Michael Heathershaw


Graphic Design and Art Direction



SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE SOME STUFF FOR FUN.



Whether it was just a simple school project or just some of the numerous pieces I've made on my own studying the art behind graphic design, these are some of my favorites.


From dynamic poster designs to just some awesome T-Shirts I'm constantly exploring graphic design with the use of it in mind. If you want to keep up with some of the stuff I do in my free time or maybe some new skills I'm working on, this is the page for you.



Max bill 'maximum simplicity' Poster and Wrapping



THE POSTER



This one is a school project. The idea was to create both a wrapping paper as well as a poster designed using one of our favorite historic designers as inspiration. Swiss - German graphic design just wouldn't be the same without Max Bill and his striking use of simple colors just work. If only I could actually go to a presentation given by him.



WRAPPING TEXTURE



I wanted to use a color pallet found in some of his best works as will as some strong purposeful angles that repeated well when used as wrapping paper.



ALL WRAPPED UP



Well I just think it looks awesome in use. As mentioned the angles, and alignment all make sense. Having the letters repeat regardless of the direction and I think anyone opening this present might be a little more careful to reuse the paper. This was certainly one of my favorite projects at school. Challenging and fun with a cool historic backstory.



POSTERS ARE MY THING



OMEGA SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL POSTER



I'm a total watch geek. Seriously I could talk about them for hours. Although I don't own a Speedy, it's absolutely on the short list to get. I've always been a fan of "blueprint" style linework and i just think it works so well for a watch. Simple and clean will always work for a fun poster to hang by your desk.



THE HISTORY OF WATCHES: TIMELINE INFOGRAPHIC



Well I clearly love watches and when challenged to make a timeline infographic I knew exactly what i wanted to do. Watches are complex, so developing a clean and easy to understand alignment around them was crucial.



ALL LINED UP



Not necessarily the longest project I've jumped into but certainly one that required a ton of detail. I'm just a big fan of this style and can see myself making loads of these into posters in the near future.



FALLEN MOVIE POSTER



Another quick school project that just might have been perfect for me. I love making posters and there is something special and great about a vibrant minimalist poster. If you've ever been an art school student you know there's always a friend willing to model for your project to make sure your badass poster idea becomes a badass poster reality.



AVENGERS INFINITY WAR



Well, I don't work for Marvel Studios yet but that won't stop me from challenging myself to assemble the full cast of Avengers into one fun poster. I think a lot of designers would be stunned at how many photoshop layers it takes to put something like this together.



STAR WARS THE LAST JEDI



I could talk about Star Wars for hours and I could also make posters like this for hours on end. Low-Poly graphic design has always perplexed me and in my journey through graphic design exploring many different media and styles, this is one I like a lot. Sometimes making a few designs just for fun get all the creativity flowing.



JUST DRIVE: AN EMPHASIS ON MOTION



As my final project in a design class, we were briefed to make a stationery design that conveyed the feeling of motion. Through the use of vibrant colors, strong single-point perspective and repetition I think I did just that.



ILLUSTRATIONS AND APPAREL DESIGN



SKETCHES BROUGHT TO LIFE



One of the main reasons I love working in digital art is all of the small refinements you can make in a design. I started my obsession with graphic design in Adobe Illustrator and any chance I get to return to my base and just play around with vectors I'm happy.



EXCLUSIVE



When I finished this design and got a single white t-shirt printed, and I had a number of friends who wanted to add it to their closet as well. There is something special about owning an exclusive piece, crafted by yourself for yourself.



THE 116 SWAN



I do a lot of different types of graphic design, and I must say that making simple and fun t-shirt designs has got to be one of my favorite tasks to take. Finding the right colors and carefully molding a vector design into place is a challenge but oh so fulfilling.



116 LIMITED COLLECTION



Often times, the simpler a task in front of you the more obstacles you'll run into. On the outside, they might look too simple but that's the goal. Having an eye for what a modern audience wants to spend their money on means even the simplest designs can be so memorable and so successful.



116 LIMITED COLLECTION



The 116 Limited Collection produces a single t-shirt design monthly that after that month will never be available again. Creating distinct and fun designs ensures that people keep coming back month after month to add another to their closet.



UI / UX QUICK CONCEPTS



MEDIA PLAYER UI/UX CONCEPT



I'm in love with minimal and modern web and UI / UX designs and I knew I needed to push myself to create some concepts for some of my most used apps on my phone. I plan to continue this series and make a full collection of app design concepts soon.



MESSAGING APP UI/UX CONCEPT



As creators, oftentimes we are lucky enough to solve a number of the problems that show up in our own life just through our own skill. I think there is always room for improvement with how we interact with almost everything, even our messaging apps.



MESSAGING APP UI/UX CONCEPT



If you couldn't tell, I'm in love with mockups and seeing how my designs look in real life. Maybe later down the line, I might need to continue with this project because that layout and those colors look so good.



Follow me