Début Art

In short

Début Art has represented artists from London since 1985 and now has offices in New York and Tokyo. The roster covers illustration, motion and animation, CGI, experiential work, typography and illustrative design, and in 1994 the agency opened The Coningsby Gallery in Fitzrovia to sell contemporary illustration as fine art. Its founder chaired the Association of Illustrators from 2012 to 2016. It is #4 on our illustration ranking.

Recent commissions on its news page run across editorial, publishing and brand work. Max Loeffler made the key visual for Nike's ACG All Conditions Express campaign, later adapted into posters, stickers and merchandise. BrewDog hired three of its illustrators for Liquid Visions beer labels, Justin Metz produced the 48-sheet key art for Sky's series 'Prisoner', and Grundini designed a blood-donation stamp for Canada Post. Christian Gralingen drew a cover and 45 spreads for a Quarto book.

Art directors at brands, agencies and publishers who need an illustrator, motion artist or type designer on a defined brief, plus an agent who knows licensing across territories, are its core clients. Art direction usually comes from the commissioning side, as the credits on its own projects show, so a company with no creative team or agency to brief the artist should start with a design studio and let it commission through Début.