To celebrate National Illustration Day (28 November 2025), Emma from Hull Maritime had a chat with Joseph Cox - graphic artist and illustrator. You’ll likely recognise his work, either from popping into Form on Humber Street, from posters and maps for events like Humber Street Sesh or from the Magical Museums activity booklets.
Emma, Hull Maritime: Hi Joseph, thanks for talking to us for National Illustration Day! We’d love to ask you more about your illustration and what inspires you. Firstly, what is your favourite thing about being an illustrator?
Joseph: I think it’s discovering new things, illustration is a great way to explore new subjects. Whether that’s exploring facts and stats about outer space or exploring things closer to home like our local history.
Emma: Could you tell us a bit about your process?
Joseph: Most of my work is designed digitally using Adobe Illustrator. Often simply illustrating things I love and find interesting and later working out how they come together into artwork and imagery. More recently I’ve been bringing more texture and digital collage techniques to my work. So when I’m out visiting and discovering things, I’ll take images of textures, like old brick work, or the painted metal of a ship and later use them as layers with my illustration. Then depending on the piece I'll print them as screen prints
Emma: A lot of your work celebrates Hull, from illustrations of its bridges to artwork for festival and events. Do you have a favourite Hull based thing to illustrate?
Joseph: Anything in the realms of mechanical or engineering - machines, bridges, technology. I think there’s something interesting in the aesthetic of old engineering that really captures me. Not only in the function and how impressive they are but there’s something the mathematics of the shapes interconnecting can make for great inspiration on more abstract work.
Emma: This year you took part in a maritime themed exhibition as part of Freedom Festival. Could you tell us a bit more about what you created and why?
Joseph: I was kindly asked by Eclectic Music (based on Maister House) to be a part of their ‘Walk The Plank’ Maritime exhibition alongside a selection of other fantastic artists.
I’ve done a lot of maritime themed work over the last few years but wanted something new to include. I started exploring the whaling history as something I’ve not really dipped into before. But found it a tricky subject to create work people might want on their walls as our connection to whaling is somewhat gory. So I took a more scientific/biological approach and created pieces on various whales including their scientific info. Having said that, I did include one nod to the whaling history. A common explanation why the Right Whale was so called is because it was the ‘right’ whale to hunt. So I felt I had to keep a nod to this in there and used old imagery of whaling within the background.
Emma: You’ve also created some beautiful prints of both the Arctic Corsair and the Spurn Lightship. What inspired you to create them?
Joseph: As well as just a general enjoyment of engineering and them both being things I’ve seen and loved since I was a kid visiting Hull museums. I’m also keen to celebrate our local heritage and help raise it up. One way I think we can do this is by creating artwork of it, which helps emphasise its importance and value to a place.
Emma: What advice to do you have for people who would like to be an illustrator?
Joseph: Just get started, get drawing, create the work you love and inspires you. Social media makes things a lot easier to get out there now, so you start chucking things online and if people vibe with it, it can lead to opportunities, commissions, exhibitions etc.
Embrace your cringe (something I’m still learning to do), it’s usually a sign you’re doing something right and being different from everyone else.
Emma: Hull is a really creative city so there are always plenty of opportunities to take part in creative and cultural activities and see what other creative people are working on. On that note, which other illustrators and designers inspire you?
Joseph: Hopefully not a cop-out but most of the time it’s unknown illustrators and designers that I find inspiring. Amazing creatives who are hidden as it comes from places where the creator is faceless - old packaging, signage, bits of ephemera, vintage flyers and that kind of thing - where there’s a designer behind them somewhere but often there’s no way to know without some heavy research.
But since you mentioned Hull’s amazing creative scene, I would want to shoutout to some locals who I think are doing fantastic work across various fields, there’s too many to mention really but Layla Jabbari, Isobelle Cochrane, Melissa Foster and John Dearing are all doing great work.
Emma: Finally, where can we see more of your work?
Joseph: Online, generally going to my Instagram is best, I post new bits I’m working on. Or in person in Form Shop & Studio the shop I run with my partner on Humber Street.
Emma: Thanks very much Joseph, and happy National Illustration Day!
Joseph Cox is a graphic artist and illustrator based in Hull, East Yorkshire with 15 years’ experience in the creative industries. Joseph’s work encompasses illustration, product design, graphic design, animation and print inspired by music, technology, architecture, local surroundings, engineering and more. Joseph get inspired by projects where he can learn something, and can dig in and pull out the details of what it's about.
Find Joseph’s work at:
Website: https://josephjcox.co.uk/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/josephjcox
Work for sale: https://heyform.co.uk/collections/vendors?q=Joseph%20Cox
