My name is Michael Kemper and this is my website / blog. I am currently making improvements to this space and hope to launch it with a new face soon. For now, you may visit www.metaliq.com to learn about the work I've been creating over the last several years. I have also posted my full bio below. Check back soon and thanks for visiting!
- mk
Michael Kemper
Creative Director, Designer, Author, Teacher, Curator, Film Maker
For over a decade, Kemper has professionally directed print, interactive, video, and animation projects in every industry vertical for some of the world's largest companies including: AOL, Macromedia / Adobe, Omnicom Group, eBay, Microsoft, HP, Comcast, Six Flags, Qwest, RKO Pictures, Vail Resorts, Yahoo! and several others. His work has been featured on FOX News, Forbes.com, MSN, Nature Magazine, Adobe Labs as well as conference presentations at Adobe MAX, Microsoft MIX, Flashforward and Microsoft WPC. Kemper has also contributed design and interaction work to desktop products in Adobe's Creative Suite including but not limited to: Flash, Photoshop, SoundBooth, Encore, and Live Color as well as Microsoft's Expression Media Encoder Application and Blend / Silverlight .
"The thing I love most about being a creative professional is the breadth of industries and occupations I get the opportunity to learn about. Most of what we do as designers, writers, marketers, and programmers is tell stories, and in order to tell compelling stories one must immerse one's self in their subject. I often think about the cryptic wisdom of children and their ability to see most everything as new and exciting. I believe that attempting this pleasant disposition is the best way to learn about a subject. Also, children aren't fearful of failure when they play, and that is exactly what I try to capture in my own process when Im learning about my subject and working through design solutions. I suppose this is why I'm enamored by objects like toys and action figures - they are totems to open mindedness and the art of play."
He is the recipient of several Art Director's Club and Addy Awards and has also been recognized for motion graphics and information design by eDesign Magazine and Communication Arts Magazine's Interactive Annual. As a Creative Director, Kemper recruits, mentors and manages a small team of designers in San Francisco. He is the production liaison responsible for balancing business, design and technical requirements for each project his team produces.
"I strive to design and create tools that enhance people's lives; this is the most fulfilling type of work for me. This could mean helping one connect to friends and family, making it easier for one to tell a better story, improving communication between opposing sides, increasing efficiency at work for more free time later, or enabling one to be more creative. These are the kind of results that define success to me, even if its achieved in a small way. At the end of the day this is where people see value because these are the experiences that truly matter in life."
Kemper is also a dedicated educator and mentor in the design community. He is an instructor at the Academy of Art San Francisco’s School of Digital Arts + Communications MFA program and lectures on the topics of motion graphics, experience design and creative process at select events.
"After many years of producing professional work for clients I was driven to seek a different type of fulfillment. UX and design is so much apart of who I am that I didn't want to stray far from it, but rather explore new aspects of that type of work. Teaching offers yet another meaningful outlet for me in this way, and gives me the opportunity to delve even deeper into the topics I am so passionate about. Its exhilarating for me to share this with students and watch their own interests in this field ignite as a byproduct."
Beyond teaching and lecturing, Kemper is also the Artistic Director, Gallery Curator and a Film Festival Judge for Flashforward: the longest-running, largest community gathering of digital experience technologists on the planet.
"Community has become increasingly important to me. In an industry that evolves as frequently as mine does, its extremely valuable for everyone involved to foster debate, inspiration and personal growth. Everyone is creative, and community provides the opportunity to reach outside our own spheres of influence to grasp new ideas. It keeps one from trying to create in a vacuum."
His documentary series, icon01 (www.icon01.com) was originally produced for Flashforward and explores the passions and interests of professional creative icons such as Milton Glaser, Joshua Davis, Stefan Sagmeister, Scott McCloud and several others through personal interviews and images of their work. He has written several design tutorials and training guides and is co-author of "Advanced Flash Interface Design" published Internationally by Apress / friends of ED.
Kemper was raised in Colorado and currently resides in San Francisco. When he isn't collaborating on client engagements or teaching, he indulges in several hobbies including playing guitar, writing, illustration and photography. He is an avid collector of art books, graphic novels, action figures, and old time radio vinyl (among other things). His favorite activities include traveling, listening to live jazz and cruising the San Francisco Bay aboard his 25’ O’Day sailboat.
