Looking Forward

Artist Mike McQuade combines NASA photos and graphics to illustrate “Looking Forward,” an article about the moon and the future, published July 14, 2019. The article notes that the moon was once just a dream, but now scientists, space agencies and companies are charting blueprints for our distant neighbor. This image is part of our collection of editorial illustrations available as unframed or framed fine-art prints.

This illustration was published in “The Next Giant Leap,” a special newspaper section in The Times commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969.

Mike McQuade is an artist and designer living and working in Richmond, Va. His work has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, American Illustration, The New York Times, Communication Arts, Art Directors Club and Vice Media. Mike’s work can be found in many major publications including The Times, The New Yorker, Wired Magazine, Vanity Fair Magazine, The Atlantic Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, The Guardian and The Baffler. McQuade also creates art and design for clients such as Nike, Penguin Books, Pentagram, Red Wing Shoes, NPR, RXBAR and a number of start-up brands.

McQuade uses thoughtful crops, color, imagery, pattern and repetition to convey a strong design concept. He lets the process lead him and isn’t afraid to start over again or allow a mistake to be the final outcome of a piece.