Toby Melville-Brown’s Illustrated Diary of 2025

At the start of 2025, Toby Melville-Brown set himself a simple but meaningful challenge: to record his most special memories of the year as a series of small square drawings. Each piece captures a personal moment, building a visual diary of growth, reflection and creativity.

The project began as a response to a friend’s encouragement to bring more of himself into his work. This allowed him to take a new creative approach to illustrating while pushing him out of his comfort zone.

Toby shared with us a bit about how this project came to be:

“A friend recently challenged me to insert more of myself into my work. In life, I love performance, storytelling and karaoke. But my persona as an illustrator has always been more detached. Focussed more on objects than subjects.

I've had a wonderful year. Much growth. So it felt like the perfect opportunity to draw from my experiences. As a way of documenting, yes, but also practicing and honing those subjects I would otherwise not have drawn.

This project brought me great joy. And the limited palette and consistent framing forced me to be creative within the boundaries. I'd encourage anyone to do the same.”

The result is a thoughtful collection of illustrations that feel both intimate and playful, celebrating a year of change while expanding his artistic voice.

You can see more of his creative journey on his personal Instagram account, where Toby shares highlights of the different seasons.

If you’d like to work with Toby, please contact: [email protected]

At illo agency, we pride ourselves in representing a collation of global illustrators, distinctly diverse in creativity and uniquely celebrated by like-minded clients across a range of commercial markets.