Michael Risdall
Art Director
Hired: June 2005
Background:
A born Minnesotan, Mike moved to Dallas, TX with his family in 1991. Upon finishing college, Mike returned to his native state with a degree, an impressive achievement in advertising, a very dry sense of humor, great distain for Minnesota drivers and a single-digit golf handicap.
Education:
- Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) B.A. Advertising
- Creative Track; Minor Studio Art
- Miami Ad School-Art Direction Program (Minneapolis, MN) - did 6 months time at Miami Ad School
Notable Achievements:
Old College Try
Mike participated in the 2005 American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition on the SMU ad team-a team that has twice won the NSAC national title and placed highly many other times. Hundreds of schools participate in this competition and Mike found it to be a valuable and unique learning experience, "I worked 10+ hours a day for an entire semester, learning firsthand how an advertising campaign is planned, strategized, executed and presented to a client." While Mike's SMU team placed 6th their district, he emerged with a bigger prize in the form of experience and insight, "when it comes to winning new clients, all you can do is try your absolute hardest and have complete confidence in your work, but in the end you can't control the outcome."
New College Try
To complement his strong conceptual ability, Mike was continuing to hone his art direction skills at the highly regarded Miami Ad School in Minneapolis, but has since decided that real work experience is better than pretend.
Work Experience:
Mike's college days weren't all studies; he also worked at longtime agency client Smith System.
Hobbies and Activities:
Mike is the rare individual who can play golf almost daily without the game becoming an obsession. This may be because he has many other interests including music, snowboarding, running and art - painting, photography and drawing in particular.
How to make Michael tick:
Be complacent. Be a person with bad table manners. Or just laugh REALLY loud when things are not funny.
Something surprising:
* Mike began using Apple computers in 1988 at age six.
* Mike's diet consists of 85% coffee, scones and pizza. The other 15% consists of assorted health foods, like pizza, and sometimes pizza.
In the long run:
He wants to own a pirate ship. A big pirate ship. With black sails, a parrot and a plank.