Map Maker   Illustrator   Designer   AuthorCommunity Builder

About Nate Padavick


Experience

Nate Padavick is a freelance illustrator and the co-founder of Illustrators For Hire and The Illustrator’s Circle.

Nate has over 20 years of experience as an illustrator, specializing in maps; a graphic designer specializing in websites and branding; and a content creator specializing in online community building.

Nate lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and enjoys long bike rides, uphill hikes, home-cooked meals, farmer’s markets, coffeeshops, and dinner parties.

Expertise

Nate has illustrated over 200 maps for a variety of clients, from brides and grooms who desire wedding maps to airlines that commission flight maps to universities that need campus maps.

As an authority on map illustration, Nate has shared in expertise in many ways:

As a freelancer who specializes in maps, some of Nate’s typical map commissions include:

  • campus maps for schools

  • site maps for office parks

  • property maps for hotels

  • editorial maps for magazines

  • neighborhood maps for developers

  • floor plans for real estate agents

  • promotional maps for businesses

  • map murals for businesses

  • visitor guides for governments

Courses and Workshops

As the co-founder, along with his sister Salli Swindell, of the promotional platform Illustrators For Hire Nate has deep knowledge into the best practices required to operate a successful and prosperous freelance illustration business.

He offers several courses on the topic of freelance illustration business, including The PRO Series, a four seminar series for freelance illustrators that cover SEO, pricing, negotiating, and branding. Recently, Nate actively participated in ICON12: The Illustration Conference. He led a 3-hour workshop titled SEO: The Secret Sauce for Illustrators and was in conversation with illustrator Sarah Walsh discussing the topic of Embracing the Business Side of Art. Watch the recording of this conversation here.

Website Design

Nate has designed dozens of websites for individuals, shops, businesses, and communities. Nate deeply understands search engine optimization and he uses these insights to build in commerce-driven websites and community-focused online platforms. Nate has extensive experience in designing and building websites using Squarespace (versions 7.0 and 7.1) and Cargo (version 3).

Affiliations

Nate is a member of Illustrators For Hire and Create Council on the Arts.

Contact

nate@natepadavick.com

Newsletter


Clients

Colleges & Universities

  • Bennington College

  • Brigham Young University

  • California College of the Arts

  • College of Charleston

  • Columbus College of Art & Design

  • Dartmouth College

  • Hampshire College

  • Harvard University

  • Ithaca College

  • Kent State University

  • Northwestern University

  • Santa Clara University

  • Tufts University

  • UCLA

  • University of Denver

  • University of Notre Dame

  • University of the Pacific

  • University of Tennessee

  • University of Western Michigan

  • University of Wisconsin

  • Williams College

  • Williston Northampton School

Government & Public Institutions

  • Australia Tourism Board

  • City of Bloomington, MN

  • City of Englewood, CO

  • City of Shaker Heights, OH

  • California Museum

  • Commonwealth of Virginia

  • Danish Tourism Board

  • HAMAQOM | The Place

  • Jay Heritage Center

  • National Trust for Historic Preservation

  • Russian River Chamber of Commerce

  • Trust for Public Land

  • Visit Baltimore

  • Visit Seattle

  • Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

  • Zoom City Farm & Food Network

Newspapers & Magazines

  • AAA Journeys

  • American Girl

  • American Ways

  • Better Homes and Gardens

  • Bicycle Times

  • Boston Magazine

  • Charleston InsideOut

  • CHICAGO Magazine

  • D Magazine

  • Diabetic Living

  • Entertainment Weekly

  • Imbibe

  • Jackson Hole Magazine

  • Jacksonville Magazine

  • NY Observer

  • SEEN Detroit

  • The Daily Telegraph

  • The Economist

  • The New York Times

  • The Wall Street Journal

  • Yankee Magazine

Publishers, Producers, & Agencies

  • Bonnier

  • Chronicle Books

  • Food Network

  • Gibbs-Smith Publishing

  • McGillvray-Freeman Films

  • Meredith Corporation

  • Michael Patrick Partners

  • Nevada Public Radio

  • Ogilvy & Mather

  • Proverb Agency

  • Rockport Publishing

  • RTO+P

  • Scholastic

  • Sony Pictures

  • Weldon Owen Publishers

Consumer Products & Services

  • AmazonFresh and Amazon Prime

  • American Airlines

  • Brownsword Hotels

  • BOA Technology

  • Clearly Kombucha

  • Compass Real Estate

  • Dietz & Watson

  • DOW Chemical

  • Grow & Behold Foods

  • Häagen-Dazs

  • Hanafords Supermarkets

  • IBM

  • Jetstar Airlines

  • Jo-Ann Fabric

  • Kraft Foods

  • Loews Hotels & Resorts

  • Lowe’s Home Improvement

  • Malaysian Airlines

  • Marriott International

  • Moosehead Breweries

  • Olsen Homes

  • Petsmart

  • Pfizer

  • Porter Airlines

  • Pottery Barn

  • Provincetown Hotel

  • REI

  • Smith Brothers Farms

  • Stanford Federal Credit Union

  • Stayclass

  • True South Puzzle Company

  • Volvo

  • Waitrose Kitchen

  • Yankee Candle

Greeting Cards

  • American Greetings

  • Design Design

  • Design House Greetings

  • Great Arrow Graphics 


Testimonials & Trust

Clients from around the world have trusted Nate to create illustrations for their map-related projects. Below are some testimonials from art directors and marketing managers.

