Agency Spotlight: António Adrião Artist Representative
Clockwise from top left ©: Christian Dellavedova, Barry Orkin, Nathan Smith, Peter O. Zierlein, Big Al Gruswitz, John Holm, UTÖKA, Liddell Jones, Gary Ciccarelli, Geo Parkin
The Directory of Illustration is proud to present an Agency Spotlight on António Adrião Artist Representative.
“My name is António Adrião and I have been, for the last 42 years, helping my clients worldwide to find the right artist, photographer or animation studio to create unique imagery for their marketing efforts. Throughout my career I have worked closely with art directors and designers through all stages of the creative process to find the best choice of talent to match their needs and the follow through to ensure the ultimate creative solution. I have worked on everything from consumer and trade advertising, publishing, animation and interactive campaigns large scale and small.” – António Adrião.
About António Adrião Artist Representative: AAARep is a fantastic illustration agency representing an international and multi-talented group of illustrators and artists. We are delighted to highlight the work of these ten talented AAARep artists:
Christian Dellavedova | Nathan Smith | Peter O. Zierlein | Gary Ciccarelli | John Holm
Barry Orkin | Geo Parkin | Big Al Gruswitz | UTÖKA | Liddell Jones
© Christian Dellavedova
“I decided to be an illustrator simply because it was the deepest call of my life. Translating a story into a single image has always been the most exciting challenge for me. I have taken a special interest in editorial and conceptual illustration. Throughout the years, I have illustrated articles for magazines and newspapers as well as helped worldwide agencies on some important advertising campaigns.
I have done work for a variety of worldwide clients such as Auchan, Viacom, GEICO, ENI, TBWA, The Boston Globe, Variety, Scientific American, Wired UK, Time Out, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Time Inc., Ink Global, Strategy+Business, Canadian Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, Corriere della Sera, Repubblica, Mondadori, Gazzetta dello Sport, just to name a few.
I’m a regular contributor to the Italian magazine Internazionale, the most important political magazine in Italy. I have graduated from IED (Istituto Europeo di Design), where I now hold a teaching position on illustration. I am also a teacher at Scuola Internazionale di Comics. I live and work in Milano, Italy.” – Christian Dellavedova
© Nathan Smith
Nathan Smith is an award-winning Illustrator & artist who has been working in the creative industries for over 30 years, originally theatre and fine art and then digital illustration. Since then he has worked for advertising agencies, record companies, museums and editorial clients. Nathan now primarily uses ZBrush to create his images. His digital work has been published internationally.
Past Clients include: Financial Times, Newfoundland Labrador Tourist Board Canada, Science Museum London, 3MS Music, 7us Media Group Germany, Wonkypix Games & Apps, Wild in Art, Silverstone motor racing, The Air Ambulance Service, Frobisher’s Fruits, Colchester & Winchester Zoo, Park Inn Hotels, London 2012 Olympics, Imperial War Museum
© Peter O. Zierlein
poz* – is the artist tag and signature of illustrator, graphic designer and paper-cut artist Peter O. Zierlein. For the last few years, Zierlein, a native of Germany, has been creating an extensive body of intricate paper cuts. “I draw with a knife” poz* says of his technique cutting
organic, round, angular and sharp forms into paper to create iconic, often symmetrical imagery. These paper cuts then become illustrations, posters, patterns, public art, murals, paper cut installations, zines, postcards, greeting cards, large outdoor aluminum relief sculptures and recently plywood boats!
© Gary Ciccarelli
Gary Ciccarelli crafted his signature illustrations for Marvel, DC, Xbox, Star Wars, Disney, Star Trek, Sega and Nintendo, to name a few.
His work has shown up on everything from the packages of collectible action figures, classic video games, and 90s board games to limited edition trading card sets, iconic movie posters and on the covers of magazines with cult-like followings (including a stint as the cover artist at the rock n’ roll magazine, CREEM Magazine). He’s illustrated pieces for global brands like Coca-Cola, Hershey’s, McDonald’s and Budweiser (notably spending several years as the artist behind the collectible holiday beer steins). In 1997, Gary was commissioned to illustrate the portraits of Martin Luther King, Hellen Keller, Chief Joseph and others iconic Americans on the United States Savings Bonds. He was the first non-government artists ever selected for the work.
Beyond the art, Gary taught and mentored several talented illustrators over the years who’ve gone on to work for the likes of Stranger Things, The Simpsons and Mad Magazine.
