Breed Christmas update 2025
Where did the year go?
2025 has flown by and that means it’s time to look back at the last 12 months of Breed and share some highlights from what our artists got up to. The illustrative/creative world has always been a shifting landscape, and over the last year it’s continued to evolve, with new technology bringing new ways of thinking and new opportunities, while we balance that by continuing to honour traditional craft and the human touch. And, for us, 2025 turned out to offer some very interesting commissions.
January
What better way to start a new year than with a new short film from Danny Sangra? Which was how ours began. ‘Nobody Needed’ was inspired by someone approaching Danny with the idea of making a film where AI wrote the script, created the actors, their voices, and everything else you see and hear. A film without writing, actors or crew didn’t sound a lot of fun to Danny and the film was his response. It was filmed in Amsterdam, with the help of production company Mrs Frank, and is viewable here.
Anna Bu Kliewer crafted a portrait of ‘hipster grifter’ author Kari Ferrell for the cover of The New York Times Book Review. This was for a piece by Amanda Hess on Kari’s new book ‘You’ll Never Believe Me’.
Andy Gilmore designed the sleeve for a new album by Seattle instrumental post-rock band Delta IV called ‘Radium Arc’, which is still available to download at Delta IV’s bandcamp page.
On another continent, Elisa Alcalde held an exhibition in Santiago, Chile, of oil paintings she’d worked on over the past year. The exhibition, called ‘Te amo pero dónde estás’ (‘I love you but where are you’) was at the Galeria Solar.
February
Anna Bu Kliewer was back in February, this time illustrating an article in The Wall Street Journal’s weekend lifestyle section Off Duty. ‘Baby, It’s Chic Outside’ by Esther Achara suggested warm but stylish items for a winter wardrobe.
Annie Atkins found another way to keep warm, when she worked on the branding for Monkey 47, a gin traditionally made with 47 botanicals in Germany’s Black Forest.
March
With Easter looming, three Breed artists got the egg rolling by taking part in The Big Egg Hunt 2025. Steven Wilson, Danny Sangra and Natasha Law and other artists created over 100 2ft egg sculptures that were hidden in locations across London like Battersea Power Station and the Royal Albert Hall. Sponsored by Britain’s largest supplier of free-range eggs Clarence Court, all the eggs were eventually auctioned to raise money to support conservation programmes across south Asia.
Moving out to sea, Paula Castro illustrated an article on luxury yachts for Vol. 7. of Palmer magazine, which documents the lifestyle of the inhabitants of affluent Palm Beach in Florida.
Anna Bu Kliewer appeared in the same issue of Palmer, her imagery appearing in an article by Dana Thomas on Italian luxury fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli, who owns two stores in Palm Beach.
Yelena Yemchuk produced a new portrait in oil, featuring two figures seemingly entwined with birds, who might represent the mythical figures of swan maidens.
April
A busy month for Annie Atkins who was invited by Kon Eun-Su, the founder, owner and Chef Chocolatier of Korean luxury chocolate maker Piaf Artisan Chocolatier, to design the packaging for the Piaf’s boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day. This was something Annie had previously done a decade earlier, with considerable success, and once again the boxes sold out almost immediately.
In addition, Annie gave a lecture this month in the spectacular 18th Century Baroque building of Florence Institute of Design International.
James Joyce designed items for Art of Ping Pong, a charity exhibition and auction, which asks artists to design ping pong bats and/or ArtTables, which are then auctioned for charity. This is the second time for James, as he previously worked with them in 2016. We can’t share yet, but there will be more news on this in 2026.
Yelena Yemchuk created another portrait this month, this one featuring a bikini-clad lady taking her lion for a walk on a moon-lit night.
May
James Joyce appeared in FT Weekend Magazine, his images part of an article examining a new way of working in Japan. Employees choose which jobs they work on, and are paid in Will, an internal company currency system, which constantly drains from their account until they top it up with income from tasks completed.
When French luxury scent and candle brand Diptyque decided to open a new store, Maison Diptyque London in the capital, they asked Matt Blease to design his own range of products for the launch, including candle holders, coasters, and trays. His designs took their inspiration from the store’s location in Mayfair.
June
This month saw Matt Blease win the silver medal at the annual Society of Publication Designers design competition for his work on the Choiceology podcast from Charles Schwab. Hosted by behavioural scientist Katy Milkman, the podcast tells of occasions when behavioural economics has helped people make better decisions.
James Joyce was involved with War Child presents Secret 7” this month. This sees seven music artists contribute exclusive tracks to 7” singles. Each 7” is pressed in a limited edition of 100, with every sleeve created by a different artist, 700 unique singles in all. After being shown at the NOW Gallery, Greenwich, the singles were auctioned online, with the musicians and artists involved remaining secret until after the bidding. And all the money raised going towards War Child, which provides aid to children and families in war zones. We can now reveal that James designed a sleeve for The Cure’s ‘Warsong’ recorded live at the Troxy.
