Born in La Plata, Argentina, Maine Diaz, grew up drawing and painting. She was often seen drawing with her pencils or crayons in deep concentration. Cartoons captured her imagination early on and realized immediately that she wants to be an animator when she grows up. Her mother, a biochemist and grandfather were truly flabbergasted upon hearing her declaration. At the age of 16 she took a workshop and start animating, working in films like Patoruzito, El Arca (Patagonik, Argentina), Gizaku and Nocturna (Filmax, Spain). Simultaneously, she enrolled in Audiovisual Communication at Universidad DeLa Plata (UNLP). Soon after, she also started illustrating for children’s story books and educational books. In 2002 with Crimsomnia Studio, she was a finalist at Ford’s “Saldras mas” publicity contest, with “Habitos noctunos” short. In 2005 she won first prize for the character design category of Bizpills (Hi Impatc Learning Experiences), España.

Currently, Maine lives in a tiny green house where she spends time with her two cats, Chula and Lola. She loves tending her garden while Chula eats all the plants and Lola jumps and climbs the trees. Maine prefers to be barefoot while painting and singing in her studio. She is a pretty good cook and sweated several years near the oven and many pans. When not illustrating, she also enjoys swimming, writing, taking photos.

Jose Emroca Flores grew up in a humble family of four from Northern Nevada where he spent much of his youth actively outdoors skateboarding, playing baseball, and snowboarding. He has always been creative and imaginative on paper and outdoors. Building makeshift skate ramps from scrapwood was the norm in his childhood. He’d round up the kids from the cul-de-sac and they’d skate late into the evenings. He moved to California after high school to play baseball and pursue his art. Emroca later attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco where he learned to develop the ability to materialize his imagination while advancing his technique as a visual artist. On his downtime from school, he’d still skateboard and snowboard and started to surf in the sharky cold San Francisco waters. It was then when he stumbled upon his forever two loves of his life: his new found passion for the ocean and his beautiful wife. When he graduated from the Academy of Art, he immediately went to work as a visual development artist in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. In the course of his work on films, games, animation, books, and advertising, his original oil paintings were shown in galleries across the U.S.

Margeaux Lucas was born on Halloween, so she loves spooky things like black cats, full moons, and very starry nights. She began drawing constantly from age four, amazing her friends with pictures of people and animals, especially horses, which were her favorite. Her love of picture books came from the many hours she spent before bedtime reading from the collection at her grandmother's house. As a teenager she loved fashion, but found that she was better at drawing than sewing. She studied Graphic Design in school, but is largely self-taught as an illustrator. Margeaux loves to travel, and three of her favorite cities are Paris, London and New York, her current home. Margeaux's work reflects her love of fashion, nature, and the many shapes, sizes and colors that people come in, plus the constant exuberance of children.

Londoner Stuart Holmes is now based in Australia’s creative enclave of Melbourne. Trained as a graphic designer, he felt that illustration allowed him much more freedom, and he developed a flat vector style that has remained popular for well over a decade.

Stuart is addicted to vinyl and wherever he goes seeks out a record crate to dig through. He’s also a huge fan of Southampton FC, and led the team out as a mascot back when he was seven years old.

Duncan Beedie’s cartoony style comes from his background in animation. Based in Bristol, aside from drawing copious quirky images, he collects clockwork robots, can identify pretty much any military aircraft and has a dog called Ivor who you might spot here and there in his work.

Butcher Billy is a Brazilian illustrator with a fresh approach, who loves to slice up ideas and imagery in popular culture and reassemble them in unique ways. Juxtaposing everything from Wonder Woman and the Watchmen to Morrissey and Breaking Bad, his work is ironic, humorous and very postmodern. His subtle questioning of pop culture using pop art as his medium is a juxtaposition in itself, yet in their own unique way all his images seem to make sense.

In addition to his illustration work, Billy is a creative director in a digital agency. He lived in the UK for a while, and has travelled widely. With seemingly endless influences at his disposal – including Banksy, Steve Ditko, Shigeru Miyamoto, Malcolm McLaren and Andy Warhol - Butcher Billy never runs out of moods and concepts to explore.

“I like to create freely and then realise bits of an artwork are influenced by the mood of a movie by Tim Burton, the brushstrokes of a piece by Salvador Dali, with a soundtrack from an early album by David Bowie,” he says.

