Michelle Choi is a creative designer using code to create innovative yet inclusive and resilient experiences
I'm a combination of a graphic designer and front-end developer. Some know this as a creative technologist.
Based in London, I started out in graphic design at Central Saint Martins in 2009, and my career began at a branding and packaging agency. A few years later, after witnessing the power and potential of online applications and services, I decided to learn the foundations of web development so I could put my extensive design skills to great use in this complex field and further diversify my knowledge and skill set.
Fast forward to now, with over 12 years of commercial experience, I have been building a rich body of work in both creative and tech environments—at startups, agencies, and multinational enterprise companies.
How I Work
"Think outside the box" but "don't reinvent the wheel". It's a strange phenomenon, isn't it? My methodology looks to refine and enhance what’s great and reinforcing weak areas. The wheel can always been improved!
I'm hands-on when it comes to design and build, harnessing both my creative and technical abilities. I can take an idea from a whiteboard straight to build—with a little help from teammates and minimal use of graphic software (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator) in-between. I've developed a unique set of skills to deftly fast-track communication and project development; creating beautiful visuals with amazing yet robust user experience in mind that's based on real-world data and common industry standards.
From the experience of working in both tech and creative teams, to truly optimise efficiency between the different roles in a product building team, I found that designers such as myself should not heavily rely on UI design software such as Invision, Adobe XP, or Sketch. Learning the fundamentals of programming and basic ideas of how code and systems work, allows designers to understand technical restrictions, which in turn allows us to find areas to creatively exploit.
I’m a great addition to teams with designers who can’t code and developers who struggle with visual design. I can help simplify technical jargon for the wider team too.
So far, I’ve helped music, pharmaceutical, print, and accounting brands with their digital services and products. Come and see the full list of clients and projects I’ve worked with or drop me an email if you’re interested to find out more.
Interests
My love for music led to the co-founding of JROCK NEWS in 2015, an online music publication which was featured on Japanese national television channel, NHK. In 2019, we partnered with Japanese magazine Vijuttoke to deliver exclusive translated content to the west.
As for hobbies, if I'm not online on League of Legends or Steam, I'm most likely baking. It's essentially chemistry, but the laboratory (kitchen) and chemicals (ingredients) are far more accessible.