Adobe Characters

Creative Musing

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Adobe Characters
Adobe Illustrator tools transformed into energetic walking, skateboarding, and roller skating characters. Right image characters names, from left to right: direct select, pen, magic wand, selection, sprayer, color palette, hand, eraser, brush, fill box, eyedropper, measure ruler, slice, stroke, layers palette and Adobe Illustrator mark.

 

Fruit Salad

Creative Musing

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Fruit Salad
This minimal exploration through fruit illustrations offers a revealing perspective on how circles establish the fundamental framework for crafting their intricate shapes, employing symmetry in the process.

 

Boxed In

Product

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Boxed In
Following numerous heartfelt conversations with a dear friend regarding her mental health struggles, this artwork encapsulates my visual representation of those dialogues—conveying feelings of being trapped by stress, experiencing loneliness, vulnerability, confusion, anxiety, and depression.

 

  • This poster is available for purchase in my shop.

American Literacy Council

Creative Musing

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American Literacy Council
Utilizing the elements of the American flag. The mark is paired with the typeface Utopia designed by Robert Slimbach from Adobe Originals.

 

KitchenAid Coffee Drip

Client Project

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KitchenAid Coffee Drip
Renowned as a leader in kitchen product design and innovation, KitchenAid stands as one of the most recognizable brands in the industry. Within their extensive product catalog, KitchenAid offers coffee makers that seamlessly blend innovative design with precision engineering, ensuring exceptional brewing experiences tailored to both casual coffee drinkers and connoisseurs. KitchenAid enlisted my expertise to visually illustrate their latest drip coffee maker, showcasing its innovative approach to evenly saturating coffee grounds.

Drawing from my comprehension of the innovative Spiral Head feature's functionality, I created a series of sketches to depict its role in ensuring consistent water saturation of coffee grounds for optimal flavor extraction.

The project progressed through various stages, from discovery to concept sketching and ideation. Incorporating diverse perspectives, we determined the most impactful approach to illustrate the idea. This resulted in a straightforward line drawing with nuanced coloring and a phantom-style technical illustration.

 

  • KitchenAid
    Kitchen Appliance Manufacturing

  • + Communication Design
    + Concept Development
    + Instructional Illustration
    + Product Research
    + Qualitative Research

  • MKN Design Team:
    + Michael Nÿkamp, Illustrator

    KitchenAid  Stakeholder:
    + Brian Edlefson, Global Creative Manager

Tree Frog

Creative Musing

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Tree Frog
When building iconography or logo marks, it's essential to ensure that the subject remains recognizable even when scaled down to small sizes. There are no rigid rules regarding icon sizing; it varies based on their usage in digital interfaces and/or printed materials. The graphic above showcases typical icon sizes. It's clear that the smallest icon (16 px) needs adjustments for better recognizability. Depending on application, the smallest size could be increased to 32 px.

 

Shine Bright

Creative Musing

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Shine Bright
A happy little illustration for you all today.

 

Ancestry DNA – Visual Design System

Client Project

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Ancestry DNA – Visual Design System
We helped Ancestry DNA, a leader in genealogy and genomics, define and develop a unified visual language system for their trait products using an iterative, user-driven framework.

The initiative focused on two primary objectives: to create a cohesive system of conceptual trait illustrations that helped users explore how their genes influence physical, nutritional, and sensory traits, and to ensure the visuals remained appropriately abstract, avoiding implications of scientific precision or universal accuracy for every individual.

The project followed our user-centered, iterative process—encompassing foundational research and discovery, qualitative research, and conceptual exploration informed by user feedback. This process guided the development of a visual language that brought consistency and clarity across Ancestry’s trait products, while layering illustrations over diverse, human-centered photography to deepen storytelling.

Additionally, the product’s visual system emphasized social engagement, education, and fun—combining scientific insight with approachable design, storytelling, and custom photography to deliver an engaging and memorable user experience. Informed by the completed live visual system and user analytics, the Traits product section achieved a 75% customer satisfaction rate and a 40% take rate among users, while weekly visits across all DNA products increased by 326%.

Note: The graphic above is a coalescence of artifacts—including research, design, illustration, iconography, and photography. Together this board shaped the overall visual language for Ancestry’s digital products.

 

  • Ancestry DNA
    Biotechnology & Information Services

  • + Concept Development
    + Illustrative Storytelling
    + Product Research
    + Qualitative Research
    + Sketching & Ideation
    + Visual Identity System

  • MKN Design Team:
    + Michael Nÿkamp, Design Director

    KitchenAid Stakeholders:
    + John Wayne Hill, Senior UX Lead
    + Caroline Vejvoda, UX Designer

Mmm Soup

Creative Musing

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Mmm Soup
A simple illustration and animation that came to life from a sketch I sketched last year.