Maisy Summer made the long list for The Association of Illustration World Illustration Awards for her Drawing Diaries series, which relates tales of her travels and experiences around the world. The piece which attracted attention showed the bustling streets of Hanoi, Vietnam.
July
Andy Gilmore can always be relied on to create an illustration that encompasses the biggest of subjects. That was certainly the case when he was asked by Nature magazine to illustrate an article by chief science writer for the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences Ananyo Bhattacharya on a new proof of the Langlands conjecture, which may be a step on the way to validating the Grand Unified Theory of Mathematics. The brief required Andy to include ideas of symmetry and duality as well as the ‘complex manifolds’ of Riemann surfaces in donut and pretzel shapes. Did Andy come through? Of course he did.
This was a hyper month for Maisy Summer. First, moving on from the long list in June, this month saw her shortlisted for the Association of Illustrators’ World of Illustration Awards in the ‘Design, Product & Packaging’ category. This was for her work for the V&A helping to visualise their Experience Standards and Experience Principles. This work appeared as a poster, a concertina, and on social media, intended to help train V&A teams in the art of making visitors feel welcome. Maisy’s work will also feature in the Directory of Illustration 2026.
Then she was working with Blackwing, a team of writers, artists, musicians, designers, and DIYers who produce items like pencils, paper, and tools to enable people to be creative. Maisy helped them create the Blackwing Furoshiki (2025 Edition), a furoshiki being a traditional Japanese cloth wrap, used to protect valuables, with a history going back at least 1,000 years. Maisy’s design was inspired by Japanese illustration and made from 100% cotton shantung by Musubi in Kyoto, who have been doing this since 1937.
Finally, Maisy was one of a select band of artists whose prints were offered for sale by Creative Boom, a platform seeking to support the UK’s creative community by showcasing their work. Maisy was alongside other artists including Jimmy Turrell, Lakwena Maciver, and Mr Bingo.
At the invitation of Ogilvy NY and with the help of animation studio Niceshit, Matt Blease created a series of animated illustrations for IBM, which acted as visual metaphors for the benefits of the company’s AI business services.
August
As the heat of summer hit, things got very busy. Maisy Summer produced a ‘Where’s Wally-esque illustration’ as part of The Observer’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s coverage. Instead of Wally, you were invited to find bagpipes, a mime artist, and the famous statue of David Hume with a traffic cone on its head among other things.
When they published an interview with comedians Elissa Hamurcu and Jürgen von der Lippe, DIE ZEIT realised James Joyce’s deconstructed clown faces would be the perfect visual accompaniment. And one of them did appear as a full-page poster at the start of the article.
Danny Sangra revisited some pieces he did for Uniqlo ten years ago, a collaboration with the Walt Disney Company for the launch of the Magic for All Collection featuring Disney characters on items of clothing. To celebrate the 10th anniversary Danny’s image of Donald Duck was reissued on a Uniqlo t-shirt.
The big news this month was that photographer Rick Pushinsky joined Breed. He specialises in portraiture and menswear and has worked with Turnbull & Asser and Cubitts, and photographed people including The Beastie Boys, Ai Wei Wei and Adrien Brody.
Anna Bu Kliewer was already preparing us for autumn with the cover of an issue of the Wall Street Journal‘s lifestyle section Off Duty, relating to the article ‘Does Fall Fashion Exist Anymore?’ by Esther Adams.
September
When The New Yorker magazine decided to celebrate their centenary with a commemorative print including work by 100 of the world’s best illustrators, it was only natural they’d ask Matt Blease to participate. He also participated in the launch event that took place this month at Casa Magazines in New York’s West Village.
A few years ago, Zosia Mamet starred in Danny Sangra’s film ‘Goldbricks in Bloom’. When she published her book ‘Does This Make Me Funny?’ this month, Danny returned the favour by designing the jacket. It’s a collection of stories based around her own experience as a self-described nepo baby (she’s David Mamet’s daughter), and star of HBO series ‘Girls’.
Maisy Summer was involved in a trio of events under the name of The Pop and Pour Picture Show. Over three consecutive nights in three rooftop venues in three US cities, three films were shown – ‘Clueless’, ‘Uptown Girls’, and ‘The Birdcage’. This was to promote Graza’s new Olive Oil Popcorn and De Soi’s non-alcoholic spritzes. Maisy created the illustrations for the events, with her imagery brought to life by animation studio Hungry Sandwich.
Phillippa Mills has started a course at Newlyn School of Art in Cornwall, and we’re already looking forward to seeing the new work that comes from this.
Two of our artists – Steven Wilson and James Joyce were invited to help celebrate the 200th issue of Flaunt, an LA-based magazine of fashion and culture with a satirical edge. They both added illustrations to an advice column by Joy Watkins, ‘Are you seeking Joy?’.
