Biography of Mike Brady, youtuber of the channel "Oceanliner Designs"
Executive summary
Mike (Michael) Brady is a Melbourne-based maritime researcher, illustrator and entrepreneur who built a niche business—originally called Liner Designs/Ships Illustrated—and in 2020 launched the Oceanliner Designs YouTube channel to present historic passenger ships with detailed illustrations and animations [1] [2]. His background is in industrial design and technical illustration, and his public profile is tied to a small studio approach that blends historical research, commercial prints and digital video content [2] [3].
1. Early life and education — the design foundation
Public-facing biographical material for Mike Brady emphasizes a formal background in Industrial Design and an early fascination with classic ocean liners rather than detailed personal chronology; multiple bios state he completed an Industrial Design degree before launching illustration work that pays tribute to famous passenger ships [2] [4]. The Ships Illustrated/Liner Designs site describes the founder as “Michael Brady” presenting his work and roots the enterprise in illustration and design rather than in pure academic maritime history, which signals a professional trajectory built on applied design skills and illustration commissions [3] [1].
2. From Liner Designs to Ships Illustrated — the commercial illustrator
The business that now markets under Ships Illustrated (formerly Liner Designs & Illustrations) was founded by Brady to produce high‑quality technical and commemorative drawings of ocean liners for former passengers, collectors and enthusiasts, a niche that merges commercial commissions with historical interest [1] [3]. The site frames the work as a personal project—“that’s me!”—and emphasizes the sentimental and collectible market for drawings of famous ships such as RMS Titanic and Australis, indicating a customer-facing model grounded in print sales and bespoke illustration [3] [1].
3. Oceanliner Designs (YouTube) — format, founding and reach claims
Brady founded the Oceanliner Designs YouTube channel in 2020 to translate his illustrations and research into animated, history-focused video narratives, and sources credit him with rapidly growing the channel into a prominent outlet in its subject area [2]. Profiles of the channel highlight a presentation style that uses “captivating animations and easily-understood graphics” to make ship construction, wrecks and liner history accessible to general audiences, and one profile notes a partnership with a production/strategy partner (Radar) for channel strategy and post-production support [2]. Available reporting emphasizes the channel’s educational intent and production values rather than detailed subscriber metrics; fandom pages also list the channel but provide limited authoritative content [5] [6].
4. Studio projects and affiliated work — Grand Voyage and Seabank Digital
Brady’s entrepreneurial footprint extends beyond illustration into interactive and collaborative projects: he is presented as founder of Seabank Digital Productions and is credited on the Grand Voyage project team, where his background in Industrial Design, sales and digital marketing is cited as foundational to starting Oceanliner Designs as an illustration business [4]. Team pages for Grand Voyage describe him as Melbourne-based and tie his work to broader studio activities, indicating a small-studio evolution from print commissions to multimedia production and game-related ventures [4].
5. Public profile, name confusion and limits of reporting
Public sources are consistent that Mike Brady is a Melbourne-based illustrator and channel founder, but they leave major personal details—exact birthdate, full CV, and detailed audience metrics—underspecified in the public record; fandom pages exist but often fail to load or supply robust sourcing [5] [6]. Reporting also requires caution about name confusion: a different Australian public figure, Mike Brady the musician, has an extensive and unrelated biography and must not be conflated with the illustrator/YouTuber [7]. Finally, some commercial profiles date from or reference future publishing dates and promotional partnerships that may reflect evolving business arrangements rather than independent journalistic verification [2] [4].
6. Bottom line — who is Mike Brady on Oceanliner Designs?
Mike Brady is best described, on the evidence available, as an industrial-designer-turned-illustrator from Melbourne who parlayed technical ship illustrations into a branded studio (Ships Illustrated/Liner Designs) and, in 2020, into a YouTube channel—Oceanliner Designs—focused on animated, research-based storytelling about historical passenger ships; his work spans print commissions, digital video, and collaborative studio projects, but publicly available sources provide only partial biographical detail and limited independent metrics about the channel’s size or impact [1] [2] [4].