Biography
With nearly 20 years of design experience (10 of which have been spent at Draw & Code) I head up the Brand department; bringing an experienced eye for all things immersive and pixel perfect design to the studio’s creative output.
When not designing I often day dreaming about big adventures whilst walking in the woodlands, finding inspiration out in nature.
I think as a company, we are a bunch of mischievous rascals and there's a lot of energy within the team so when you focus that, which we do, it creates some really unique ideas and results.
Mikee Q&A
What Is Draw & Code?
Draw & Code is a tech company for the most part, but where many tech companies are solely invested in pioneering new technologies and products, Draw & Code has always been a very creative company that aims to not just use tech and new tech for the sake of it. It’s how that can be used to tell stories. We’re creatives, artists, storytellers, but we’re split down the middle, hence the name Draw & Code. We’re two very different disciplines all in one place, working together.
What are Draw & Code Good at?
Ambition. I guess, although we’re larger now, we’ve always been quite a small team for what we aim to do. And even though we’ve grown now in recent years, we’ve doubled, even tripled in size from the original D&C team.
The types of projects that we go for or the types of IP that we’re looking to put out, it’s very ambitious. And I think that kind of keeps that level of passion and pace with the business which you find in the tech sector. It moves very quickly and we certainly move very quickly, like we’ve never been afraid to jump in feet first into the deep end.
What type of projects do you enjoy working on?
Being a designer and an artist, obviously, I enjoy working on projects which allow that creativity to go unrestricted.
I always like to pull on the thread as far as I can, but the projects I like to work on, is where you just start more or less with a blank slate and you can just dream big. Then you’ve got a team behind you that have the confidence in you to run with the ball and just to really try and blow socks off.
So being allowed to embrace our wackiness, because I think as a company, we are a bunch of mischievous rascals and there’s a lot of energy there that I think, yeah, if you can focus that, which we do, it creates some really unique ideas and results.
What do you love about working at Drawing Code?
Draw & Code, for me, well, it’s a career, but it’s more than that. It’ll sound very pretentious, but I think as an artist, being an artist isn’t a job. It’s not something you go to and do nine to five and then switch off at the end of the day. I think being creative is something, it’s a way of life or a way of thinking and Draw & Code nurtures and encourages that.
It also enables me to work with a team of similar passionate creatives, whether that is people of a similar style to myself, as in like Illustrators and designers, whether that’s people that work in 3D or writing code is creative, it’s all problem solving. So together, as a team, we are able to do so much more than what we could do individually – I know that’s stating the obvious, but it’s exciting. When you’re working on stuff that is cutting edge, it’s just always exciting to come into work. It’s a challenge, it’s fast paced, it’s difficult, but the reward of seeing it all come together is just magical.
Fun Fact About Mike
I have black belts in Taekwon-Do, Aikido (and Yoga – if they did them for being bendy).
Mike's Skills Keywords
Art Direction, Branding, Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, Illustration, Project Management