Hello,
My name is Michael Locke, Sr. Web Designer, Creative Leader, Brand Engineer and Instructor. I design beautiful websites and build strong brands. I have over 14 years of web design experience with high proficiencies in web development (XHTML/CSS), UI/UX design, brand development, internet marketing, social media marketing, video marketing, photography, SEO concepts and traditional print design among other things.
My Story
I began my web design career in 1996 totally by accident. While studying Graphic Design at Cal State University, Northridge I caught the entrepreneurial bug and began to work on building a silk-screen t-shirt printing business. In the process of growing my t-shirt business I taught myself how to build my own website using a tool called Netscape Composer (one of the first popular website HTML editors and publishing tools). Later around that time, I ended up building a website for friend (in which I was paid $300). At that point, I knew web design was a career I wanted to explore further. It wasn't primarily for the money, but the idea that I could get paid for doing what I love - designing, building, creating, brainstorming, etc.
Staying up late nights, practicing on my web design skills, learning HTML, learning Flash, learning user Interface design, I began to build a portfolio of side projects I would later use to help me land a job at Elite (a large B2B company) as their Webmaster in 1997. After eight years at Elite, I ended up working for Broadcaster, Mitratech and Cars.com before landing a great job at Fox Audience Network where I currently reside as Sr. Visual Designer.
Working for these various companies within many different verticals from B2B to B2C, start-up to large corporations, I've been able to gain tremendous knowledge, insight and great understanding into how website design, branding and marketing all fits into building customer relationships, growing brand awareness and increasing sales.
Consulting for Small and Mid-Size Businesses
From the beginning, I’ve always maintained an active freelance career. I've been fortunate to work on various projects for small and medium businesses (SMB’s) including FRS Healthy Energy, Beverly Hills Ducati as well as California Nursery Specialties (to name a few).
Currently I provide various web consulting services to companies of all sizes with clients that include Elite, Mitratech and Citysearch. I'm located in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, I work out of my home (part-time) and I enjoy it. I specialize in helping small to mid-size businesses build and strengthen their brands. I accomplish this by developing extraordinary websites and identities, designing strong brand strategies and helping companies leverage social media to build stronger customer relationships. The result of these efforts is solid brand equity for my customers and increased sales.
In Summary
I'm very passionate about my work, love working with innovative thinkers, love learning new things each day and enjoy sharing my experiences with others. You can learn more about me from my blog where I share all my thoughts on design, branding, marketing and business.
If you are a business developer looking to work with a passionate creative leader, please do not hesitate to contact me. Or maybe you're just stopping to say hi, I'm definitely cool with that as well. I would love to connect and network with you. Please find me on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or LinkedIn.
Thanks for visiting my site, let’s chat soon.
Regards,
Michael Locke
Principal, Web Consultant
mlocke@mlwebco.com
(323) 839-1976
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