Agency Spotlight: Début Art
Continuing our September Agency series, the Directory of Illustration is proud to highlight the work of 5 elite artists from Début Art: Tobias Hall, Patrick Morgan, Alan Berry Rhys, Chris Labrooy, and Max Loeffler (Images left to right). Début Art is an international agency with offices in London, New York, and Tokyo, representing established and up-and-coming illustrators, motion and animation artists, and digital designers. With their global roster of 168 highly selected artists, Début Art holds a cutting-edge industry position that sets the standard in illustration trends and an unparalleled ability to continuously find and foster original talent.
From the Agency: “As industry leaders we are known as principled advocates for our artists and for the creative industries. Our clients and artists appreciate the agency’s straightforward, well informed, and down-to-earth approach to projects, from editorial commissions to global brand campaigns.” For more information, all representatives and artists on the team at Début Art can be reached by emailing info@debutart.com and full portfolios are available for review at debutart.com
“A Flock of Pink Flamingoes” © Chris Labrooy
Two of Chris Labrooy’s surreal sunny compositions. The latter being one in a series of digital illustrations commissioned by the LA Motorhsow featuring a Porsche Taycan.
“LA Motorshow” © Chris Labrooy
After graduating from the RCA with an MA in Design Products, Chris first began to use 3D as a simple tool to visualize ideas for furniture and products. As 3D technology and hardware evolved, Chris saw an opportunity to explore CGI as a creative medium in itself with which he could subvert and twist familiar everyday things into new typographic and sculptural forms. Chris is interested in the intersection between typography, architecture, product design and visual art.
Based in Scotland, Chris Labrooy’s unique work can be seen across the UK, Europe, and the United States for advertising, editorial, and publishing. His clients include : Porsche, Apple, Nike, Jaguar, AT&T, Citroen, British Airways, Time Magazine, McDonalds, T-Mobile, Transport For London, Ted Baker, Target, Prudential Callaway Golf.
“Open Secrets” © Max Loeffler Privacy Project Spread for the New York Times
Max Loeffler created this science fiction cover for the New York Times’ Sunday Review to start the publications ‘Privacy Project’, a month-long project to explore the technology and where it’s taking us, and to convene debate about how it can best help realize human potential.
Max was born in rural Germany in 1989 and started out illustrating extensive album artworks for punk and metal bands after doing his homework. After graduating from the Graphic Design department at Hochschule Darmstadt in 2017, he began working as a freelancer with renowned clients like The New Yorker, The New York Times, Adidas and Google. He still enjoys creating artwork for bands.
Influenced by the classic surrealists as well as retro science-fiction book covers, he likes to look below the surface of one-to-one visual translations, adding meaning and room for inference by wrapping his illustrations in the dense atmosphere of a surreal and melancholic parallel universe. His urge is to translate and decipher what can only be felt, not directly seen, and to amplify this visually, particularly in his personal work.
Max has worked with clients such as: The New Yorker, The New York Times, Google, GLOBE Brand, Future Islands, Bloomberg Businessweek, Folio Society, Atreyu, GQ Magazine, WirtschaftsWoche, DIE ZEIT, Adidas, Bandcamp, Medium, Cicero, The Economist, Variety, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Shrine.
“Doom Boy / The Dirty Nil” © Max Loeffler
© Patrick Morgan for V&A and Christian Dior
Commissioned by The Victoria & Albert Museum (London) to promote the Christian Dior Masterclass ‘Designer of Dreams’ exhibition.
Born in 1977, Patrick Morgan trained at the Royal College of Art and has worked as a commercial artist for over 15 years receiving commissions from famous designers and exclusive patrons including: Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Chanel, Fendi, The Royal Academy of Arts, The London Olympics, and was personally commissioned to do a portrait of US Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington.
Major works include a collaboration with Tom Ford for the English National Ballet, Ballet Russe’s ‘The Firebird’, which was then reused to represent Art and Culture at The Mayor of London’s Office for the Olympics during 2012. Morgan also designed the Justin Timberlake world tour and for Christian Dior and for the James Bond film ‘Spectre’.
From Tom Ford:
“Whether a wisp like portrait or a dynamic figure with a shock of background color Patrick’s drawings are always elegant and contemporary.
His confident line and natural talent produce strong statements on the progression of modern fashion illustration noting the likes of René Gruau and David Downton.”
“Ticket to Ride Music Video” © Alan Berry Rhys
Originally commissioned to create just a still artwork for Kawala’s new single ‘Ticket to Ride’ Alan Berry Rhys put together a sunset composition. That was until lockdown hit and the band were unable to make a live video for the single. So Universal Music asked Alan if he could create an animated one. The animation was created in just over 3 weeks with Alan working with an animation studio in Portugal.
Alan Berry Rhys is a graphic artist and illustrator based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he has been a graphic design professor at Buenos Aires University for 8 years. As an artist, Alan has produced several solo shows at Buenos Aires (Argentina), Rosario (Argentina), San Francisco (CA, USA) and Santiago de Chile (Chile). In addition, he has participated in several combined shows, in Portland (Oregon, USA), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Tandil (Argentina) and Asunción (Paraguay) and has been invited to the last 3 editions of Puma Urban Art in Buenos Aires.
From the artist: “Vintage graphic advertising inspires my work. I love the look of low-fi printing. It’s errors and limitations give my work a distinctive characteristic. Using screen-printing, risograph and painting, I have developed a style based on low quality printing methods of the early graphic advertising. I also have extended work on lettering and typography. In the search for inspiration of a simpler life, Alan explores craftsmanship lifestyles, such as fishermen, axmen, butchers, carpenters, and popular street graphics.”
Alan has worked for a wide range of commercial and commissioned works for brands developing graphic universes and illustrations. his client list includes: Jack Daniel’s, Absolut Vodka, Nike, Puma, Sol Beer, Cinzano, Vans, Oreo, Good Year, Penguin, California Customs, Pilgrim London, BlackFin, and Gravedad Zero.
The Rolling Stones and Polydor © Tobias Hall
The Rolling Stones’ double album cover ‘Honk’. Tobias was commissioned by Studio Fury to produce the cover illustration for ‘HONK’, a ‘best-of’ compilation released by Polydor with 20 songs.
Tobias Hall was born in 1988 and is a freelance illustrator, letterer, designer and mural artist working out of London, UK.
Having initially started out life as a conceptual illustrator, Tobias started working with typography and lettering soon after graduating in 2010 and hasn’t looked back since. His versatility has meant he’s been lucky enough to work on an eclectic mix of projects for a growing list of international clients, including: YouTube, Cadillac, Warburtons, Toyota, Mount Gay, Converse, TIME Magazine, Wagamama, Comic Relief, KFC, Netflix, Vodafone and Holiday Inn