This month we also took a look at Craig & Karl’s ongoing transition from two-dimensional pieces into 3D sculptural works. Those have included a mini-golf course at Montgomery Square in Canary Wharf, ‘Love Struck’, a classically inspired fountain installation at The Venetian, Macao, and their first permanent work, ‘Here and There’, unveiled this year in PyongTaek, South Korea.
October
Paperless Post is a site that allows you to design and send your own greetings cards, invites, and flyers via email, text or link. Maisy Summer is among the designers to create their own range for the site, with her huge selection of invites making their debut this month.
Anna Bu Kliewer was collaborating with fashion brand Nepenthes, putting their fall and winter collections in the spotlight by weaving her artwork into their photography taken at sites around Hackney. Another collaborative piece saw Quentin Jones creating the artwork for CHANEL’s new LE LIFT Flash Eye under-eye patches, with photographer Karim Sadli.
Finally, October saw Rick Pushinsky make his debut in our news column, with his portraits of cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker for an article in New Statesman.
November
The big news this month was that Quentin Jones’ new online store, which she had been building up to for some time, opened to the public. House of Quentin Jones offers Objects, including earthenware vases, candle holders, platters and bowls, and Tapestries, all designed by Quentin herself.
Also opening this month was the Wes Anderson: The Archives exhibition at The Design Museum. Among the countless items on display are some of the props Annie Atkins created for such films as The French Dispatch, Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of Dogs.
Danny Sangra received an unusual commission from Belma Gaudio – to design a tablecloth as a centrepiece for a dinner celebrating knitwear designer Henry Zankov and his creations appearing at the womenswear boutique she founded – KOIBIRD.
Maisy Summer found herself involved in the world of accounting when she designed an installation for digital business tools provider Intuit. The original piece was also broken down into assets for social media and elsewhere online to represent the scope of different businesses the brand caters for.
And Steven Wilson got topical with a portrait of New York’s newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani, for The Guardian Weekly.
December
Annie Atkins has been working on visuals for the interior of the new Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Covent Garden. Worth checking out if you’re in the area in 2026
Elisa Alcalde was asked by Vogue to illustrate an article on the favourite winter tipples of friends of the magazine, including womenswear designer Lucila Safdie, and fashion designers Jawara Alleyne and Conner Ives. And she did, with an image of a cocktail being made.
James Joyce helped celebrate the 175th anniversary of the University of Rochester in New York State after being commissioned by Pentagram New York to help create 15 illustrations for an edition of the Rochester Review showing 175 of the university’s major research breakthroughs.
Plus, Rick Pushinsky has been photographing Salman Rushdie for New Statesman, which is out this month.
Coming in the New Year is Danny Sangra’s next feature film project. All we know about it at the moment is the title – ‘Mostly Brutal’. It’s definitely one we’re super-excited about.
To round off the year, we were back with Palmer magazine, where Paula Castro drew detailed pictures of four museums – The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California, and the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado – for an article on how these institutions are fighting to keep attracting visitors.
And looking ahead to 2026, Quentin Jones has become the astrologer for Vogue Germany, creating photographic representations of the Zodiac for their astrology supplement.
Which brings us to the end of our month-by-month summary of events. But there’s still time for us to quickly take you through a couple of other things we’ve been up to at Breed in 2025.
We were pleased to be able to have a new photographer join us this year – Rick Pushinsky. As you’ll see above, in the short time he’s been with us, he’s already made his first mark and we look forward to seeing whet he gets up to in 2026.
We continued our podcast series Breed presents… into its third season. It’s always a pleasure meeting and talking to creative people in the wider creative world. This year they included the travel writer and podcast host Catherine Fairweather, artist and illustrator Fee Greening, Creative Director at Sunspel David Telfer, Pentagram partner Marina Willer, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries Justine Simons, co-founder of Parisian store Colette Sarah Andelman, travel writer, and founder and editor of YOLO Journal Yolanda Edwards, writer and former editor of GQ and the Evening Standard Dylan Jones, US editor of It’s Nice That Elizabeth Goodspeed, photographer and Creative Director of FT’s HTSI magazine Rasha Kahil. We’ve already started recording series four and we’re looking forward to sharing the line-up and release date with you as soon as we can in 2026.
Next year, Breed will be doing some new creative sessions, talks and seminars. More details soon, but we already know we’ll be at Falmouth University in February, the London College of Communication in May, plus a few Inkygoodness illustrator talks have been confirmed.
That’s it for 2025. All that remains is to wish every one of you a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in 2026.
Olivia and all at Breed
Images shown in order below are; Pentagram New York/James Joyce, Intuit/Maisy Summer, New Statesman/Salman Rushdie/Rick Pushinsky, KOIBIRD/Danny Sangra, House of Quentin Jones/Quentin Jones, Nepenthes/Anna Bu Kliewer, Flaunt/James Joyce, Zosia Mamet/Danny Sangra, Palmer magazine/Paula Castro, Monkey 47/Annie Atkins, Delta IV/Andy Gilmore, The Guardian/Steven Wilson and Bounce/Craig & Karl.
Breed image credit: Steven Wilson
