2024
Undone
ARTIST BOOK | EDITION OF 14
Undone is a personal expression of loss, love, and change written one year after my dad’s passing. The memoir takes shape as a Blizzard Book, a single piece of paper that binds itself into a book with pockets for inserts and hidden flaps when folded correctly.
The title, chosen to describe relationships with grief, plays on the idea of unfolding a structure to discover new parts of the story.
The Artist’s Proof is wrapped with a risograph printed poster from the Liminal Figures book launch, a collaborative project that brought a great sense of pride during the experiences presented in Undone.
2023
Lautner
TYPEFACE
Lautner is a typeface that borrows structural forms from John Lautner’s architecture, designed to pair with photography of his iconic mid-century homes in southern California.
Different components of the typeface honor the individuality of chosen architectural sites. If multiple parts are found together in one letterform, the building blocks harmonize under one voice that speaks across the lines of type in use.
Although all of John Lautner’s homes stand alone as a unique structure, independent from the rest of his projects, the same mind and level of skill are reflected in the profiles of each building.
2025-6
Retrograde
BOOk
I am writing and getting filmed developed as the story experiences itself.
-03.15.26 @ 12:20AM
Ok also I’m figuring out that I’m in charge of deciding when the book ends and life does not happen slowly enough for that to be easy.
-03.18.26 @ 12:31AM
2022-4
The Collective
8.5X11 MAGAZINE
The Collective is a biannual publication that discusses contemporary issues in the fashion industry through the styling of locally sourced apparel. The magazine unifies designers across different disciplines working under a team effort, celebrating how photography, journalism, fashion, and publication design contribute to the continuation of a brand and body of work.
Content on this page includes final documentation of original ideas and designs that I contributed to the team.
2025
River Man
King Tide Edition
BOOk | EDITION OF 22
Before my second art fair event, I redesigned River Man into a soft cover version that I printed on demand. The pages hold a new system of overlayed photography for a more ghost-like feel... told from my hazy memories.
I displayed the original, handmade River Man at my first art book fair table. My friends all wanted copies and my community quickly grew interested in the story. I was not able to sell them affordably, and there are only 5, so River Man 2 happened.
2023
Cells
ARTIST BOOk | ONE OF ONE
Cells is a handmade publication that functions as a plant tactility chart, highlighting how the natural structures of each specimen hold more value than what some may see as just a leaf and a stem.
Pressed cuttings were sewn into the pages alongside short descriptions printed on the risograph. The needle and thread were secured to the back cover to honor the fragility of the work and its contents, even after the plants age away.
2023
Crossroads
REBRAND + VISUAL IDENTITY
Crossroads is Appalachian State University’s coffee shop that serves fresh coffee and baked goods from local partnerships in an on-campus location best suited for the busy schedules of students and faculty.
The visual identity reflects the vibrant nature of the student union and the shared connections made as students break to grab a drink or catch up on assignments.
Designing a coffee shop logo in a way that has yet to be done before was a challenge. I brainstormed ways to incorporate parts of Crossroad’s centerpiece, a giant, six-head, stainless steel espresso machine, into the shop’s new brand identity.
With dials, pipes, and gauges in mind, and the fact that most students rely on espresso to power them through the day, I was inspired by the aesthetics surrounding vintage American gas stations. Who wouldn’t love to refuel at an exciting-looking pit stop along their route?
The final logo’s winding curves symbolize the unique paths customers take from their classes to Crossroads.
2023
Liminal Figures
BOOk | EDITION OF 200
This extensive publication design endeavor acts as an exciting and compelling piece of printed matter, commemorating how the graduating graphic design cohort has collectively embraced transitional phases of life through their capstone research subjects.
Liminal Figures invites future graphic design exhibitions to consider taking a different shape than the standard gallery show.
Book Launch - Southend Brewing Co., Boone, NC
Art & Design Expo - The Smith Gallery, Boone, NC
GD Department Archival Book Collection - Appalachian State University
Part of Liminal Figures’ appeal comes from its layout of irregular page sizes. Back when the book’s physical form was only an idea, we looked to exhibition catalogs and art journals that used typography and color systems to streamline the reader’s experience through a wide range of featured content. We were interested in having different page sizes, each with a specific content restriction, to help each designer find space for their abstract, process work, and final designs inside the allotted one-spread view.
With one full bleed image on the left page, two half-pages in the middle (of vertical then horizontal orientation), and a full page on the right side, we agreed on a solution that worked around each designer having to shove a year’s worth of research onto just two pages. Amidst our cohort’s newfound excitement, we unknowingly created the biggest publication design/production nightmare our department has faced before…
A full-page layout consists of a five-column, eight-row grid with a 0.5-inch margin. Knowing that each half-page needed to sit on the same grid, the vertical page includes two of the five columns while the horizontal page only has four of the eight rows.
I enjoy working with Adobe Indesign and volunteered to design the template file for all of us: however, when I realized the half-pages also needed margins and could not simply click into place on the grid, my head almost popped.
After taking a step back and grounding in my peers for help, we finalized the alternate grids that introduced shortened columns/rows depending on the orientation of the page.
We printed Liminal Figures through an outsourced service. Pressured by the days until our book launch event and strong determination to have the infamous half pages, sending our finalized publication off to print involved more personal labor than we advertised.
Since no company within our reach could cut the white halves out of all 200 of our books, we outsourced the imposed file, trimming the half-pages and constructing the books in-house. 600 staples later, we collated each folded and trimmed signature into their designated stacks, taking turns building each book one page at a time.
2023
Fifty
ARTIST BOOk | ONE OF ONE
This collection of paper memories plays with the idea of storytelling through material use rather than communicating through design itself.
In the selection of 50 papers, I noticed how many movie tickets, maps, old sketchbooks, and boarding passes I hold on to. A poster of my dad’s favorite album... the table of contents from an empath’s survival guide my mom gave me... my first traffic ticket.
At first, I structured the content by ordering the papers from white to the color of the inks on the page. As I went on, I thought it would be more enjoyable if the descriptions reflected the intrusive thoughts that popped up in my mind at the first sight of each sample.
2023
Within
STARTUP BRAND + VISUAL IDENTITY
Within is a behavioral health program disguised as a whimsical virtual realm where users have full access to explore curated meditation levels and meet with their real-life therapist via VR headset. Sliding down silky hills and bouncing across pink clouds on the way to your next learning experience makes problems on planet Earth seem small and evermore so manageable.
Visuals and 3D-rendered imagery included in the brand guidelines are those of Mo Eid.
Multiple client meetings resulted in solidifying the company’s visual identity and naming direction. “Within” best reflects the immersive VR experience as well as the addressing of issues and traumas inside the mind through therapy. A calm and soft visual language coincides with the client's desire to build a trustworthy reputation and safe space for customers.
The company’s logo blends symbols of brain wavelengths and the outline of VR goggles. The mind is depicted as a circle, an endless yet complete shape, that peacefully finds space inside the rolling waves of the W letterform.
McQuade continues to implement this identity into various forms of rendering software as she constructs the world of Within herself.