The award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Henry Smith is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He’s an artist who was captivated by cartoons at an early age and never grew out of them. Now, they’re his career and he’s made a name for himself designing unique characters that are full of humour.

“A great character can be designed if you pay attention to the silhouette. Is it something we've seen before? I like to use geometric shapes in fun ways to see if I can get more interesting characters, and making my characters as weird as possible, while still being cute and approachable,” he says.

There’s certainly a 90s vibe in his inspiration cabinet – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Powerpuff Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants are to be found there, along with classic video games like Pokemon Blue and Super Smash Bros. With a graphic design background, he’s also influenced by mid-century modernism. Henry is a keen volleyball player, listens to Country, Rock and Rap, and enjoys the company of his wife and their two sassy dogs.

Lee Hodges comes from deepest, darkest Kernowfornia – also known as Cornwall. The sea and coastline have always been a part of his life, and today he lives on the foothills of Dartmoor, in Devon. In addition to his vibrant, mixed media illustration work, Lee is a DJ and runs club arts nights in the Southwest of England. He loves to explore and experiment with a range of creative media, but drawing was his first love and that’s what drives him as an illustrator.

Crush is a truly integrated design agency providing creative solutions across all print, digital and moving media. We believe in a collaborative creative process and intelligent idea generation. We’re passionate about our work and famed for producing standout creative for clients all over the world. We don’t just want to simply make stuff look good, we want to make smart ideas look great.

Ben grew up in a small town in Yorkshire and though he now resides in Birmingham he still holds dear those formative years and his northern roots. Those that know Ben will no doubt tell you he can be a bit of a curmudgeon but that deep down there is a happy soul trying to get out and those that know his work will no doubt see the battle between happy and sad in the characters he draws and the situations they find themselves in. Ben's work is often very simple but always displays a strong emphasis on colour and a carefully considered composition. He takes much of his inspiration from the books he collects about illustrators and designers from the mid 20th century and those of new artists’ that give a nod to past styles and trends. He also fills his working days with music so as to let it seep into his soul and be transformed into something that can be seen.

Illustrator Daniel Sulzberg is based in Santa Barbara, California, and his work is infused with the easy-going creativity that his home state is famous for. It’s colourful and fun, welcoming and sometimes a little bit zany. Maybe that’s why the characters he draws so effortlessly seem to jump to life in his illustrations.

Growing up in a town called Danville, he was always Dan from Danville. After initially trying to emulate his older brother, who was a fine artist, Dan later discovered cartoons, comics and Nintendo games. Soon, he had invented Danvillage, a place for all his whimsical characters to inhabit. It’s become the moniker he works under as an illustrator.

Dan’s favourite artists include Dali, Murakami and Miyazaki, while Prince and Reggae music keep him juiced up on tunes. He also has a huge collection of 80s vinyl from his days as a DJ.

Corey has been announced Merit Winner of the 3x3 Professional Show, reproduced in the 3x3 Illustration Annual No.13.

Corey Brickley was born in the U.S. In 1987 and now lives and works as an illustrator and designer in Philadelphia.

Corey Brickley is a graduate of the University of the Arts' Illustration program in Philadelphia, PA. Corey creates concept-driven illustrations for editorial, publishing, music and advertising. He is a digital artist who uses a healthy mix of 3D, texture, and Wacom-based painting. His work is concerned with surreal and graphic juxtapositions.

Corey primarily works in editorial and specializes in motion graphics and animation. Corey is a winner of the American Illustration 35th annual competition for his motion illustration work with The Huffington Post.

Previous clients include: The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Pacific Standard Magazine, Vice Magazine, Penn Gazette, Texas Monthly, Magnet Magazine, Grid Magazine.

Dream clients: Mother Jones, Popular Mechanics, GQ, Rolling Stone, Penguin, Little Brown, Tor, Converse, Vans, MTV, SmuttyNose Brewing Co

Based in beautiful Bristol, Chris Malbon, AKA Melb is an active member of the area’s thriving art and design scene, regularly giving talks at local colleges and universities. He classes himself as a creative all-rounder, comfortable designing and illustrating from the side of matchboxes to large murals, be it in pencil, pen, paint or pixel, he’s happy using them all.

