Thomas Michalak

Education, skills, work, projects. Curriculum Vitae

Latest news on Mighty Mess:The Krump Arcade will be presented at WattsFest 2011 for the first time. The game will be part of the Apocalypse Fete area along side other games, mohican barber shop, cider bar and performances.

Senior Designer

I've been working as a Senior designer for an international HIV and AIDS charity from 2006 to dec 2011. I'm managing one junior web designer and work closely with the web developer, the content team and fundraiser. I'm responsible for their visual identity and promotion through their popular website, which receives more than 500 000 visits a week and offers more than 250 pages. I also produce videos, animation and fundraising material such as leaflets, flyers, booklets and adverts. Working for a charity with a limited budget and which main activity is an information and advocacy website is a constant challenge. We always bring new technologies and innovations with accessibility and the user in mind. The website has to be accessible to everyone, from an old computer with a slow connection in Uganda to american teenagers on an smart phones.

Freelance Designer and Wordpress Developer/Designer

In my freelance design work, I’ve produced promotional videos and album covers. I’ve also created custom Wordpress themes with tailored features. Those features are: reorganising and adding items or functionalities to the back-end side of Wordpress. Reorganising and adding items to the dashboard’s menu bar, adding extra options to the core functionalities of post, pages and categories and finally creating plugins to extend Wordpress capabilities as well as integrating various APIs.

My work as a designer involve web design (html5, css3, jQuery, wordpress), programing (actionscript, php, processing), moving image (After Effects, Cinema4d, Premiere), image (Adobe suite) and interactive installation for exhibitions.

Skills

  • Senior Designer (5 years)
  • Interactive Installations (sensors, video tracking, touch screens) (8 years)
  • Web Design Expert (html, css, js, wordpress mods and plugins) (6 years)
  • Programing (actionscript, php, processing, oop) (5 years)
  • Moving image (After Effects, Premiere) (6 years)
  • Graphic Design (Adobe suite, PS, AI, ID) (6 years)
  • 3D (Cinema4d) (2 years)
  • Music (Ableton, SB, Logic) (8 years)

Studies

  • 2004-2005 : DNSEP (Master). Studied Telematic Art, Interactivity, Sound and Art at the School of Art of Aix-en-Provence ( fr ).
  • 2000-2003 : DNAP (Degree). Studied Art and Image at the School of Art and Communication of Pau ( fr ).

Languages

  • English (Bilingual proficiency, living and working in the UK for 5 years)
  • French (Native)

  • SoundCloud is Gold - WP plugin / August 20th, 2011 until Present

    Soundcloud is Gold integrates perfectly into wordpress. Browse through your soundcloud tracks from the 'Soundcloud is gold' tab in the post's 'upload media' popup window. Select, set and add track to your post using the soundcloud player. Live Preview, easy, smart and straightforward.

  • Sonic Body / November 1st, 2008 to October 4th, 2011

    The Sonic Body is an audio-installation that uses interactive technology to create an orchestra of the human body. Developed as a collaboration between four interdisciplinary artists and a heart surgeon, the installation brings together art and medical-science to reveal the unheard sounds of the body. The installation, created by artists Harry Neve, Thomas Michalak and Anna Orliac, appears on its exterior as a neutral cylindrical pod. Once inside however, the audience is immersed in a contrastingly tactile and multi-sensory space filled with sculptural fabric forms that evoke the shapes and contours of inner body parts. The audiences’ movements and contact with the installation triggers a symphony of sounds to be played that have been recorded from within the body [...] extract form the sonicbody website, sonicbody.co.uk Download the short documentation ( synopsis and pictures in a pdf ) in english or french. For more informations please contact us through this link: http://sonicbody.co.uk/contact

  • 8=8 / October 8th, 2005 to July 1st, 2006

    Creation of Interactive environment for Stanley Douglas' hypertable. 8=8 is a interactive performance on a 2mx2m multi-touch table. Each Artists/programmers developed a rich and complex interactive, sonic and graphical interface to be played by the 4 performers at the same time or left as a installation.

Full CV

  • Sonic Body [Websites]

    New sonicbody.co.uk html5 website

    Sonic Body - September 16th, 2011 to October 4th, 2011 - online, worldwive

  • SoundCloud is Gold - WP plugin [Apps n' plugins]

    Browse through your soundcloud tracks from a tab in the post's 'upload media'. Select and add a track to your post. Live preview, customisable options and easy to use.

    Wordpress - August 20th, 2011 - online, worldwive

  • Lego [Motions n' videos]

    Video Teaser for the release of the album 'Handmade' from LEGO

    Lego - November 13th, 2010 - Worldwide

  • Lego [Graphic design]

    Album cover for the release of Lego's new album, Handmade, on future whiteout records

    Lego - October 1st, 2010 - Worldwide, Worldwide

  • Krump Arcade [Installations, Interactive]

    Free Dance Arcade game with motion detection based on the KRUMP

    Apocalypse Fete, part of the WattsFest 2010 Festival - July 9th, 2010 to July 11th, 2010 - Wattsfest, Devon, England

  • Testing grounds [Websites]

    Website for Testing Grounds, live art event

    Testing Grounds - March 14th, 2009 - online, worldwide

  • All in one gallery - WP plugin [Apps n' plugins]

    Creation of a wordpress plugin that let you group all [gallery] onto one page

    Wordpress - December 8th, 2008 - Online

  • Sonic Body [Installations, Interactive]

    Exhibition of the Sonic Body installation at the Move Digital Art Fair

    Move Digital Art Fair - November 13th, 2008 to November 16th, 2008 - EXPOCoruna, La Coruna, Spain

  • Sonic Body [Installations, Interactive]

    First exhibition of the Sonic Body installation ( part of Digital Brighton)

    Sonic Body - November 1st, 2008 to November 8th, 2008 - Blank Gallery, Brighton, UK

  • ProtoPlay [Graphic design]

    A catalogue for the Art exhibition Deconstruction / Reconstruction

    Protoplay Art Collective - March 7th, 2007 - Brighton, England

  • 8=8 [Installations, Interactive, Music n' sound, Performances]

    8=8 presentation and performance, a multi-touch table for which I created interactive visuals and sounds

    Scopitone Festival 2006 - June 30th, 2006 to July 1st, 2006 - l'Olympic, Nantes, France

  • Fabric R&D [Graphic design]

    Creation of Logos (Open Call)

    Fabric & D music Label - May 16th, 2006 - France

  • 8=8 [Installations, Interactive, Music n' sound, Performances]

    First presentation of 8=8, a multi-touch table for which I created interactive visuals and sounds

    Arboresence Festival 2005 - October 8th, 2005 - Cabaret friche, Marseille, France