Mike Szabo

Current

• Solo Designer at Mike Szabo Dot Com

Past

• retoucher, designer, production artist at J. Walter Thompson
• retoucher, designer, production artist at Euro RSCG
• retoucher, flash artist, production artist at Ogilvy Healthworld

• retoucher, production artist at Word World
• retoucher, designer, production artist at Gotham Inc. Interpublic
• designer, production artist at Coach
• retoucher, designer, production artist at Publicis
• retoucher, designer, animator at Little Airplane Productions
• retoucher, flash artist, production artist, support specialist at Bergdorf Goodman
• typographer at Berlin Cameron
• retoucher at Young & Rubicam
• retoucher, designer, production artist at Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare
• art director, flash designer at Protostorm
• web designer, animator, sound designer at Context Integration
• adjunct professor at Pratt Institute
• retoucher, production artist at Taka Studio
• web designer, animator, web production artist at Answerthink
• designer, production artist at Mediaweek
• retoucher, production artist at McCann Erickson
• designer, production artist at Booz Allen Hamilton
• web designer, animator, web production artist at Compelling Content
• designer, production artist at St. Martin's Press
• designer, production artist at Ziccardi + Partners
• retoucher, designer, production artist at Paper Magazine
• art director, designer, production artist at Nightlife Printing
• client support specialist at Compucolor
• graphic systems operator at Digital Exchange
• classroom support specialist at The New School
• designer, production artist at Hearst Magazines

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Education

• Pratt Institute
• Parsons School of Design

Recommended

5 people have recommended Mike

Connections

188 connections

Industry

Design

Websites

• My Portfolio
• My Blog

Mike Szabo’s Summary

l'm a designer and digital artist with extensive experience in creating online, print, and broadcast identity and content for advertising and media companies.

Mike Szabo’s Specialties:

Assembly of photographs, artwork and typography concepts for high-profile brands and advertising campaigns.

Creation of layered images with persons, skin, makeup, clothing, hair, objects, environments, textures, interfaces.

Color-correction, optimization, and finalization of high-resolution art for use in print, web, game, and broadcast media.

Technical expertise to install, maintain, support, instruct and operate all design studio hardware and software.

Mike Szabo’s Experience

• Solo Designer

  Mike Szabo Dot Com

  (Design industry)

  July 1992 — Present (17 years 5 months)

  2004
  Referenced in college textbook:
  Reading Culture / Longman
  
  2000
  Published in design anthology:
  Searching for the Perfect Beat / Earthprogram
  
  1999
  Featured in documentary film:
  Better Living Through Circuitry / Cleopatra Films
  
  1997
  Published in design annual:
  365 AIGA Year in Design / AIGA
  
  1997
  Added to museum collection:
  National Design Museum / Smithsonian Institution

• retoucher, designer, production artist

  J. Walter Thompson

  (Public Company; WPP; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  1996 — 2009 (13 years )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching, graphic design and mechanical production. accounts include DeBeers, Jet Blue, Kodak, Lipton, Rolex, Schick, Smirnoff, Wall St. Journal, and new business pitches.

• retoucher, designer, production artist

  Euro RSCG

  (Public Company; HAVS.PA; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2006 — 2008 (2 years )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching, graphic design and mechanical production. accounts include Schering-Plough, Sanofi-Aventis.

• retoucher, flash artist, production artist

  Ogilvy Healthworld

  (Public Company; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2005 — 2008 (3 years )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching, graphic design, microsites and mechanical production. accounts include GlaxoSmithKlein, Lilly, Roche, Wyeth.

• retoucher, production artist

  Word World

  (Privately Held; Entertainment industry)

  2007 — 2007 (less than a year)

  photo composition, retouching and graphic design for the collateral studio of an animation company.

• retoucher, designer, production artist

  Gotham Inc. Interpublic

  (Design industry)

  2006 — 2007 (1 year )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching and graphic design. accounts include Maybelline.

• designer, production artist

  Coach

  (Public Company; COH; Retail industry)

  2006 — 2006 (less than a year)

  design and production of art and mechanicals for print advertisements, store catalogs, and architectural hoardings.

• retoucher, designer, production artist

  Publicis

  (Public Company; PUB; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2005 — 2006 (1 year )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching, graphic design and mechanical production. accounts include Lancôme, Matrix.

• retoucher, designer, animator

  Little Airplane Productions

  (Animation industry)

  2005 — 2006 (1 year )

  animated character, pose, prop, keyframe and scene design. programs include Nickelodeon’s “Wonder Pets”, and Disney’s “Go, Baby!”.

• retoucher, flash artist, production artist, support specialist

  Bergdorf Goodman

  (Public Company; Retail industry)

  2002 — 2005 (3 years )

  retouching fashion and product photographs featured in daily ads in “The New York Times”. photo composition for the store catalog “Bergdorf Goodman Magazine”. oversight of all technical operations, purchasing, installing and maintaining all hardware and software, network, peripherals, and data backup for a design studio of 15 workstations.

• typographer

  Berlin Cameron

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2003 — 2003 (less than a year)

  letterform construction of Coca-Cola’s “Real” and “La Verdad” logos.