© John Holm
“In high school, I wrote gags for my dad’s syndicated cartoon strip. My friend and I would make comic books and illustrations for the yearbook. Scholastic books published my book,“C minus”, about a high school slacker. I had plenty of experiences to draw on. I attended Los Angeles Art Center, majoring in ad design and continued to create cartoon stories with my surfing buddies. I was stoked when I got published in Surfer magazine. After graduation, I joined the Navy and became a pilot. When my stint was up I entered the advertising world of Madison Avenue as an art director. That’s when I got associated with António Adrião. I continue to enjoy humorous illustration and also, I am a seascape painter. A slacker’s dream come true.”
– John Holm
© Barry Orkin
“I am a senior graphic designer with over 25 years of experience in illustration, package design, product design, apparel, branding, repeats and type design. I have recently done work for Colgate Palmolive, including designing icons and illustrations for packaging, as well as informational graphics for focus group presentations. Also for Colgate, I did character art for kids toothpaste packaging.
I have extensive experience in the personal care category, including a package design that won the 2010 Product of the Year award by Disney Consumer Products. I also created an entire line of illustrated Cold Packs called Boo Boo Buddies, for M Z Berger and Co., and revamped the packaging for this product.
This past April, over 140 of my illustrations were published in a book called History of Weapons, put out by Chronicle Books. I also recently completed style guide art for A&E’s Duck Dynasty and Swamp People shows, and for 4K Media’s Yu-Gi-Oh. This art included repeats, spot graphics and icons. Recently, I have received some 3D modeling assignments using ZBrush. Previously, I created much of the style guide art for the Superman Returns movie style guide, which included an icon featured on all of the licensed product packaging.”
– Barry Orkin
© Geo Parkin
“With 30 years of professional experience and Brighton-based, I have worked for a wide range of clients in the UK, US, Europe and Japan, in the fields of publishing, advertising, packaging, character creation, comics, t-shirt design and much else besides. An early-adapter to digital illustration, I still consider drawing to be the most important aspect of my work and I have stayed true to this approach as my style has evolved. The crisp look of my recent work is just as attributable to early influences such as Hergé and the European ‘Ligne claire’ artists as it is to the vectorized precision of Adobe Illustrator.”
– Geo Parkin
© Big Al Gruswitz
Boundless Creativity by Big Al Gruswitz was founded in 1994. Since that time, it has specialized in 3D and 2D photo-realistic illustration, medical illustration, and difficult retouching. Big Al is available for both finished art and comps. His work has been selected by Lürzer’s Int’l Archive for their “200 Best Digital Artists Annual” in both 2013 and 2021. With 56 years of experience in advertising, Big Al Gruswitz has held staff positions as an art director and associate creative director at several major agencies including Campbell Ewald (Chevrolet) and Saatchi & Saatchi (Duncan Hines, Tide, Crisco Oil and Shortening, Pert Shampoo, Tylenol, New York Life, and others). While at Saatchi & Saatchi, Big Al started the Consumer Division at their medical agency, Klemtner Advertising (now Saatchi Healthcare) where he won the inaugural account, Rogaine. He was responsible for the consumer, medical, and international launch of that brand. As an art director, he has won numerous awards for creative excellence and high readership.
© UTÖKA
UTÖKA is a world-class collective of talent, skilled at transforming ideas into innovative, cutting-edge content for commercials, broadcast, film, emerging media, music videos, print, event marketing, and advertising.
“We pride ourselves on offering clients a collaborative team of directors, designers, editors, 3D artists, art directors and animators who guide each and every project from conception to completion. We offer seamless creative environments, free from boundaries, to give our artists the flexibility and freedom to tap into their most innovative ideas giving each project a one-of-a-kind result. This passion for innovation has allowed UTÖKA to become a world-class conceptual design, production, VFX, and editorial company where the work speaks for itself!”
© Liddell Jones
Liddell Jones is a CGI studio specializing in the automotive, engineering, electronic, medical and architectural sectors.
“We bring a complex, detailed and technical subjects to life, making them easy to understand and instilling stunning clarity and realism into their visual appeal. Using the latest high end software, subjects are 3D modelled from technical plans and CAD data and rendered with photographic realism.
From product visualization to finished 3D animations, our dedication to detail and expertise ensures projects run smoothly and within deadlines.”
View more work from these wonderful artists and all the talented AAARep artists on the Directory of Illustration and the AAARep site.
