Collage of various patterns and illustrations, including a bird, flowers, a honeybee, leaves, grid paper, technical lines, and silhouettes of birds in flight.

where branding, illustration, and tattoo converge to offer a uniquely cohesive experience.

Shirokuro (白黒) is a Japanese word that literally means “black and white.” It’s used to describe clarity, contrast, and definition. But beneath its simplicity lies something deeper.

In Japanese aesthetics, black and white are not just opposites. They represent balance. Presence and absence. Form and space. Nothing, and everything.

We believe that emptiness is not a void, but a space full of potential.

In Zen philosophy, black and white represent not just opposites, but harmony — between form and emptiness, between presence and space.

We believe that true creativity lives in this space — the space between.


Between black and white is where meaning emerges.
Where identity becomes visible.
Where silence turns into voice.

  • One wild girl. Her name is Valentina Zagaglia and she's obsessed with creating visuals out of her savage mind. She thrives on creativity and she is constantly learning something new from digital to crafts from music to languages.

    Graduated in 2016 at the London College of Communication in Design for Graphic Communication and 2007 at Scuola Internazionale di Comics, Rome in Illustration.

    Heartquakes (still Valentina!!) tattoed for the very first time in 2002 and waited very long time, something like 20 years to improve skills in order to touch the skin again. That's the amount of respect that she gave to this craft.

  • Branding, illustration, and tattoo artistry, though distinct, are interlinked through their roles in visual storytelling, identity, and personal expression. Here’s how these three areas connect:

    Branding: Establishes the visual identity of a business or individual through logos, color schemes, typography, and overall design. It sets the tone and communicates the core message or values of the brand.

    Illustration: Adds depth and personality to branding by visually interpreting and enhancing the brand’s message. Custom illustrations can bring a brand’s story to life with unique, engaging visuals.

    Tattoos: Serves as a personal expression of identity or values. For individuals, tattoos can reflect personal connections to a theme or a topic or value as in branding and it’s a visual representation like illustrations. tattoos can become a physical manifestation of the person’s values or aesthetic creating an identity just like branding does.

    All of them reflect an emotion and suggest a narrative, evoke a feeling and create an atmosphere and they all the same focus: to create an identity, to be memorable, unique and personal.

  • This space is virtual and can work remotely from anywhere and adapt to your time and schedule.

    Currently based in London more precisely Leyton but often fly to Italy (Fermo, Marche Region and Rome).

    For tattoos you can find me at Portobello Tattoo and Piercings and Nana s Room in Angel and The Blue tattoo in Hammersmith.

    In Italy I can tattoo you in Fermo and Rome but I can find guest spots near you!