Incredibly experienced and versatile, Chris is able to adapt his style and creative process to fit the demands of the job in hand, this ability makes Chris a winner for any campaign large or small. The end result is always of the highest quality both artistically and commercially. He is constantly figuring out innovative new concepts and ideas to push his art.

A hardworking and prolific contributor, Chris has created work for an array of clients and agencies over the past 15 years. He has worked on campaigns for Coca-Cola, Sony, London 2012, Unilever, Carhartt, Nestle, Nike and MTV and has plenty more impressive credits under his belt, so he is no stranger to the pressure that comes from working on high-profile campaigns.

His career has taken him on a journey through some renowned studios including Attik, Zip Design, Version, Sun House and McFaul Studio.

Client List: Nike, Lucas Films, Coke Olympics 2012, Bristol City College, BBC, Discovery Channel, Hero Complex Gallery, Gallery1988, Aardman, Mondays MoCo, Lounger Productions, Clutter Magazine, Digicel, Computer Arts Magazine, AnyForty, EA Games, Hugo Boss x Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson, Nesspresso, David Guetta, Orange / EE, Clearasil, Design Council, Shortlist Magazine, Vintage TV, Mauger Modern, Luma, KIA, DJ Magazine, The Economic Review

Born in Madrid and currently based in London, Edu Fuentes has been working as a freelance illustrator since 2003, combining a wide range of commercial projects with personal work and exhibitions.

With a combination of bold colours and geometry, his artwork orbits between the symbolic and the mechanical, playing with depth of field and multilayered objects. He is inspired by science, cinema and pop culture, and makes a sisyphean attempt to learn Japanese every once in a while.

His work has been featured in the books Understanding Illustration, Ghosts of Gone Birds and Three By Three Illustration Directory.

Previous clients include: Wired UK, Mayor of London, BMW, Zurich, More Than, Monocle, Times Higher Education, GT Nexus, Kaplan, WPP, Financial Management, Bulletin, STEP Journal, FM World, WeAreBold, Oxford University Press.

Neil Edwards lives and works in Wrexham, North Wales. He specializes in Comic Book art, Character Design and Storyboarding.

After graduating with a BA Hons in Graphic Design at Carlisle College of Art and Design, he went on to produce his first commercial work for Marvel in 1996. From there he worked for graphic design agencies before becoming freelance and a marvel exclusive artist.

Since then he has worked on various books including SUPERMAN, FANTASTIC FOUR, DR WHO, SPIDER-MAN, AVENGERS, BATMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, GREEN LANTERN, TORCHWOOD and HERCULES. His SPIDER-MAN SEASON ONE graphic novel was also a New York Times best seller.

Neil has illustrated for DC comics, Valiant Comics, Marvel Comics, Titan Comics, Dynamite Comics, Lucasfilm, BBC, 2000ad, Disney, Shortlist Magazine, Wrexham Council and Hackney Council.

Berlin based Art Director and Designer working within branding, illustration, editorial design, packaging design and contemporary art. Dividing his time between personal projects and working with a variety of international clients like Sony Music, Penguin Classics, Swatch, The Guardian, Brew Dog, Jura Whisky, The Economist, Columbia Records, JP Morgan & Chase, Skoda, Jägermeister and many more.

Florian performs his own recognizable style, while also being able to adapt to his customers’ preferences. Growing up in the skate & punk scene of the 90s, he later attended art college in Düsseldorf while constantly touring the world with a variety of bands. After winning several Design awards like ADC, German Design Awards, Illustrative Nominee and Red Dot Award he became an official member of Germany’s Art Directors Club.

Juan was originally from Buenos Aires. As a young boy, he was always drawn to creating images. His first “job” was to color his newborn brother’s head in bright felt pens. He spent most of his childhood years living in the countryside and cultivating his passion for painting. After studying graphic design, he lectured at the university and worked as an in-house illustrator for different studios with clients ranging from Warner, Disney, Conspiracy and Scholastic. In 2003, Juan and his wife, Patricia decided to travel the Americas and ended up living in different countries. In 2006, they finally crossed the pond and decided to stay in Barcelona, where he started a career as a freelance illustrator.

Below are some of his most recent projects, Halloween display for Hershey’s, The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Nancy Loewen (Picture Window Books), Aprende el abecedario con adivinanza by Ramón Besora Oliva & Olga Xirinacs (Beascoa), An Interesting Pea Story by Evgenia Kolida (Modern Times), Cuentos Japoneses by Anna Gasol & Teresa Blanch Gasol (Edebe).