• retoucher

  Young & Rubicam

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; WPP; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2002 — 2002 (less than a year)

  photo composition and retouching. accounts include Philip Morris.

• retoucher, designer, production artist

  Saatchi & Saatchi Healthcare

  (Public Company; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  2001 — 2002 (1 year )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching, graphic design and mechanical production. accounts include Amgen, Pfizer, SmithKlein Beecham, Wyeth-Ayerst.

• art director, flash designer

  Protostorm

  (Computer Games industry)

  2000 — 2001 (1 year )

  interface conceptualization and design for a web delivered videogame. responsible for all aspects of visual and audio environment creation, providing direction to designers and programmers.

• web designer, animator, sound designer

  Context Integration

  (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

  1999 — 2000 (1 year )

  design of websites, interactive games, motion graphics, and music. accounts include Ralph Lauren, Whitney & Co., Prefer.com, Skoodles.com.

• adjunct professor

  Pratt Institute

  (Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

  1999 — 1999 (less than a year)

  instructor in an AAS degree program. “Fundamentals of Digital Media", a class covering the basics of computers and design.

• retoucher, production artist

  Taka Studio

  (Photography industry)

  1999 — 1999 (less than a year)

  photo compositing and retouching. calibration and perfect output of photo portfolios to an inkjet printer. accounts include Phillips, Sony, Lamisil.

• web designer, animator, web production artist

  Answerthink

  (Public Company; ANSR; Information Technology and Services industry)

  1999 — 1999 (less than a year)

  design and production of websites, animated banners, and flash graphics. accounts include Gillette, IBM, Openlink, NFL.

• designer, production artist

  Mediaweek

  (Public Company; Broadcast Media industry)

  1998 — 1998 (less than a year)

  design and layout of a weekly trade magazine.

• retoucher, production artist

  McCann Erickson

  (Public Company; IPG; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  1997 — 1998 (1 year )

  ad conceptualization, photo composition, retouching, and mechanical production in an advertising agency’s art studio. accounts include Coca Cola, Chase Manhattan Bank, Lóreal.

• designer, production artist

  Booz Allen Hamilton

  (Privately Held; Management Consulting industry)

  1997 — 1998 (1 year )

  design and layout of a corporation’s internal magazine "Compass".

• web designer, animator, web production artist

  Compelling Content

  (Marketing and Advertising industry)

  1997 — 1997 (less than a year)

  design and production of animated banners and web graphics. accounts include Chase Manhattan Bank, Prodigy Internet.

• designer, production artist

  St. Martin's Press

  (Privately Held; Publishing industry)

  1995 — 1996 (1 year )

  design and production of point-of-purchase displays and trade advertisements for book releases.

• designer, production artist

  Ziccardi + Partners

  (Graphic Design industry)

  1994 — 1995 (1 year )

  design of book advertisements. accounts include Random House, Times Books, Penguin, Workman Publishing.

• retoucher, designer, production artist

  Paper Magazine

  (Privately Held; Publishing industry)

  1994 — 1995 (1 year )

  photo composition, retouching and design for a fashion and style magazine.

• art director, designer, production artist

  Nightlife Printing

  (Graphic Design industry)

  1993 — 1994 (1 year )

  art direction and design of flyers and advertisements for various nightclubs in the NYC area.

• client support specialist

  Compucolor

  (Graphic Design industry)

  1993 — 1994 (1 year )

  one-on-one training with clients on graphics software. Installation and maintenance of all hardware and software, network, peripherals for a design workstation facility.

• graphic systems operator

  Digital Exchange

  (Graphic Design industry)

  1993 — 1993 (less than a year)

  finalization and output of client files to printer devices, including large formats, matchprints, and separated color plate films for use in offset production. retouching, design, and graphics technical support.

• classroom support specialist

  The New School

  (Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

  1989 — 1993 (4 years )

  installation and maintenance of all hardware and software, network, and peripherals for a computer laboratory of 30 workstations. assisting professors in classroom demonstrations. resolution of technical issues for design students.

• designer, production artist

  Hearst Magazines

  (Privately Held; Publishing industry)

  1992 — 1992 (less than a year)

  design and layout of Harper's BAZAAR “Calendar of Events” section, co-ordination of design and marketing departments.

Mike Szabo’s Education

• Pratt Institute

  non-matriculated classes focusing on web design applications 1999 — 1999

• Parsons School of Design

  BFA program , product design, environmental design , 1989 — 1993

Additional Information

Mike Szabo’s Websites:

• My Portfolio
• My Blog

Mike Szabo’s Interests:

Magic, Art, Science ... harmony, beauty, design, Buckminster Fuller, Syd Mead, Lebbeus Woods, Ralph McQuarrie, Charles Renee Mackintosh, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, my Cat

Mike Szabo’s Groups:

Member AIGA New York chapter

Mike Szabo’s Honors:

Work appears in “Mixing Messages: Graphic Design in Contemporary Culture”, an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution National Design Museum, 1997.

Work appears in “Better Living Through Circuitry”, a documentary from Cleopatra Films, 1999.

Work published in “Searching for the Perfect Beat”, a design anthology from Earthprogram, 2000.

Work published in “Reading Culture", a college textbook from Longman, 2004.

Mike Szabo’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch