Neil is a very successful picture book illustrator. He's best known for the magnificent editions of The Odyssey and The Iliad produced by Walker Books/Candlewick Press and written by Gillian Cross and has worked for many other publishers. Born in Trinidad and with a childhood spent there as well as in Libya, Scotland, Wales and England, he studied graphics, illustration and printmaking at Colchester and he has spent many years working not just in publishing but also in advertising and graphic design. Neil’s original paintings have found their way into collections around the world. His most recent book is the illustrated children’s edition of Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan. He chose to illustrate the various different periods by using art styles of that time, a feat which most artists would find daunting. Neil's work is distinctive and immediately recognisable. It is going to be exciting to see this very unique work licensed onto various different products.

Always fascinated by the idea of taxonomy, Neil’s first book as an author illustrator is a clever interweaving of the story of a young boy seen as a journey through various different means of classifying and sorting things into where they belong. Family members, different sorts of cats, different animals, musical instruments, vehicles, tools, clouds, buildings and many more. It’s a fascinating collection, and one that has great scope for translation into product.

Patterns created using the themes from One of a Kind. All sorts of product mock ups to inspire!

Exciting new license with New York Puzzle Company!

These 24 images are from one spread of the One of a Kind book. Featuring cats as painted in various art styles through the ages. Fascinating!

Homer’s great story is retold with simplicity and style by award-winning children’s writer Gillian Cross, and vividly brought to life in Neil Packer’s stunning illustrations. It charts the ten year epic voyage of Odysseus as he returns from the Trojan War to the island of Ithaca. On his journey he encounters all manner of perils, from the man-eating Cyclops and the evil sorceress Circe, to the deadly lure of the Sirens and the wrath of the sea-god Poseidon. Neil Packer’s striking imagination, and his extraordinary use of colour and dramatic silhouettes, capture the terrors of Odysseus’s travels as well as the dangers faced by his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus at home. The illustrations are a perfect complement to Gillian Cross’s beguiling narrative, which transports the reader effortlessly into Homer’s world.

Gillian Cross's brilliant retelling and Neil Packer's glorious illustrations bring to life Homer's Iliad, one of the greatest stories ever told. Cross's vivid adaptation begins with a beauty contest: the prize, a golden apple. In return for securing her victory, the goddess Aphrodite helps Prince Paris abduct Helen, wife to the king of Sparta. Enraged, the king and his Greek allies wage war on the Trojans. Nine years later, the fighting still rages on, but the Greeks are beginning to quarrel among themselves – Achilles and Agamemnon's petty argument has dire consequences for everyone caught in the crossfire. Neil Packer's pictures capture the beauty and remoteness of the setting, and bring a profound humanity to one of the finest literary achievements of Greek civilisation.