Decue Wu - Fashion, Editorial & Conceptual Illustrator, Los Angeles

Decue Wu has clients in editorial, fashion and publishing who all love her illustration work for its bold style, bright colours, optimistic vibe and the intriguing way she combines patterns and textures. She gives every project a classic illustration feel, with the hand of the artist always present.

Based in Boston, Decue is originally from China and works for clients all round the world. Fashion is one of her biggest inspirations and her favourite designers include Yves St Laurent, Helmut Lang, Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen and Rei Kawakubo. “To me, their designs are fine art and bring fashion to a whole new level in the history of art,” she says. She has an MFA in Illustration Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and previously studied Digital Media Art at Zhejiang University in China.

Approach

Most of Decue’s work is done using Photoshop and Illustrator, but she also combines hand-made textures, screenprinting and collage work to give her illustrations something extra.

Key Software

Photoshop and Illustrator

Styles

Decue’s fashion images often feature long, thin figures in a freehand style and vibrant colours. Her lifestyle illustrations usually have a more restrained palette, geometric shapes and patterns, and interesting brush and paper textures. She also creates graphic art and infographics, going for a cleaner look, using simple vector shapes and geometric forms.

Awards

2014 Hiii Illustration Merit 2014 Taipei Art Competition Winner

Client list

Some of Decue’s clients include Vogue, Airbnb, Esquire, MIT, Modern Weekly China, Obscura Magazine, The Bump, Draw A Dot and Hopes and Fears.

Editorial illustration for modern weekly style magazine