Illustration can reflect personal and universal experiences. This book, marking thirty years of Heart, is a combination of both
To celebrate our anniversary, we asked the Artists to create images inspired by a significant event from one year between 1994 and 2025. Some chose to illustrate historical moments or public events; others looked inward, drawing on memories or fleeting personal experiences. Together, these images form a kind of visual timeline — not linear or definitive, but intimate and subjective. They reveal the singular talents and distinct perspectives of each of the Artists at Heart
1994-1996: Studio parties and Darrel, Founder of Heart
Masha Krasnova Shabaeva: 1994
Listening to a bootleg copy of Blur's newly released Parklife, back in my hometown of Ufa, Russia
Brett Ryder: 1999
Y2K Doomsday
2002: Darrel and Helen introduce Beat at the Heart USA launch exhibition at The ADC in New York
Alongside the artwork, we’ve included photos from agency parties, exhibitions, and gatherings over the past thirty years. This forms another kind of timeline — one that captures the spirit of the agency, as well as the friendships between the Artists and us, their agents
Jason Ford: 2003
A memorable trip to the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco
Michael Kirkham: 2008
An imagined private moment of calm for President Barack Obama following his election
Manshen Lo: 2011
Dreaming of an English summer
George Wylesol: 2013
I spent most of my time cleaning floors and installing hospital cable systems - while the Baltimore Ravens won the NFL Super Bowl
Harriet Lee Merrion: 2014
I reached a crossroads, both in life and practice and discovered new perspectives that fundamentally expanded my work
Romy Blümel: 2015
The year that the US Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage nationwide
Michelle Mildenberg Lara: 2018
Watching the World Cup final between France and Croatia from a bar in Amsterdam - the day I decided to make this city my home
2020: The year that we moved with the Artists, from our warehouse studio on De Beauvoir Road
To provide context, each year is also accompanied by three historical facts. These weren’t chosen to erase difficult or tragic events of the past three decades, but rather to ‘accentuate the positive’ — and hopefully raise a smile
Mike Haddad: 2024:
Rise of the Crawlers
Frith, Jason, Ian, Shonagh and Marion, Tysoe Street 1997
Ultimately, this book is a celebration of three decades of drawing, creating, thinking, and collaborating.
With thanks to all the Artists, Colleagues, and Clients that we've worked with over the past thirty years — and here’s to the next thirty!
© 2025 Heart Agency
Design and build by Josh Attwood Studio
