Michael Kelly

Creative director, art director and graphic designer for Contemporary Books, Chicago Tribune Education, McGraw-Hill Education, Houghton Mifflin and Condé Nast Publishing. Graduate of the American Academy in Chicago, I am a classically trained illustrator and graphic artist who was lucky enough to study under master life drawing artist, Fred Berger with the help of my visionary mother and father who bought me my first Apple Macintosh. Started as a graphic designer for the The Chicago Tribune, designing book covers and interiors for Contempory Books/Tribune Education. Worked as an art director and creative director for McGraw-Hill Education, developing book covers and interiors, packaging and web development while managing thousands of spot illustrations and photo shoots over the years. Creative Director for McDougall-Littell, Houghton Mifflin's publishing K-12 new media division in Chicago directing a staff of graphic designers, layout artists and proofreaders to produce both print, web and interactive products. Traveled extensively to direct and produce national sale presentations and National Education Conference marketing programs. I was digitally trained in Santa Clara, California on both 2D and 3D software (Photoshop, Illustrator, AfterEffects and Maya, 3D digital lighting, texture and brush development with environmental matte painting.