Portfolio

I've been fortunate to work with a range of amazing clients including brands, government agencies, magazines, cultural institutions, and non-profits.

I have drawn editorial content, movie posters, report illustrations, website spot illustrations, custom cards, and more.

While a lot of my work is black ink with splashes of colour, I also love to create, and am experienced in, full colour illustrations. I aim to convey messages clearly, but with an unexpected or whimsical note.

Select work is included below, with more examples of work, including my ink and watercolour pieces, found in the sidebar menu.

If you're looking to get in touch, you can email me at jake@jaketobin.ca.

Queer Love, Joy, Connection and Resilience

Four illustrations for The 519 Community Centre--a community centre that serves the queer community in Toronto's Village--for their end of year giving campaign, 2024. The brief was to create four images that showcased queer love, joy, connection, and resilience using greyscale and pops of colour to highlight certain elements.

Put On Notice

Select illustrations from an ongoing series, Put on Notice, which aims to document a moment in time in Toronto's Church-Wellesley neighbourhood (aka the Gay Village) as new developments threaten to change the face of the community. Several illustrations and an essay written by me were published in The Globe and Mail, July 2024.

Queer Party Moments

Four illustrations that aimed to capture the spirit, joy, and sexiness of queer parties. 2024.

Queer Bars From Days Gone By

A series of illustrations featuring lost queer bars in Toronto commissioned by the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) for Pride 2023.

Storefronts

A selection of storefront illustrations, including an illustration commissioned by Mosaic Books in Kelowna, 2024. These were done as primarily greyscale with pops of colour to highlight certain elements.

Four years without parole

My take on Trump’s second term as the first President convicted of a felony. 2024.

Hanlan's Beach Coming/Going

Ink on watercolour of the path coming to Hanlan's Beach in Toronto and then going from the beach. 2024.

A Bright Future

Illustration for Environmental Defence campaign to end fossil fuel subsidies. Brief was to show a sustainable, bright future with local food, transit, and renewable energy in a city enjoyed by people of all ages, abilities, and background. 2024

Clean Car Standard

Full page newspaper illustration for Environmental Defence's Clean Car Standard campaign. October 2023.

Tailing Ponds

Illustration for a report on tailing ponds in the Alberta oil sands, portraying the amount of waste in tailing ponds to 544,000 Olympic swimming pools. 2022.

Canada's Housing Crisis is Getting Worse

Cover illustration for the Jan/Feb 2024 issue of This Magazine for a feature article on Toronto's Rwandan community building its own solution to the housing crisis.

Sex and Silence on the Hill

Magazine cover image for Maisonneuve, Spring 2018 issue for feature article by Justin Ling on sex and silence in Canadian politics.

Chatelaine Magazine

Multiple illustrations for a spread on unique Canadian indie bookstores in the Sept/Oct 2021 issue of Chatelaine Magazine. 2021.

The Viruses Within

Illustration in The Strand, Nov 2020 issue for “The viruses within our bodies may contain clues to fighting cancer.”

Purrfect Day

Mini comic commissioned by Italic Press for public display at 380 Adelaide Street in Toronto. 2023.

Cartoons

A selection of cartoons responding to current events, social situations, and whatever other weird things my brain thinks up.

Brokeback Mountain

Poster created for Queer Cinema Club in Toronto--a monthly viewing of essential queer films at the Paradise Theatre--for their showing of Brokeback Mountain in February 2023.

Happy Holidays from Allan Gardens

Holiday card illustration for MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam in Toronto. 2022.

It's a bird, it's a place, it's--

Marketing image for Superman at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. February 2024.

Select Clients

• LCBO
• The 519 Community Centre
• Maisonneuve Magazine
• Chatelaine Magazine
• Toronto Symphony Orchestra
• Toronto Dance Theatre
• Deciem (aka The Ordinary)
• Book City
• Munro's Books
• Environmental Defence
• Park People
• Ontario Place For All

Get in touch about a project

Email me at jake@jaketobin.ca to discuss a project!