ABOUT
Patricia McShane and Erik Adigard are founders of M-A-D (aka MADxs), a cross media art & design studio. Their creative path has followed commissions in brand positioning, interaction design, visual communication, art & media installation, and environmental design & placemaking intervention. McShane and Adigard were among the first artists/designers to use the new digital tools to create illustration and imagery. A critical perspective on contemporary concerns has remained, in early years as technology was reframing all aspects of life, and more recently, as culture is being challenged to redefine the forces of socio-economics.
Each project is approached through a learning, collaborative, and critical process. Mixing iterative design cycles with well-planned reviews progressively defines and meets complex objectives. Notable works include visual essays and websites for Wired, branding campaigns for IBM, HP/Compaq and Concordia University, exhibit designs for Spontaneous Interventions and Quantified Self, and art & design commissions for biennales in Paris, Lisbon, St Etienne and Venice.
20 year history in images…
Their work continues to receive international recognition for its stylistic, conceptual and innovative contributions to the world of design, and is included in Meggs’ History of Graphic Design.
MAJOR AWARDS
- Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design
- Venice Biennale National Participation Special Mention: U.S.A. Pavilion
- Rome Prize: design
- Public Art Network Year in Review/Americans for the Arts National Recognition award: StreeTALK
- Dai Nippon Award: Interactive Media
- ID +Print magazine’s Gold Awards
SHOWN AND/OR IN PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- Denver Art Museum
- Pasadena Museum of Art
- Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
- Wellcome Trust in London
- London Design Museum
- Sundance Film Festival
- Venice and Lisbon Biennales
PATRICIA McSHANE studied art, photography, and sculpture at SFSU and received a BFA in design from CCAC. She has served as adjunct faculty at California College of the Arts and has been a member of Astra Women’s Business Alliance and Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
ERIK ADIGARD DES GAUTRIES studied art and semiotics at the Sorbonne, Paris and Beaux Arts, Montpellier, and received a BFA in design at CCAC. He serves as adjunct faculty at California College of the Arts, where he teaches graduate level design theory. Adigard is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and American Institute of Graphic Design (AIGA). He has acted as an advisor for both Adobe Systems Academic Achievement Awards and California College of the Arts. Adigard lectures and juries internationally at academic institutions.
PRIMARY COLLABORATORS PAST AND PRESENT
media strategy: Chris Salter, Mark Petrakis
sound design, media strategy: John Alderman
social media strategy: Stephen Ruiz
marketing strategy/copywriting: Steven Mason
flash and video production: Gregory Cowley, Mike Axinn
web technologies: Philip Foeckler, Mike Kay
product design: Herbie Pfeifer
fabrication: Bruce Koball, Robert Bilbrey
architecture: Tim Rempel
Their Berkeley building is shared with architects, computer engineers, mechanical and industrial designers, and musicians who inspire enthusiasm in their work.