Hi, I’m Mackel

I’ll be honest, my real name is Michael but the nickname has stuck since Highschool, Michael was a common name and I wanted to stand out with my pursuits in art and photography at a young age, so I leaned into it.

I'm a Creative Director with 20+ years of experience building expressive brand worlds, scalable design systems, and emotionally resonant campaigns for lifestyle, consumer, and digital-first brands. I specialize in the intersection of creative craft, storytelling, community building, and system thinking. My passion is helping teams articulate their mission through design turning values into visual language, turning impact into story, and turning brand expressions into something people feel, not just see.

What I bring:

• Deep experience evolving multi-year brand identities

• Leadership of cross-functional creative teams & external vendors

• Hands-on execution in design, art direction, photography, motion

• Scalable frameworks (templates, guidelines, asset libraries, DAM systems)

• Comfort in high-growth environments where clarity, speed, and craft must coexist

• A community first mindset designing for humans, not just channelsI've helped global brands scale dramatically, shaped full 360° brand systems, built thriving creative teams, and founded a profitable DTC brand from the ground up. Whether working with large organizations or startups, my focus is always the same, make the work meaningful, make the systems usable, and make the story unforgettable.

Let’s make some amazing things and get shit done!