Art directors take note, Jacob Stead's a future master of editorial illustration

It’s hard to say whether Jacob Stead’s illustrations are fun and friendly or deeply sinister. On the one hand his work features the kind of jovial goings on you’d expect to find at a summer festival; hippies on tandems, tattooing and woodland walks all give his work an approachable feel. But then there’s the witch-hunters, tarot inspired imagery and the decapitated boar that serves as his website’s masthead that makes us think maybe there’s something demonic lurking within this Bristol-based illustrator.

Occult or otherwise, Jacob’s talents are enviable and alongside simple, effective image making, he’s also got the gift of the editorial wit, creating illustrations for serious pieces of journalism that support their texts with complete visual adroitness. Oh, and he’s only been out of university for a year. One to look out for folks; this guy’s going to be huge.