1st lesson free
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Mikel
- Price $35
- Answer 1h
$35/h
Contact
1st lesson free
- Graphic Design
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Web Design
NYC art director, 15+ years in brand, editorial and digital design (Universal Music, Bloomingdale's, NYT). I teach Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and web design, plus typography, layout and color. S
- Graphic Design
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Web Design
Lesson location
About Mikel
I'm an art director and designer based in New York. For more than fifteen years I've worked across brand identity, editorial design, advertising, and digital campaigns — for clients including Universal Music, Bloomingdale's, The New York Times, and BET — and I'm still working in the field today.
I came to design without a traditional path. I'm largely self-taught, which means I learned the way many of my students are learning: piecing it together, making a lot of bad work first, and slowly figuring out why the good stuff worked. That history keeps me patient. I don't assume you know the vocabulary, and I don't think a degree is what makes someone a designer.
Alongside client work, I spend much of my time in community arts — I've spent years running creative programs for young people at a New York nonprofit, helping them tell their own stories through design and media. That work is where I learned to teach, and it's still the part of my career I'm proudest of.
What I enjoy most is the moment something clicks for someone — when a page suddenly reads clearly, or a student stops asking which button to press and starts asking what the piece is trying to say. That shift is the whole job.
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About the lesson
- Primary School
- High School
- Year 10
- +12
levels :
Primary School
High School
Year 10
Year 11-12
Year 12
TAFE
Adult
Diploma/Certificate
PhD
Early childhood education
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Professional
Kids
- English
All languages in which the lesson is available :
English
My teaching method
I start with what you want to make. Tell me the goal — a portfolio, a logo, a website, a career change — and we build the lessons backward from there. That keeps the software in its proper place: a tool in service of an idea, not the subject itself.
Most of my teaching is hands-on. You drive the keyboard, I guide. I demonstrate a technique, then you use it immediately on your own project while I watch and correct in real time, because design is a skill you build by doing rather than by watching someone else do it. I also work through my own process out loud, including the false starts, so you see how a real designer arrives at a decision instead of only seeing the polished result.
A typical lesson
First 10 minutes — we look at what you made since last time and talk through it honestly, the way a working studio critique goes: what's succeeding, what isn't, and why.
Next 15–20 minutes — one concept, taught live. A principle (hierarchy, grid, contrast, type pairing) plus the technique in the software that serves it.
Next 30 minutes — you build. I'm beside you answering questions and catching habits early, before they set.
Last 10 minutes — we recap what changed, and I leave you with one small, specific thing to make before we meet again.
What sets me apart
I'm still working in the field. Fifteen years of brand, editorial, advertising, and digital design for clients including Universal Music, Bloomingdale's, The New York Times, and BET — so what I teach is current practice, including the unglamorous parts: working to a brief, taking feedback, hitting a deadline, preparing files properly.
I'm also largely self-taught, which shapes how I teach. I know what it's like to learn design without a degree or a studio behind you, and I don't assume you already know the vocabulary. Alongside my client work I've spent years running creative programs for young people at a New York nonprofit, so teaching isn't something I picked up on the side — it's been part of my practice for a long time.
Who these lessons are for
Complete beginners are genuinely welcome — no prior software experience needed. I also work well with high school and college students building portfolios for art school applications, career changers moving into design, small business and nonprofit staff who need to make their own materials, and working designers who want to sharpen typography and layout.
I teach beginner through intermediate levels, in person in New York or online, and I'm happy to start with a short conversation about where you are and where you'd like to get to.
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Rates
Price
- $35
Pack prices
- 5h: $175
- 10h: $350
free lessons
The first lesson with Mikel will allow you to get to know each other and discuss your needs for future lessons.
- 1hr
online
- $35/h
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