About

I’m Michelle, your
Creative Director:
a modern maker with a classic approach
to design.

Read on to learn more about my story and approach to making digital brands look beautiful.

ONCE UPON A TIME

I learned graphic design the traditional way.

As my business grew to include an online shop, a blog, a podcast, and courses, no matter the channel or the format, those design principles were the foundation of everything I’ve built.

Today, anyone can pick up a phone and publish a piece of content with a few taps. Sometimes it works, but more often, it gets lost in the scroll. I approach visual content from the ground up: built with meaning, and designed to transform.

But this was the early 2000s. At the time, I couldn’t understand why we were using tracing paper, blue pencils, t-squares and gouache, while a shiny-looking iMac was winking at me from across the room.

When I entered the digital space, first in a corporate position, and later when I started my business, I realized that design fundamentals were essential in problem-solving and delivering work at elevated levels.

But this was the early 2000s. At the time, I couldn’t understand why we were using tracing paper, blue pencils, t-squares and gouache, while a shiny-looking iMac was winking at me from across the room.

When I entered the digital space, first in a corporate position, and later when I started my business, I realized that design fundamentals were essential in problem-solving and delivering work at elevated levels.

As my business grew to include an online shop, a blog, a podcast, and courses, no matter the channel or the format, those design principles were the foundation of everything I’ve built.

Today, anyone can pick up a phone and publish a piece of content with a few taps. Sometimes it works, but more often, it gets lost in the scroll. I approach visual content from the ground up: built with meaning, and designed to transform.

Think Sal Romano from Mad Men, minus the scandal and the fashion sense.

My journey to Creative Director

Too many snowy winters in Connecticut relocate my husband and me to a beach town off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, and the future is brighter than ever. I took my robust catalog of wedding invitation designs, digitize them, and began selling them on Etsy.

Using my original company name, I launched Michelle Hickey Design as a second website to help creatives learn to sell and grow businesses online.

I took on one of my life goals and began writing a fiction book. It took two years and many lessons. While the manuscript is complete, the journey to traditional publishing is long and still in progress.

A new chapter for Michelle Hickey Design begins with a suite of services that combine my experience as a design professional and online content creator with my passion for helping brands grow.

With social media exploding, my blog, Elegance & Enchantment, Etsy shop, and online community begin to grow, bringing opportunities for sponsorships with companies like Avery and DesignCuts, collaborations with online friends, and expanding my professional skills into writing, photography, and styling.

My friend Steve King and I put our first episode of A Podcast for Creatives into the airwaves. We share conversations about creativity in the online space and chat with amazing guests like Emily McDowell, Carly Riordan, and Dan “Grossy” Pelosi.

My friend Muriel Silva asks me to model for an upcoming collection for Stocklane, her stock photography company. While I didn't go the way of Kate Moss, the on-set experience was creatively invigorating and it inspired me to rethink the direction of Michelle Hickey Design.

Two years after moving into a role at a publishing company in NYC, I’m let go in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. I began various freelance jobs, learned WordPress, and pressed publish on my first blog post. After creating custom wedding invitations for family, friends, and friends of friends, strangers began hiring me, and my first business was born.

I graduate college with a BFA in graphic design and dreams of working from a sunlit creative studio overlooking Central Park. Instead, I begin my career as an Assistant Art Director where I designed from a grey cubicle in an office park in New Jersey.

2022

2020

2019

2017

2015

2014

2013

2009

2005

From the drawing board to the small screen: 

OFFICIAL BIO,
the TL:DR VERSION

Michelle is a digital designer with a classic sensibility who works with you to elevate your online presence, reach the right people, and help you confidently share your content. When she’s not working, she’s likely to be found searching for beautiful typography and baked goods.

A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN

MY SIGNATURE APPROACH TO CONTENT CREATION + DESIGN

01

Your business is unique. I specialize in uncovering the specific qualities that will make your brand shine.

02

Let’s tell a story. A film, television and book enthusiast, I treat your brand like the star of the show, as we create visuals that engage your audience in the narrative.

03

One part design, one part strategy. A pretty piece of content only takes you so far. Everything I create is built to help support your business goals.

A few personal tidbits.

AFTER HOURS

PERSONALITY TYPE:

Enneagram 9, INFJ

SOUNDTRACK:

Showtunes, Big Band, 60s, and podcasts. Like a cool great-grandma.

Guilty pleasure:

I'm an Italian Catholic—so everything?

alternate universe job:

Television writer.

FAVORITE THINGS:

Typography, baked goods, a well designed space, dinner parties, deep conversations.

ORDER ME A GLASS OF:

Good champagne or an Old Fashioned.

FAVORITE PART OF THE DAY:

Evening stroll to the beach
with my husband.

NIGHTLY ROUTINE:

Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies and a cup of tea.

ALWAYS UP FOR A TRIP TO:

Cape Cod or London.

ON THE SCREEN:

Old movies, documentaries,
Seinfeld or I Love Lucy.

Get on the A-List

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Champagne optional. Popcorn always encouraged.

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Content Planner for free when you subscribe

Instagram

Design. Champagne. Books. Travel. Film + TV. Scenes from my kitchen. And cats.

@michellehickeydesign