Shannon McQuade
Decorative illustrations and surface designs inspired by whimsy & nature.
About
As an illustrator I am drawn to creating decorative surface designs, products and packaging. My style is adaptable but is often motif heavy and consisting of soft or warm colour palettes inspired by nature. I work mostly digitally using programmes such as Procreate, Photoshop and Illustrator and have a HND qualification in Fashion and Textiles.
V&A x Bruce James Talbert
One of my favourite projects that I’ve taken part in over my final year was to create illustrated merchandise inspired by Victorian surface designer Bruce James Talbert from the V&A’s, Scottish Design Gallery. For this project I designed an ornate silk scarf by Talbert’s intricate wood carvings and furniture designs. I enjoyed the whole process of this project from the product design, packaging design to the photography and would consider it to be one of my strongest projects in my folio.
Granny’s Garden
I really enjoyed allowing myself freedom to explore throughout this project with the loose aim to develop illustrated surface designs with the intent to be used on homeware inspired by British Gardens. The name granny’s garden was also a nod to encourage viewers to embrace commonly considered “granny” activities such as bird watching, growing vegetables, quilting and to generally slow down and take a closer look at nature all around us.
Daisy Jones & the Six, Penguin Book Cover Competition 2024
For my cover of Daisy Jones and the Six, I wanted to incorporate a range of motifs in a patchwork format to give the readers a hint to what they could expect from the story. I also chosen to use a limited retro colour palette and typeface to imply the era the story was set.
If you would like to support me please consider following my Instagram account. If you are interested in purchasing any of my work or interested in commissions, wholesale or collaborations please do not hesitate to reach out to me via my email.