Barbara Bongini was born in Milan. She knew at an early age that she will be an artist. She went to an artistic high school and later enrolled in the Illustration program at the IED (European Institute of Design). After graduation, she pursued a career in children’s publishing, illustrating several series for different age groups for the largest Italian publishing houses. Barbara has considerable experience in the advertising field as well, designing packaging materials, leaflets, brochures, posters, characters and background for cartoon series. Barbara is also an author of several series of moveable children’s game-books and an album on modern art for children. When not illustrating, Barbara loves spending time with her 2 kids, watching cartoons. She also enjoys going to bookstores and building her own library of illustrated books. Her clients include: La Coccinella, Mondadori, Giunti, Raffaello Editrice, Il Capitello, Piccoli, Signorelli, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Nicola Milano Editore, La Spiga Languages, Edizioni Piemme,EL editrice, Mondadori, Emme edizioni, Einaudi, Usborne, Ladybird, Penguin Group, Scholastic, Story Time magazine, Highlights High Five magazine, Parmalat. Below are some of her recent projects, How to Grow a Monster: Gardening by Kiki Thorpe (Kane Press), The Lost and Found Weekend: Sewing by Kiki Thorpe (Kane Pr), Milano. Il gioco dell'arte by Sabrina Carollo (Mandragora), Beauty and the Very Beastly Beast & Cinderella and her Very Bossy Sisters by Mark Sperring (Scholastic), My U.S.A. Road Trip Personalized Storybook by Jennifer Dewing (I See Me), Il meraviglioso mago da Oz di L. Frank Baum by Silvia Roncaglia (Emme Edizioni), Miti del mistero. Miti greci per i piccoli by Sarah Rossi (Emme Edizioni), Usborne's Magic Painting Book series (Usborne), Fairy Ponies series by Zanna Davidson (Usborne), Al lupo, al lupo! by Stefano Bordiglioni (Emme Edizioni), Classicini series (EL), L'Incredibile Signorina Frisby by Tiziana Merani & I tre porcellini si mettono a dieta by Marica Bersan (Einaudi Ragazzi), Cleopatra, regina del deserto by Sabina Colloredo & Pablo Picasso, artista rivoluzionario by Sarah Rossi (EL).

Experienced and versatile, Mark Oliver has a bold, graphical style that is as impactful as it is engaging. His line work, color and compositional skills are second to none, and his background in advertising means he knows exactly how to meet an art director’s brief with innovative new approaches.

Even when he worked at Alliance International, Mark took the opportunity to illustrate his own ads. With over 20 years under his belt as a freelance illustrator, today he creates imagery for some of the biggest brands and top names in publishing. Now based in Worthing on the South Coast, he’s inspired by Raymond Loewy, Hergé and Eduardo Paolozzi. Mark has a degree in Graphic Design from Middlesex University.

APPROACH
Mark has used a wide range of media during his career, from physical painting and collage through to Illustrator and Photoshop. Most projects these days are tackled digitally, but he loves to draw and paint as well if it suits the commission.

STYLES
Mark works in a variety of styles that he adapts to suit the requirements of a job. His favorite at the moment involves an isometric perspective, geometric shapes and a distressed finish with a retro palette.

CLIENT LIST
Mark’s impressive client list includes Macmillan, Visa, Toyota, Volkswagen, The Times, Punch, Faber & Faber, Penguin Books, Macmillan, Bloomsbury, OUP and British Gas.

Bob Venables is the go-to illustrator for any project that requires illustrations executed in a classic style. Matisse, Hogarth, Wyeth, Rackham, Lowbrow… whatever look you’re after, Bob will deliver. He’s a pastiche illustrator par excellence.

Bob has worked on many high profile advertising campaigns, including the Profit Hunter ads for Artemis, which have run for over a decade. His versatility, eye for detail, and ability to evoke the past while conveying contemporary themes to contemporary audiences are what keep clients coming back again and again. Originally from Birmingham, Bob worked in London and established himself on the advertising scene before moving to the Isle of Wight, where life is a little more relaxed. He studied Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins gaining a BA, and did archaeological illustration for a year before becoming a freelancer.

