Introducing…again…Mr Mike Wood! Meet Affari’s Technical Lead, who recently celebrated his seven year anniversary with Affari. From his educational values to his artistic inspirations, read on to get a glimpse into the marvelous mind of Mike.
What makes you stand out from the crowd?
Passion is a big thing. My passion for what I do has never fizzled out, I’ve always wanted to push myself and get better at what I do. A lot of people learn something and then that’s it, they plateau and just do their job. I’m always trying to improve, learn new things and use new tools, and then of course pass that knowledge on.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Pre-computer days I wanted to be a policeman. I’m not sure why, there’s no police officers in my family. It just looked cool as a kid I guess. When I was even younger I wanted to be a footballer. I loved football as a kid, I was a glory-chaser though I liked Manchester United! My family wasn’t really into football so it kind of died off.
How did you find your way to Affari?
I was headhunted during my time at university from Behance, where I was listed as a Nottingham creative. I started doing three days a week at Affari and two at university.
Why were you drawn to media, design and tech?
It was probably a mixture of film and games. Growing up I was the weird kid always over-analysing the graphics in things. I could never just passively consume something, I was always more interested in how it was all put together. It was the curiosity that got me into it! I can remember searching for how films were made when I first got a computer!
What’s the best thing about being an Affarian?
It’s definitely the freedom and flexibility of developing your skills and interests.
What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on at Affari?
It’s got to be the NTU project, Enabling Innovation. We had creative freedom on it without constraints. They wanted something pretty out-there, and they were really impressed with what we had to offer. A fun project, but it was quite a fast turnaround. The only downside would be the time frame, it would have been great to work on it more and make it even better!
What other interests do you have, aside from Affari?
When I’m not being creative, my favourite thing to do is watch good TV series, films, and documentaries. I’ve recently just got back into gaming! I also wind down by reading a lot and watching YouTube videos about either design or tech! Pretty nerdy stuff to be honest!
Tell me about your creative inspirations.
I guess you’ve got to mention Bauhaus haven’t you! That’s a tough one. I absolutely love Apple. I’m super passionate about technology and products, and how marketing campaigns form around them. I’m always on YouTube looking at how other companies are doing things.
What advice do you have for the aspiring creatives out there, and potential applicants to Affari?
Always explore technology and how you can use it to aid in the design of your work portfolio. A lot of people seem to think just learning the Adobe applications is enough to get a career in design. It’s becoming popular that people are multi-disciplined and have various skill sets in different things. Agencies seem to want all-rounder creatives, it’s not just about being good at making logos on Illustrator anymore it’s broader than that. Companies are constantly trying to push the boundaries because there’s so much – the market is saturated. You’ve got to stand out.
