Michael J. Cole
Lecturer, Computer Graphics Technology
colemj@iu.edumbannaty@iupui.edu
Hello! My name is Michael J. Cole and I currently reside in Greenfield, IN; which is just outside of Indianapolis. I reside just outside of town with my wife, two children, four cats, and dog. After relocating back to Greenfield from Orlando, my wife Cheri and I have spent a lot of time making our house a real home and we love it here! This is a good thing considering that I am a full time student, freelance illustrator, and stay-at-home parent. Because of that, I am in our house a LOT!
For over fifteen years, I had the distinct pleasure of working for and with some of the biggest and best licenses in the world developing retail product. These include Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, and Harley Davidson. Most of that time was spent at The Walt Disney World Resort. It was the greatest professional experience of my life and such a wonderful creative outlet. But, it was spent managing the creative process and not actually artistically creating. Then, I decided it was time for a change and I decide to quite corporate America and go back to school to get my second degree: this time in design (my first was in fashion). I was lucky enough to live near Herron School of Art and Design and was accepted there into their Design program. I really enjoyed the time at Herron and so I decided to just continue on with my education and go after my Master’s of Fine Art. Since I have always loved drawing, designing, and create characters, I thought this time, I would apply to the Illustration program.
When creating designs, I normally start with good old-fashioned pencil and paper, but then when I have reached a direction that I like, I normally then switch over to a digital format. Up to now, I usually start with Illustrator and then move on to Photoshop; but lately, I am trying out new techniques solely in Photoshop.