As I move into the final few months of student life before trying to establish myself as a freelance illustrator, I’m researching into online illustration agencies that represent some of my favourite national and international artists.
I’ll be looking at each agency individually, evaluating their clientele, ‘house style’, and other areas of interest.
Big Active
Big Active are a UK based agency that specialise in Art Direction, Graphic Design, Content Production and the promotion of artists. Having a quick flick through their artist repertoire, I see some familiar names, particularly Katie Scott (who illustrated the popular children’s reference book Animalium as well as other editorial works):
Big Active don’t appear to have a particular house style, which is nice to see. Sometimes agencies that have specific aesthetic requirements for their artists can make it difficult to stand out from the crowd or to break into the industry- or even to get taken on by an agency in the first place! However, I suppose it would help if there were certain ‘go-to’ agencies for a particular style of work, as this could help a client seek out a selection of potential artists.
On their website they currently list only a small selection of artists… while they are all fairly recognisable names, I was expecting them to have a bigger selection- I’m not sure if it’s typical to have a small amount of artists in an agency. I’ll compare this to the amount of artists promoted at other agencies I’ll look at.
Handsome Frank
Another agency based in the UK, Handsome Frank bill themselves as “representing some of the finest contemporary artists on the planet”, also stating that they now “represent 35 illustrators, spread across five continents and we’ve worked with some of the biggest brands and agencies in the world” (Handsome Frank, n.d.).
At a first glance, Handsome Frank definitely appear to have a more minimalistic, graphic house style compared to Big Active, which was more diverse style wise. Artists include Jonathan Burton, Quentin Monge and Tom Haugomat, a Paris based illustrator specialising in stylish, graphic landscapes:
Overall I think Handsome Frank tend to a younger, more stylish client than some of the other agencies which offer a wider variety of styles for different applications. Their website layout is also quite graphic based, which complements the artwork nicely.
Lemonade Illustration Agency
While the other agencies so far have had a very minimalistic approach, Lemonade Illustration Agency presents a wide range of artistic styles and disciplines, whereas the other agencies seem to have more of a focus on illustration for certain commercial applications. Lemonade sets out its artists under different categories according to their suited disciplines, e.g. editorial (with an emphasis on children’s books), storyboarding and concept art (which doesn’t appear to have much obvious representation in either Big Active or Handsome Frank).
Lots of the work is very commercial and represents popular tastes, compared to the artists represented by the former examples I’ve researched, who are arguably aiming towards a more sophisticated, niche market. The amount of artists represented exceeds Big Active and Handsome Frank tenfold, and appears to have around the same amount of creatives as Central Illustration Agency. Artists include Marine Gosselin and Rose Frith, both of whom boast a very colourful, childlike aesthetic in their artwork:
Lemonade Illustration Agency has offices in London, Yorkshire, Sydney and New York promoting artists in markets worldwide.
Central Illustration Agency
Last but not least, Central Illustration Agency (CIA) is another larger global agency that represents artists in three categories on their website: Illustration, Motion and Physical. This is an interesting way to set out these categories, as it allows clients to pinpoint artists that are especially proficient at their chosen discipline or application.
Also similarly to Lemonade Illustration Agency, they seem to have a much more diverse appeal within their body of represented illustrators and creatives, compared to the very select selection of Big Active and Handsome Frank. There doesn’t seem to be a house style, resulting in a wide array of art styles and aesthetics.
Artists include Whooli Chen and Brosmind, both of whom I’ve looked at in the past.
Looking at agencies still feels a bit overwhelming, but I’ve definitely gained some insight into the specifics of choosing an agency, and working with a company that appreciates an individual’s specific artistic traits and aesthetic.
References
Big Active (2016). Big Active – art direction, graphic design, creative consultancy and representation [online]. Available at: https://www.bigactive.com [Accessed 27 Mar 2019].
Brosmind (2017). RS Concept Store Barcelona: Christmas Display [mixed media].
Central Illustration Agency (n.d.). Central Illustration Agency – Home [online]. Available at: https://centralillustration.com [Accessed 28 Mar 2019].
Chen, W. (2016). Hong Kong IFC Mall Brochure, Winter 2016: Beautiful – Celebrating Together. [mixed media].
Frith, R. (n.d.). Witchy [digital].
Gosselin, M. (2018). Les Animaux (Presque) Disparus (The (Almost) Extinct Animals) [digital].
Handsome Frank (n.d.). Handsome Frank Illustration Agency [online]. Available at: https://www.handsomefrank.com [Accessed 27 Mar 2019].
Haugomat, T. (2018). Archer Farms Coffee [digital].
Lemonade Illustration Agency (2019). Home – Lemonade Illustration Agency [online]. Available at: https://www.lemonadeillustration.com/Default.aspx [Accessed 28 Mar 2019].
Scott, K. (2014). ‘Animalium’ Front Cover art [mixed media].
Scott, K. (2014). ‘The Clerkenwell Post’ Issue 20 Cover art [mixed media].
chalon joy collingwood 