The Constellation Series: Jackie Cooper, Jack of Hearts Studio

There are people who sit just outside the Frank & Earnest dining table, yet they are completely woven into the work we do. This constellation series is about those people – the ones who keep showing up in the same orbit, project after project, year after year.

Jackie Cooper from Jack of Hearts Studio is one of the brightest stars in the constellation that is F&E. Truthfully, she’s often at the table too – both metaphorically and literally – and it’s impossible to talk about F&E without talking about her, too.

Before the work, there was friendship

We knew Jackie before Frank & Earnest even existed. Before the brand, the clients, the project plans and the shared drives. She was already in our world – someone we trusted, laughed with and genuinely liked being around.

That part matters, because it’s the foundation everything else has grown from.

She’s the kind of person we would never hesitate to jump in the car with for a ten-hour road trip to a job. The snacks might be questionable, the packing slightly chaotic and the playlists would always be reduced to background noise as the conversation swings wildly between big life chats and very stupid jokes.

Working together has always felt completely natural.

One of our very first collaborators

When Frank & Earnest was still a kitchen-table experiment (it still is!), Jackie was one of the first collaborators to come along for the ride. She immediately understood what we were trying to build and why story sat at the centre of it all.

That instinctive alignment is rare. You can’t manufacture it or brief it into existence. Some people simply see the world the same way you do.

Jackie is one of those people.

A kindred spirit in storytelling

Jackie values story as deeply as we do. She asks thoughtful questions, listens carefully and pays attention to the details most people miss. There is a genuine curiosity that sits at the heart of her work, and people feel it straight away.

That’s part of the reason she is so good at what she does. She has a beautiful way of being with people that makes them feel comfortable and safe long before the camera comes out. Within minutes, the nerves ease and the conversation takes over. The result is imagery that feels natural, warm and unmistakably human.

She doesn’t just capture how people look. She captures who they are, and she cares about the story behind the image just as much as the image itself.

An all-terrain collaborator

Over the years we’ve travelled a lot of kilometres together in the name of storytelling. Farms, lecture theatres, science labs, art galleries, coffee shops, flood/bushfire/drought-affected communities and the occasional questionable motel have all featured along the way.

Jackie adapts to whatever the day throws at us. She finds the light, finds the moment and somehow keeps the mood buoyant no matter the setting. She also makes us laugh, which is an underrated but essential skill on long shoot days.

Sisterhood in small business adventures

Running a small creative business is equal parts dream and chaos. Jackie understands that world because she’s living it too. She knows the scrappy beginnings, the risks, the big leaps and the quiet wins that make it all worthwhile.

In truth, she is less of a collaborator to us than a kindred spirit and sister in the small business adventure.

How lucky are we?

Somewhere right at the beginning of Frank & Earnest, Jackie agreed to cross paths with us professionally as well as personally, and we never looked back.

We get to work with someone who values story as much as we do, who brings curiosity and care to every project, and who still makes us laugh, every single job.

In the constellation of people who make F&E possible, Jack is a constant. And we feel very lucky that she is.

Bel & Peita