Hello!
My name is Mary - I am an illustrator and designer from Manchester, UK.
From designing for Simon & Schuster to reaching 55,000+ sales worldwide with my self-published colouring books, I am highly skilled in creating designs that appeal to all audiences. I also hold a First Class degree in Textile Design and love creating beautiful patterns for the baby, child, stationery and home markets.
When I'm not designing, you’ll usually find me playing cozy games, reading or travelling to new places with my partner.
Read more about my business journey below
Education
University Degree
I studied Textile Design at Leeds Arts University, graduating with First Class Honours. It was here that I discovered my passion and specialism in children’s and nursery design and began taking the first steps towards building my first business.
Love Kiddo
First Business
​Love Kiddo was my first brand, a personalised gifting store for babies, nurseries and children. I created every product by hand, including personalised keepsakes, wall art prints, décor, invitations, greetings cards and seasonal items.
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Alongside this, I built a blog, an engaged community of Instagram mums (who became my brand ambassadors) and was featured in several publications. I absolutely loved building this business - it taught me so much!
As Seen In
Publications
Love Kiddo was featured in 4 issues of British Vogue, House & Garden, Tatler and House of Coco. I was also interviewed by House of Coco - you can read it here.
Pinch-me moments!
Freelance
Bespoke illustration work
I had the pleasure of collaborating with a range of lovely businesses throughout Love Kiddo, designing illustrations for products, custom colouring books and activity packs, greetings cards to accompany product ranges, and bespoke colouring sheets.
Each project was tailored to the brand’s style and audience, creating thoughtful, playful designs that enhanced their products. You can view some of these projects here.
Mary Hart Design Studio
Second Business
What began as a personal project to create a range of colouring books evolved into Mary Hart Design Studio, my current business. My colouring books have now sold over 55,000+ copies worldwide, a milestone that inspired me to expand my creative horizons even further.
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I decided to create a new sub-brand - Honey Bloom, a digital clip-art store focusing on easy to use assets for all creative projects. I am also currently expanding into wholesale partnerships for my colouring books and working on a range of freelance projects, with an aim to grow my textile design catalogue in the near future.
Whether you are looking for digital assets, a retail partner, or bespoke design work, I’d love to connect!
Officially a Published Illustrator
Big News!
Becoming an officially published illustrator was a major milestone for my design career. I was thrilled to be approached by Simon & Schuster - one of the top 5 publishers globally - to illustrate A Pocketful of Whimsy, a charming series of mini colouring books. Bringing detailed titles like Woodland Creatures to life was an incredible creative journey. You can read more about the collection here.​