I love sharing knowledge, herding cats, kerning, karaoke, and running long distances slowly.

I’ve been creating as long as I can remember.

As early as the first grade, I was drawing panel comic strips, and dreamt of being a cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune. As we approached middle school, my brother and I pooled our allowance and lawn-mowing savings for our first computer, and while he wrote most of the game code, I oversaw art direction.

I’m still that kid fascinated by art and design.

By the beauty and force of thoughtfully rendered work, and the mechanics that power and sustain it. I’m excited by both the art and the science of everything I design.

But I’m not just an art and tech geek.

I’m also communicative, collaborative, transparent, with an ace track record in customer service. I take every project seriously but keep the creative process lively, satisfying a client’s targets while fostering a spirit of symbiosis and fun. Be that client a major film or television studio, a national nonprofit, a boutique hotel, or a tech startup, I shine in making the client a part of the conversation… on time, on budget, and on the strategic mark.

I love sharing knowledge with others.

I currently teach Figma Fundamentals and Figma Beyond the Basics classes online through the School of Visual Concepts. I've guided students with a design background to elevate their skills, including tools classes for Amazon's first UX Apprenticeship Program. I’ve mentored interns and new entrants to product design to deep dive into user research, interviews, testing and prototyping.

I’ve run design thinking workshops.

Specifically tailored workshops in the United States and India to move engineering-forward mindsets towards creating products that advocate for the customer voice and provide a feedback loop for continuous improvement. I want engineers to create the best version of what they do based on sound research and tested design.

And I've used all of Interstate 90.

Growing up in upstate New York and then Chicagoland and Seattle, I moved back to Chicagoland in mid-2016 (just in time for the Cubs historic World Series win!), I’ve been inspired by the Windy City. I’ve also been a proud member of 1871, Chicago’s Center for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

It's faster to take the car, but.

I enjoy running (five Chicago marathons, two Marine Corps Marathons and two MCM 50Ks so far!), biking, illustrating, exploring Chicagoland with my family, and belting out a ballad or three at karaoke.

And, oh -- hundreds of kittens!

My family and I are also PAWS fosters, and over 100 kittens have temporarily stayed with us on their way to their forever homes!

Actual photo of Michael Ortlieb.

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