5 Questions with Mike Newell, Interactive Dev Manager @ Apple
5 Questions is a series where we ask CMCI Studio alumni to share insights about the future of design and how to grow as a creative. To learn more about the Studio masters program check the details at the end of this story or visit our website. Enrollment is now open for fall 2019.
This week we’re featuring Mike Newell, Interactive Dev Manager at Apple.
Mike graduated from the Studio program in 2011. He landed his first job, as “a digital MacGyver” at Goodby Silverstein and Partners, before he even graduated.
“Studio hosted professional workshops, which the students were able to attend. During one workshop, Gareth Kay, from Goodby, was asking around for a “digital MacGyver” and someone recommended he talk to me. We got in touch, finalized an offer and I was heading to San Francisco immediately out of school. From the start, it was pretty clear they had no idea what to do with me, they sort of just gave me a desk and let me figure things out for myself.
I started teaching rapid prototyping classes inside Goodby. My objective was to get people out of their comfort zones and thinking differently. At the time, internet connected things were all the rage so I made a live streaming wifi connected RC car, then drove it around the office as a way to get attention.
It worked and they eventually hired about 7 new positions and we formed a group called the “beta group”. We worked with teams at the beginning of the creative process and helped them produce, refine and prototype ideas.”
Eventually, Mike decided to focus his engineer skills a bit more and left Goodby to take a position as an interactive front-end developer at Apple.
“It took quite a while to ramp up at Apple. The developers are on another level in terms of their abilities and depth of knowledge.”
Today Mike is an Interactive Dev Manager for a team working on apple.com.
“I’ve really started to gravitate towards process and how groups can work more effectively together. I can’t really say more than that, but these are exciting times to be having an impact at a place like Apple.”
Mike has built some crazy stuff over the course of his career. We asked him what his favorite has been.
“My favorite project is still alive at the Adobe office in San Francisco. An executive there had an idea for creative artists around the world to take part in a “logo remix”. They contacted artists from all over and asked them to “tinker” with the Adobe logo. We decided we wanted to do something “connective”. Our team came up with an idea for a physical wall made of light that could resolve to the logo and dynamically show the activity of digital artists around the world.
We created a wall made up of 100 individual cubes, each cube is connected to a different digital artist. As each artist works, the color of their cube changes based on the color they are mousing over on their computer. It was quite mesmerizing to watch and at night you could see artists in other parts of the world hard at work.”
5 Questions with Mike
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career so far?
[Mike] Don’t ask for permission to do things, if you have an idea for something, make it. The most successful people I’ve seen in my time have been the ones who just go off and make shit happen. Be smart enough to figure things out and dumb enough to try.
When you look at the current landscape of design and technology what are you most excited about and most concerned about?
[Mike] I believe that winter for AI is coming. There’s still a lot we can automate but we’re reaching the limits of what machine learning can give us.
The field of AI is going to have to find another (faster/less data-intensive) way for machines to improve intelligence, so I’m excited for us to move into that space. Everyone seems concerned about automation, but in my experience, the stuff that can be automated is the stuff you don’t want to do anyway.
IMO automation will only let us focus on the cool parts. In terms of creativity, the world is exploding with new possibilities, there are so many new ways to reach people (AR/VR will help with that once it’s a bit higher quality). We also need to consider things like accessibility now, as new tech advances, we will need to make sure everyone (even those who can’t see) can take part.
When you think about the designers of the future, what do you see as the most critical skills they will need in order to be successful?
[Mike] It’s no longer a world designed for print. Understand your medium to detail.
How did your experience in the Studio graduate program impact your ability to be successful in your career?
[Mike] The program was extremely well connected. The classes were valuable for sure, but more than that I quickly realized there were so many additional opportunities outside of the classes. You have to stick around and be a part of things. You need to participate and say yes to things, even if they mean some late nights.
What are some of the most important tools and processes you use in your job right now?
[Mike] At Goodby I had a membership to a (now defunct) company called TechShop, which gave me access to everything including a full wood/metal shop, plastic injection molding, CNC, water jet and laser cutters.
At home, I had a small electronics shop including circuit board etching equipment and tons of different sensors and microcontrollers. I don’t use any of that stuff anymore. Now I’m strictly software, so I use the typical development stuff (everyone already has their fav IDE).
You can follow Mike’s work at his blog iwearshots.com.
Follow the rest of our “5 questions” series here.
About CMCI Studio
CMCI Studio’s masters in Strategic Communication Design (STCM) is a design graduate program at CU Boulder. Driven by a culture of collective creativity and fueled by design thinking, our mission is to transform our students into design professionals capable of leading us into the future and solving problems in a rapidly changing world. Our graduates have gone on to design and lead teams at Google, Apple, Spotify, Uber, Pinterest, Dropbox, Airbnb, Wieden+Kennedy, R/GA and many more.
