When I was a child, McDonald's was my favorite restaurant. I could remember always asking my mom if we could go, and everytime we did go, I always had so much fun on the playplace. I always ordered the Happy Meal. One thing that I always remembered about going to McDonald's was that big, life-sized Ronald McDonald mascot.

Inspiration comes from a lot of places. Today, I would like to showcase 18 of the most interesting Ronald McDonald illustrations that I could find for your inspiration. These artists have designed their own renditions of Mr. McDonald in different creative ways. I think that if I saw some of these when I was a child, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have not eaten there at all.

Most of these illustrations show Ronald McDonald as being bad and scary, but there are a few that show some of Ronald in his positive side. Okay, so without further ado, here are the 18 most interesting Ronald McDonald illustrations.

Note: Please click on the images to see them in their websites and to learn more about their artists.

So maybe some of you are asking,

"What does this have to do with design?"

Well, it’s quite simple. These artists took a simple character that we all know and have thrown their own styles and ideas to it to make it unique. We can apply that same principle in our designs as well. Next time you are stuck in a design rut, try thinking out of the box. These designers definitely were thinking out of the box!

So which one of these Ronald McDonald illustrations is your favorite and why? Leave your answers in the comments below. You can also follow Design Informer on Twitter.