My name is Mikael Hinojosa. Art has been a part of my life since the beginning as I have had influences from both sides of my family. My father, recognized as an Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), has painted his entire life. He has created many murals and sculptures famous people and had his sports art featured in the inside covers of sports publications such as Beckett Magazine.  My grandmother has also been painting throughout her life. Her focus has always been on nature landscapes and beautiful wildlife. Watching both of them as I grew up influenced me to become a better artist.

My talent was recognized throughout grade school but it wasn't until in high school when I was entered in art competitions. The Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) was my main focus. My junior year I scored two 4 out of 4 awards for the two pieces I entered. My senior year I scored a 3 out of 4 award and another 4 out of 4 award. One of my pieces also went on to score second place in a Houston Independent School District art competition.

Soon after I attended the Art Institute of Houston and learned how to incorporate my illustration skills onto programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash. I received an Associates Degree in Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Houston and began to freelance. I partnered with another graduate and together we built a design studio from scratch by creating corporate identities, websites and print advertisements for new businesses and large corporations.

After selling the business to my partner, I then took an opportunity to work full time at the Houston Chronicle as a Web Designer. I created rich media advertisements for many local and national top businesses to be displayed on chron.com. Working there for 5 years allowed me to develop my expertise with Flash, HTML and CSS while also showing me the value of corporate team work.

During this process I have never stopped taking care of what matters the most, customer relationships. I treat every client as I would my own family and will do everything I can to help them succeed.

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