About Michael

Portrait of Michael J. Young

Michael J. Young is a Toronto-based graphic designer with extensive experience in print, digital, corporate, government and accessible communications. He's a Registered Graphic Designers (RGD), an Accessible Document Specialist (ADS) and a graduate of OCAD University with a bachelor of design.

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Summary

Michael has extensive communication, marketing, research and technical skills required to design and develop award-winning creative for print, web, video and social media. He has experience working independently and in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Young Creative provides strategic consulting and accessible design solutions from initial concept through to production, execution and delivery. Clients include design firms, small businesses and a diverse range of charities and non-profits. Projects span full corporate identity packages to wedding invitations.

Experience

Creative Services, Cabinet Office Communications

Design Lead, 2018 – present
Creative Services works with Cabinet Office Marketing, the Premier’s Office and all other government ministries to produce creative assets for digital, social and marketing campaigns.

  • Coordinate, research, design and develop engaging shareables, infographics, and other creative strategies and deliverables for digital, social and marketing campaigns
  • Develop creative solutions that strengthen the Ontario Government brand through impactful marketing campaigns that drive awareness, conversion or participation.
  • Strategizing and collaborating with writers, marketing team advisors, and Premier’s Office staff to produce creative campaigns and event products in a fast paced environment
  • Act as the accessibility lead for Cabinet Office marketing products and communications
  • Review the work of other designers and provide direction and effective feedback.
  • Develop project plans, establish priorities, create measurement reports and provide costs to support campaigns.
  • Designed over 50 public education campaigns to provide crucial health and safety information to Ontarians throughout the COVID-19 global health crisis. The varied campaigns reached citizens province-wide and included print, out of home, television, radio, digital and social media tactics.

Strategic Communications, Ministry of the Attorney General

New Media and Web Developer, 2016 – 2018
The Ministry of the Attorney General is responsible for providing a fair and accessible justice system in Ontario. It strives to manage the justice system in an equitable, affordable and accessible way throughout the province.

  • Providing visual communication support for major ministry initiatives, internal and external communications and corporate government priorities.
  • Strategizing and collaborating with writers, the strategic communication team, and Minister’s Office to produce creative campaigns and messaging for events, announcements and social media.
  • Designing and developing engaging shareables, infographics, and other creative deliverables for social media, web and print.
  • Coordinating, filming and editing short video segments for the web.
  • Developing, maintaining and creating custom web applications on the Ministry of the Attorney General website
  • Ensure web content and other online communications meet AODA and online design program standards.
  • Working with Cabinet Office to publish content to Ontario.ca, the Ontario Newsroom and social media in real time during high-profile Ministry announcements.

Public Education and Partnerships, The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario

Information Officer, 2010 – 2016
The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario supports and develops policies that lead the province in helping people with disabilities realize their full potential.

  • Designed, managed and provided creative direction for all print, digital and public education resources, event graphics, presentations and documents to meet the needs of the Directorate.
  • Responsible for copywriting, editing, and print production to produce innovative resources that meet stakeholder needs while maintaining consistency with Ontario’s Visual Identity Standards.
  • Created, verified and implemented accessibility in all public-facing materials including PDF, Word and HTML files; trained staff to create and check internal and external documents for accessibility.
  • Developed work plans, provided timelines and cost estimates to senior staff and Minister’s Office.
  • Led, supported and managed contracts with non-profit organizations to develop tools and resources through the Enabling Change transfer payment contract program.
  • Developing and presenting webinars on creating accessible information and design, WCAG, and the AODA.
  • Provided strategic and accessible design solutions within the Directorate and to partner organization such as the Association of Registered Graphic Designers, the Design Exchange, Ryerson University and MaRS.

Association of Registered Graphic Designers

Member, 2010 – present
Through RGD, Canadian designers exchange ideas, educate and inspire, set professional standards and build a strong, supportive community dedicated to advocating for the value of design.

  • Member of the evaluation committee; reviewing and assessing the eligibility of candidate portfolios as part of the RGD certification process.
  • Member of the design review committee. Former member of the Certification Board (two-year term), accessibility and membership committees.
  • Reviewed and provided critical evaluation for over 75 professional and student portfolios at RGD initiatives and educational events.
  • Advise and teach provisional members for six hour-long sessions as part of the RGD Mentorship Program.

Young Creative

Owner and designer, 2006 – present

  • Freelance business that provides concepts and designs specializing in identity, print and web projects. Clients include design firms, small businesses and a diverse range of charities and non-profits. Projects span full corporate identity packages with visual identity guidelines to wedding invitations.
  • Providing consultation and meeting with clients to determine needs and developing design solutions; designing for a wide variety of creative solutions from initial concept to final product; managing time and ensuring that project goals are met and deliverables are completed on time and within budget.
  • Providing web design services, hosting, maintenance and set-up of content management systems.

Electric Villages

Designer, 2006 – 2010
Electric Villages is a boutique marketing and web agency that specializes in social media, web development, and corporate branding for the tourism and financial industries.

  • Worked closely with clients to provide creative direction, design, brand identity guidelines and print production for a broad range of print communications, branding, web, social and motion graphics for clients in Canada, the US and the Caribbean.
  • Developed a brand refresh for FirstCaribbean International Bank and oversaw its graphic execution across multiple product lines in over 16 Caribbean regions.

Education & Affiliation

Certified Accessible Document Specialist

International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), 2021

The New Standard on Accessibility: WCAG 2.0

David Berman Communications, 2012

Registered Graphic Designer

The Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, 2010

Bachelor of Design

Ontario College of Art & Design, 2006

Skills

  • Languages: English and French.
  • Experienced in print production and file set-up for digital and offset printing, prepress, colour management and Pantone colour matching system.
  • Creating designs that adhere to AODA and WCAG standards.
  • Working in fast-paced team settings.
  • Knowledge of CMS systems including Kirby, Wordpress, and Drupal, audio and video encoding, and website analytics.

Software

  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator
  • InDesign
  • Adobe Acrobat
  • After Effects

UX / UI

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • WAI-ARIA
  • Web Accessibility