Michael Aki

Senior Director, Design and UX

Pronouns: he/him

As the Senior Director, Design and UX, Mike is responsible for managing all design, art and photo, and production projects. He coordinates with the Curriculum team across subject areas and acts as the main point of contact for Design and UX.

Mike began his career in the creative industry in 1990, working for a variety of companies from printers to software developers. In 1996, he founded, led, and managed all aspects of his own multimedia agency. Over his career, he has acted as a Creative Director for an EdTech company, where he spearheaded the UI/UXD efforts for the company’s next-generation literacy program, and a Senior Creative Director, where he re-energized and grew domestic and international creative departments.

Some key points to Mike’s experience include:

Successfully developing and launching various educational products through prototyping, creative implementation, to production for ESL/ELL, Math, Social Studies, and Literature. This included textbooks, Teacher and Student Editions, ancillaries and supplemental materials, as well as various digital components and offerings
Successfully branding and rebranding work across B2B, B2C, and educational clients
Growing department billings by over $4 million in a two-year period
Reorganization of creative department; growing creative team’s output, quality, breadth of services, and internal job satisfaction, resulting in increased client satisfaction and revenue

Mike studied Liberal Arts at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, before transferring and attending the Rhode Island School of Design, where he was an Illustration major with a secondary concentration in Furniture Design.

Mike was the 1984 Hawaiʻi State Springboard Diving champion. He also used to dance the Hula. His Kumu Hula (Hula teacher) took him to dance Kahiko (ancient Hula) in front of the great-grandniece of King Kamehameha I!

Contact Mike at maki@csaedu.com