About us

Heart was founded in 1994 by Darrel Rees, a practicing illustrator. The agency was conceived while Darrel was part of the studio collective Big Orange, where he worked alongside nine other illustrators. This became the inspiration for the agency that emerged. 

The Big Orange reputation was built on events such as warehouse parties, exhibitions of work and a generally irreverent attitude to the practice of illustration whilst still being focused on creating strong work which was big on ideas. Compared to Darrel’s own representation at the time, the spirit of the studio was a breath of fresh air and a lot of fun.

The drive behind setting up Heart was to bring together a dynamic group of artists with mutual respect and some shared views on the industry and to be practitioners who could present themselves to clients in a way they wanted to be presented. Of the fifteen artists at its launch, Heart represented seven out ten of the Big Orange studio members.

The belief is still that if we do a good job of representing artists fairly and liaising in our own way with clients in an even-handed manner, the results are positive and from here flows the successes of the agency.

The plain-speaking collegiate atmosphere of Big Orange was to continue as Heart moved to its own studio working alongside some of its represented illustrators. Then in a move to Dalston in 1999 Heart became part of a larger 4500sq ft studio again working alongside a number of its represented illustrators as well as designers, photographers and architects. At this time Amanda Mason joined as an agent, and in 2001 when the New York office opened Helen Osborne joined the agency, followed by Jenny Bull in 2007. Amanda, Helen and Jenny all come from an illustration or graphic design background.

The four of us ran the US office, on the corner of Broadway and East Houston in rotation for several years. Then Amanda settled in New York, and she now runs the agency at the Cable Building in New York, working with clients across North America. Jenny is responsible for the agency in London, which works with clients around the world. Helen heads up both the agencies and works with clients via both offices at Heart. Darrel Rees continues to work as a represented illustrator at Heart as well as managing the two agencies.

Heart now represents thirty-one artists based in the UK, US, France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands who collectively represent a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts and whose reputations are well regarded. Some artists have been represented since the agency’s inception, some we’ve had the pleasure of representing for a shorter period of time. Friendship and respect amongst the artists, has created a collective bond. We feel they are a group of people that have a striking dedication to their work, with a strong emphasis on unique processes, craft and conceptual thinking. We like and trust the artists we represent and consequently we believe clients will too.