United States

Graphic Design

UX Design

UI/ Visual Design

Motion Design

Game Design

Branding and Identity Design

Multimedia Design

XR Design

Design Operations

Product Design

Customer Experience (CX)

Creative writing

Project Management

Monte Michaelis

Creative Director & Principal Consultant

Usability Testing

Relationship management

Public Speaking

Product strategy

Qualitative research

Communication

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Time management

Empathy

Organisation skills

Presentation skills

Leadership

2D Animation

Illustration

Video editing

Product roadmap

Canva

ChatGPT

Figma

Greenhouse

Miro

Adobe Creative Suite

Stakeholder management

Conflict resolution

Introduce yourself, define mentoring expectations and goals. Learn and grow together.

General mentorship

Making remote and globally distributed teams work for you and your needs.

Working remotely

Learn essential burnout prevention techniques and replenish physical and emotional energy.

Managing burnout

Talk to people who have learned to manage their imposter syndrome.

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Understanding factors that lead to a motivated team - recognition, communication and more.

Keeping team members motivated

Understand the process of training, motivating and directing your team members.

Managing people

How to create a positive workplace culture that drives collaboration and productivity?

Fostering a good team culture

Steps to building and maintaining a strong, cohesive and effective team.

Building an effective team

Learn the tips to successfully manage a team in a remote environment.

Managing a remote team

How to maintain trust, commitment, accountability deliver results while handling conflict

Avoiding common dysfunctions

How to determine what is a good balance of skill sets for your organization's needs

Building balanced teams

Tips for transitioning into a new role or company.

Changing roles

How to think about design career paths and what progression looks like for designers?

Design career path

Get actionable feedback on your resume or portfolio.

Resume and portfolio review

Tips on how to work and collaborate with designers.

Working with designers

How to work with team members with different skill sets but towards a common goal?

Working cross-functionally

Methods and models of exploring, deciding and delivering design.

Building a design process

Ways to provide constructive feedback to team members.

Giving effective feedback

How to define an ambitious product vision and how to best communicate it to stakeholders?

Creating a product vision

Creative direction, creative strategy, art direction, product ops, and executive coaching.

At Hypixel (a Riot Games studio) I oversee strategy, delivery, and team management for all creative content disciplines: 2D/3D art, animation, audio, narrative, UI/UX, and VFX. I collaborate across the leadership team to define the creative strategy for Hytale.

directed UX/CX efforts for Amazon Glow’s game experiences, including art, user interface, motion design, game design. I oversaw productions for 1P/2P originals, 2P ports, and 3P exclusives with partners including Disney, Marvel, National Geographic, and Mattel.

Amazon Glow was a new-to-world interactive play and video-calling system with content designed to connect kids ages 3-9 with their remote loved ones. Lifetime ratings for the Amazon Glow were above 4.5 stars, with 72% of users rating the product at 5 stars.

I provided experience design direction and product design solutions at a technology-focused consulting firm. In this role I contributed as a subject matter expert in business pursuits, led client-facing ideation workshops, and clarified customer journeys and value propositions. I provided documentation and design assets at every stage of the production. Industries included pharmaceutical, automotive, financial, education, public media, and retail.

I directed cross-departmental creative processes for SaaS offerings, acting as a bridge between product and marketing. I managed a team of visual designers, front and back end development, and UX/UI professionals in the creation of print, physical, and digital experiences. 

I spearheaded an experiential overhaul of the Collibra corporate website, which I preceded with stakeholder interviews and was approved following my presentation to executive leadership. Key deliverables included the addition of single sign-on capability for the entire digital footprint and a brand rollout that unified all marketing channels (digital, print, social, events).

I was in charge of an international team of creatives, and I oversaw and managed all phases of design from conception to execution. Our group provided services in visual design, interaction design, and content strategy. 

Our platforms included web, mobile, and emerging spaces. We created games, game destinations, and interactive content in the fields of entertainment and editorial, for top-tier partners and brands (Microsoft, USA Today, CNN, Los Angeles Times, and King Features, among others).

Our AI-enabled interactive engagements for the NBA netted a 2019 DigiDay award for Best Custom Advertising.

As creative director of HoloLens Vision Labs, I led a team of expert storytellers, AR/VR evangelists, and creative strategists. I facilitated mixed reality visioning workshops that enabled organizations from all over the world to transform their businesses with AR/VR solutions. 

As a creative director of HoloLens experiences, I directed design and creative for first-party applications for the HoloLens and other Windows mixed reality devices. Key among these is Dynamics 365 Layout, which enables users to create and edit room layouts in a real-world context.

As creative director at Geocaching I was responsible for all aspects of the design department, from physical merchandise to video production. We serviced an active audience of millions with forward-thinking mobile features, inspirational and educational videos, and many, many pieces of awesome swag.

As art director of Plants vs Zombies 2 I managed a multi-specialty team of creatives while also designing every zombie on the screen. This smash hit sequel achieved 25 million players in the first month of release (eclipsing the total lifetime downloads of the original game). Plants vs Zombies 2 won many prestigious awards, including DICE Casual Game of the Year.

Monte Michaelis🇺🇸