenter Collective with his wife Jessica with the focus of bringing powerful messages to life through branding, packaging and illustrative based design. Carpenter’s studio has created campaigns for Macy’s, Target, Old Navy, MTV and Adobe to name a few.

Tad is the author and illustrator to over a dozen children’s books in our market today including “Sad Santa”, “Ninja, Ninja Never Stop” and the “I Say, You Say” series. Carpenter has also taught Graphic Design at the University of Kansas since 2009.

Don Clark is an illustrator and cofounder of Invisible Creature, a widely respected and award-winning design studio based in Seattle, Washington. He has worked with clients such as Target, Pixar, NASA, The New York Times, LEGO, and Apple. Don and his wife, Erika, have three children and live on a small farm just outside Seattle.

Dave Bain is a Bristol based Illustrator and Muralist. His work spans across the editorial and advertising world. His approach is distinctively colourful, expressive and inspired by screenprinting, jazz and electronic music. Check out his work here: https://davebain.com

Maser, truly embodies the centric spirit of contemporary visual art in Ireland today. Creating artwork since 1995, over the last 25 years Maser has generated a large and dedicated following both in Ireland and Internationally, through his seamlessly imaginative and unique graphic style.
Having exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Sotheby's and National Print Museum, Maser is now one of Ireland's most collectable contemporary artists.
Al aka Maser is a prolific Irish Artist. Maser's unique artistic style draws upon numerous influences including optical and mid-century art, using bold colours, pattern and text to complement his paintings. Through his use of contrasting colours and flowing patterns, Maser's work offers the viewer an opportunity to become fully immersed in an almost hypnotic state. As an artist, Maser is clearly ambitious and unafraid to experiment with any artistic format. 

Dapo Adeola is an award-winning illustrator and designer who creates characters and images that challenge expectations around race and gender in a fun and upbeat way. He is the co-creator and illustrator of bestselling picture book Look Up! - winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the number 1 debut picture book of 2019. London born and bred but of Nigerian heritage, when he's not busy cooking up new characters and adventures, you can find Dapo running illustration and character design workshops with children or organising events to help highlight the possibilities of a career in illustration to underrepresented members of the Black diaspora. 

Paul Delany is an award-winning designer and most recently an illustrator. From building brands, to crafting visual stories Paul can do it all. We chat about his career and his transition from the world of design to illustration, finding his style and more.

See his work here: https://pauldelaney.ie/portfolio/

Kieron is south London born freelance graphic designer, host on Adobe Live and public speaker with a BA (Hons) within Graphic Arts. His core skill sets include Editorial design, Marketing, Branding and Front-end digital design (UI).