Michael Karst

Creative Director

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Michael Karst is a senior-level design consultant in Toronto (c.1997) — specializing in branding, graphic design, user interface design and digital illustration. Favouring a strategic and deliberate working style that always keeps the larger brand picture clearly in focus.

For more information, please visit michaelkarst.ca

Work Experience

Michael Karst

Freelance Design Consultant

Leveraging a specialized set of skills, knowledge and experience, my primary responsibility is to help clients find design solutions that are simple, useful and effective.

Core Clients/Projects: MedAvail Technologies, SpotRx Pharmacy, Redbox Canada, Kahnert’s Furs + Outerwear, Ron Carroll Real Estate.

Other Clients/Projects: Audience Rewards, The Beauty Forecast, The Black & White Gallery, Brightroam, Broadway Education Alliance, Camp Broadway, Clarion Foundation, Garbett Design, Konzuk Metalwear, Lancier Design & Marketing Communications, Lavalife, N5R Realty Advisors, Nederlander Organization, Newtopia, NSCAD University, Ove Design & Communications, ProPurchaser, Publicis Canada, RentMyPlace, SiteShuffle, Suzy Conn Musical Theatre Writer, Wifidelity
May 1997 - Present Ontario, Canada

Wild Horse Communications

Creative Director

My primary responsibility as the creative/studio lead is to work directly with client representatives and production teams on branding projects from the first design brief straight through to final art and production.

Clients/Projects: PROS, Sprinklr, Cameron Stewart LifeScience Canada (division of AmerisourceBergen), TD Wealth Management Group, Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation), Kahnert’s Furs + Outerwear, Ron Carroll Real Estate.
September 2010 - Present Ontario, Canada

Microsoft Health Solutions Group

Creative Director

Working closely with the senior marketing team, my primary responsibility was to help develop and launch the Microsoft HealthVault platform while envisioning a new generation of online health applications for both enterprise- and consumer-based users.

Clients/Projects: Microsoft Amalga, Microsoft HealthVault
December 2006 - May 2009 Washington, United States

Points.com

Creative Director

Working closely with the senior marketing team, my primary responsibility was to help design and implement a new online user experience for the entire Points.com Web site.

Clients/Projects: AirIncentives, American Airlines, Points.com
October 2004 - November 2006 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Wild Horse Communications

Creative Director

In addition to working with a number of smaller clients, my primary responsibility was to help lead the design and implementation of environmental graphics, signage, and other branded communication materials for a nation-wide network of Rogers Plus retail stores.

Clients/Projects: Rogers Communications (Corporate & Dealer Stores), SYN-X Pharma, Kahnerts Furs + Outerwear.
June 2003 - March 2004 Ontario, Canada

Spencer Francey Peters (SFP)

Graphic Designer

Working closely with a wide range of blue-chip clients, my primary responsibility was to help design and implement new branding programs through the use of brand identity manuals, digital artwork, templates and a variety of other communication materials.

Clients/Projects: AGF Management, Alcan, BrandActive, Canada Post, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Design Exchange, Direct Energy, Financial Planning Standards Board, FoodTrust of Prince Edward Island, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, IMAX Corporation, ING Canada, Kinectrics, Mount Sinai Hospital, OpenCola, Royal Ontario Museum, Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh, TD Waterhouse, Scotiabank, Spencer Francey Peters, Toronto Hydro Corporation, William Osler Health Centre
October 1997 - April 2003 Ontario, Canada

Education

NSCAD University

Bachelor of Design (Honours) Major in Communication Design

The NSCAD Bachelor of Design (Honours) program is an advanced limited-entry studio that teaches students to use critical design thinking and imagination to solve communication problems across a broad range of media. Courses involve the use of practical and academic skills as well as collaboration with fellow students.
January 1995 - April 1998 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Skills

Adobe Animate, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Photoshop, Branding, Creative Direction, CSS, Digital Illustration, Graphic Design, HTML, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Word, User Experience Design, User Interface Design,