Mike McQuade

Mike McQuade is an American artist, illustrator, and graphic designer who lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.

When one looks at Mike McQuade’s work, it is clear that he has exceptional skills in many areas, such as branding, illustration, design, collage, and typography. His collage works use careful crops of images that appear torn apart, giving them a hand-crafted appearance. His collage work consists of a minimal greyscale palette with an accent color. Mike McQuade’s intentional use of materials, color choice, imagery, pattern, and repetition convey a strong concept and meaning in his works.

Mike McQuade got into graphic design in high school, where he was interested in skating and its community. The community’s logos and branding sparked his interest in brands and working with their visual identity. Originally an animation major, he graduated from the Art Institute of Philadelphia with a degree in Graphic Design. His first job was with a small company called Avenue Razorfish, which is now known as just Razorfish, as a designer of their marketing banners. Even though he believed the work was “cut and dry, not that exciting” (brandisea.com), he still appreciated the work he did with the brand and other small companies along the way. Today McQuade has over 11 years of experience in the field and is a regular illustrator for many high-profile publications.

Mike McQuade and wife Nicole co-founded their design studio, “The McQuades,” in 2015. Mike does much of his work alongside Nicole in their studio. Like her husband, Nicole McQuade is a freelance designer and illustrator, and she specializes in branding, info graphic design, long-format design, collateral design, and illustration.

The McQuades’ collective small studio is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They believe that, at its core, great design is problem-solving. The two see branding as a core part of their studio and approach all branding with the same creative process, regardless of the size–by finding the company’s essence and building its visual identity. The McQuades often use illustration in their graphic design work and see the goal of illustrating as solving a problem and conveying a message. Like their branding approach, they first look for the concept and then the style.

The 2013 Chicago Marathon was the 36th edition, held annually in October. As the Marathon has increased in popularity, more local, national, and international charities and humanitarian organizations have participated in sponsorship as a means of fundraising. The McQuades worked with Nike on their campaign for the 2013 Chicago Marathon, allowing him to showcase his exhibition design, illustration, and typography skills. The team created graphics for window displays, which McQuade constructed from concrete and neon lights, and displayed at local running stores.

The bright colors contrasted against the black and drew people in. When locals wore brightly-colored clothing displaying graphics of their city, it expressed their Chicago pride during one of the nation’s largest marathons.

James does these tours annually, focusing on empowering youth, promoting community service, and staying healthy and active. McQuade and his team worked primarily with a color palette of black, white, grey, and a red-orange color that resembles a basketball.

The posters follow a composition similar to a collage, with images of young and present LeBron James, presentations of Nike athletic shoes, motivational quotes, and the Nike symbol in the bottom right corner. He cropped them to look like they were ripped from a scrapbook, giving the posters an organic, dynamic energy.