Meet Mike Russell – Member of the Month
Thank you Mike Russell for your support and contributions to AIGA Arizona.
I got my design career started when I decided to attend the Art Institute of Phoenix. It was a brand new school with only one graduating class before me. Soon after my graduation in 1998, I found out about a job in my hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona at Northland Publishing. What a great first job in the industry, surrounded by illustrators, photographers, journalists and designers all working towards some of Arizona’s finest Southwest books.
Having worked in the publishing field for nearly 6 years, I moved on to Startangle LLC, a Flagstaff public relations firm, designing RFPs and PR collateral that competed and won national advertising and public relations RFPs including projects with ADOT and the National Institutes of Health.
Soon after, I found myself taking on one of the most challenging and rewarding steps in my career by starting up my own business. MikeRDzign Graphic Design introduced me to a number of entrepreneurs both in Flagstaff and as far as Anchorage, Alaska, looking for business branding, advertising and promotion.
Continuing on with my business part time, I couldn’t pass up on a full time city job with benefits (still in my hometown) at the Flagstaff Convention & Visitors Bureau where I have worked for the last 5 years as Creative Services Specialist, in consumer web and multimedia. Motivated to do more than just publication design, I took on website administration, social media and video production. In social media, I was given the approval of my supervisors to brave the new media early on in 2008 before its broad appeal. I found a voice both professional and personal through platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WordPress and Foursquare and have a strong engaged presence with a community where I am recognized as an informative, engaging participant.
Working as a graphic designer in a small town can be difficult, and I strive to maintain industry standards and continue my education by attending trade shows, seminars and by networking with industry professionals. Currently, I am the newly elected president of the Flagstaff Communicators, a local marketing/communications group. Most recently, I attended Phoenix Design Week, which inspired me to join AIGA with the support of my employer at the Flagstaff CVB .
In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my wife and three boys with activities like Geocaching, Instagram and enjoying the outdoors in Flagstaff.