APPROACH
Bob works in a whole range of media, depending on what’s required by the commission. On the traditional side he uses oil, acrylic, alkyd, watercolor, and pen and ink, but he’s also happy working digitally on his Wacom Cintiq.

STYLES
Primarily a pastiche illustrator, Bob is adept at recreating just about any look – from 1930s propaganda-style posters to old maps, and from neoclassical still lifes to jolly 19th century book illustrations.

CLIENT LIST
Bob works for a range of top-flight clients including Guinness, British Airways, Artemis Asset Management, the BBC, Adidas, Sony, Heinz, Tesco, Waitrose, John Smiths, FIFA, VW, BMW and the Folio Society.

Chris Long’s studio overlooks the leafy green expanse that is Clapham Common. From there he watches as the world goes by: polished young professionals hurrying for the Tube, children dawdling to school, postmen, joggers, shoppers, tramps and would-be Jeeves. Boy racers, limos, bikes and bikers, hybrids, mom trucks, double decker buses and the occasional horse drawn hearse.

In time, he’ll manage to capture them all in his charming, vibrant paintings that have over the years graced the pages and packaging of many: Mattel’s My Scene, QVC, Glamour, Penguin Books, BBC Worldwide, Vogue, Perrier, Pearson and The New York Times.

Growing up beside the sea, Chris absorbed all the brash colours, bold shapes and surreal incongruity of his hometown and channeled them into his paintings. His distinctive artwork quickly earned him a place in art school and packed off to Rome with a degree in Fine Art, Chris first drew fumetti for the notorious Italian magazine Frigidaire. A long spell at the New Musical Express gave him the chance to decorate their pages with his droll and pertinent characters of the time. Chris joined CWC in the 1990’s and immediately worked with Parco, Hanako, and Shiseido. His eye for detail and flair for characterization repeatedly attracts commissions from delighted clients in the US, Europe and Asia.

Jeffrey Fulvimari began his illustration career in 1993, and soon he was working on prestigious jobs, including commissions for Barney’s New York and regular contributions to Interview magazine. Over the years, he has gone on to work in nearly all aspects of printed media, including advertising, sales promotion and editorial layouts. His illustrations have also been animated and broadcast on Nickelodeon, MTV and VH-1, The Food Network and numerous television commercials in Japan. Jeffrey is most recently known to a wide audience for his collaboration with Madonna, illustrating her wildly successful 13 volume set of children’s books entitled The English Roses.

In 1998 Jeffrey was invited to exhibit his work at the Parco Gallery in Tokyo, which in turn launched his Japanese career. He has published two monographs in Japan: It’s OK and Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (1998) and Jeffrey Fulvimari’s Greatest Hits (2003), an eclectic collection of drawings, photos, songs and poems. He has since exhibited extensively with solo shows of his paintings and drawings throughout Japan and Asia.

Beginning in 1999, Jeffrey has produced a broad range of licensed goods in Japan and has also launched popular product lines in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Mexico and other territories. These products – covering the gamut of apparel, stationery, handbags, leather goods, bath products, household items and footwear – are sold in quality outlets including Barnes and Noble, Kohl’s, Mark’s and Spencer, Top Shop and others.

After graduating from Kanazawa Arts & Crafts University, Masaki worked at Yakult’s advertising department as a graphic designer for 9 years.

In 1993 Masaki started his career as a freelance illustrator. He drew everything from fruits to fashion, and his work reflected both an enthusiasm as well as a fascination with illustration in and of itself. Yet Masaki gradually became aware of the fact that his favorite themes were fashion and cosmetics – this seemed only natural as his father had been a tailor of women’s clothing and Masaki himself had spent time during his childhood playing with a sewing machine.

In 2000, Masaki introduced his new fashion paintings executed in his signature style: Masaki’s approach to illustration involves the use of painting knife and acrylic paint, which he will then adjust digitally.

Branching away from his signature fashion illustrations, Masaki’s recent artwork has been inspired by his pet dog, a miniature schnauzer. His ability to capture the endearing and playful nature of our canine companions has caught many people’s eyes and has earned the recognition of various clients including the renowned stationary company Caspari, Inc. They have released a line of products featuring Masaki’s illustrations of dogs and other subjects, which have been very popular in the US, Europe and Japan.