Mau Cardoso — Cartoon Illustrator & Animator, Brazil

Mixing a love of cartoons and comics with naïve humour and vibrant colour palettes, Mau Cardoso creates wildly imaginative illustrations and witty animations for clients across Brazil and around the world. His characters range from the sly to the silly and his concepts from clever to crazy, but whatever Mau creates, it’s charged with energy and excitement.

The pandemic was a turning point for Mau and his creativity. An experienced graphic designer, he found work was drying up, so he started drawing and sharing his creations on social media. Soon, he’d built up a whole new set of clients in love with his illustrations, ideas, passion and collaborative approach. Iconic visuals abound amongst Mau’s influences. Movies like Back to the Future and Star Wars. Villains like Jason Voorhees, Freddy and the Xenomorph. Arcade games like Streetfighter and Zelda. And cartoons by Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. He also loves the Brazilian comic legend Maurício de Souza – and not just because they share the same first name. He has a degree in graphic design from UNIFTEC but constantly adds to his learning with courses in illustration, typography, 3D and more.

Approach

Mau takes a unique approach to each brief, which begins with brainstorming things he loves that relate to the theme. Gathering references from classic movies, Saturday cartoons, comics, music and more, he sketches something brand new to carry his client’s message.

Key software

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects.

Style

Mau’s style is based around a comic and cartoon aesthetic, with fine line work and bright, expressive colour palettes. He usually sees an artwork as part of a story or sequence, so animating it is a natural next step for him whenever required.