Working with Nate on the design of a clear and engaging visitor's map for our historic park was an entirely enjoyable experience—from start to finish. He was able to deftly synthesize content from multiple map sources to creative a cohesive view that will greatly help inform, guide, and orient our visitors. I highly recommend Nate to any organizations, particularly nonprofits and educational institutions, that are looking for an experienced and thoughtful designer to create an effective, user-friendly site map with beautiful graphics!
Suzanne Clary, President 
Jay Heritage Center

It was a pleasure collaborating with Nate. Together we worked through many iterations to arrive at a perfect solution. I appreciate Nate’s responsiveness and collaborative approach.
Mari Danzi, Creative Director
The Economist

Working with Nate on a new county-wide map for our 2025 visitor's guide was a great experience. I really like how he kept me in touch throughout the creative process. I appreciated his frequent check-ins and feedback requests. It was a fun collaborative process!
Tina Morgan, Tourism Manager
Mecklenburg County, VA

It was a pleasure working with Nate on a recent project. He helped arrive at a perfect solution—an illustrated map that is fun, informative, and inspirational! Additionally, Nate was efficient and easy to work with—qualities I value.
Sara Brazeal, Director of Communications
Northwestern University

We really appreciate Nate’s hard work on this new visitor guide and cannot wait to use it in our marketing materials!
Paige Paulson, Marketing Manager
City of Bloomington, MN

I recommend Nate to any art director. He is patient, responsive, and very organized.
Cindy Lubinic, Art Director
SJC

Even though we had a tight deadline, Nate responded quickly and provided a suite of illustrations…ahead of schedule! He understood what we needed, provided a sample illustration, and followed through perfectly. I highly recommend Nate to any art director.
Eileen Bellamy, Art Director
Williams College

It was such a pleasure working with Nate on our 18-foot-long wall mural! From start to finish, every step of the way was well-organized, well-communicated, and ahead of schedule. He captured exactly what we wanted, and we couldn't be happier with the final design. I highly recommend Nate to anyone!
Marni Hassan
Kennedy Center
Brigham Young University

Nate did some incredible work as part of our Virginia travel guide team this year. Everyone who has seen his art loves it. Nate really helped us bring some fun ideas to life in such a cool and unique way.
Ali Zaman, Creative Director
VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS

Nate is one of the most organized, responsive, and reliable creatives I’ve ever worked with—a true professional. Developing this map with him and Sony’s VP of International Marketing, Milissa Douponce, was great fun and very collaborative.  The true test was when we showed the film’s director, Quentin Tarantino, who loved it.  Thank you Nate for your diligence and creativity.
Pam Rodi, Int’l Creative Consultant
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Nate created a fantastic suite of brand-level graphics and illustrations for our home rental business including a new logo, an illustrated a map for our new website, and a library of iconography for future branded collateral. He understood our needs and was very receptive and responsive to feedback. Nate’s designs and illustrations match our vision and are perfectly in line with our brand. I recommend Nate to anyone who wants to enhance their brand.
Palmer Lintz, Owner
Stayclass

Working with Nate was an absolute pleasure. His creativity, dedication to the project, and ease of communication make Nate one of the best designers I've ever worked with. Nate's maps speak for themselves in quality and are a very effective marketing tool. The fun, whimsy, and joy, evoked from Nate's maps are enhanced even more by all the wonderful reactions and praise we received from our constituents who received them.
Jaimie Baxter, Chief Operating Officer
HAMAQOM | The Place

I’ve worked with Nate on many illustrations over the past five years. He has always been very responsive and able to deliver exactly what I need ahead of schedule. His style is a fresh addition to our pages.
Forest Evashevski, Art Director
The Wall Street Journal 

Nate has been a talented and consistent source of freelance design and illustration for us since 2002. Nate is conceptual, proactive and responsive—I can rely on him to deliver fresh, quality work reliably. In addition to greeting card design, we work with Nate on product development and innovation projects, and his contributions are always valuable. In addition to providing great work, Nate is truly a pleasure to work with.
Kathy McConaughy, VP of Creative
American Greetings Corporation

Nate has helped me out on countless numbers of projects—both simple and complex—over the years. I appreciate that he’s always able to provide me with illustration based on whatever art reference I send him. It also helps that he is very responsive and works quickly!
Heather Hardt, Design Director
Meredith Publishing Corporation

The first book Nate designed for us was a fully illustrated cookbook in a fan-deck format. Because Nate is also an illustrator, he tightly integrated the artwork into the layout, while reducing the amount of coordination that is typically required between editor, designer, illustrator. He even created two custom hand-drawn fonts, which gave the book an extra hand-crafted personality.
Madge Baird, Managing Editor
Gibbs Smith

From day one, Nate has been integral to developing my vision of Bureau for Open Culture. He handles not only day-to-day design needs, like postcards and website updates and also manages major challenges like website redesigns and publication design. Nate also collaborates with me on the conceptualization, installation, and communication of all projects.
James Voorhies, Dean of Fine Arts
California College of the Arts

I’ve worked with Nate on three book projects and he’s always been such a pleasure to collaborate with. His ideas are super fun and I can always count on him to be reliable and on-time (usually beating my deadlines by weeks!). It’s also a bonus to work with a creative author who is also a fantastic book designer!
Caitlin Kirkpatrick, Editor
Chronicle Books

Nate is one of the most enthusiastic, organized and generous teachers we’ve ever had at Sketchbook Skool. He broke down all the complexities of mapmaking into digestible, clear elements and was inspiring and fun as well. His knowledge is voluminous, his design sense is extensive and tasteful, his work ethic is professional to a T, and he’s a joy to collaborate with.
Danny Gregory, Co-founder
Sketchbook Skool