Michele Graffieti
['mee-keh-leh]

I am a NYC-based product designer working at the intersection of filmmaking and technology. My areas of expertise include UX/UI, Information Design, Data Visualization, Graphic Design and Film Theory.

Most recently I have been working with New York City Office of Technology and Innovation, a Mayoral agency tasked to deliver the City's digital services. Prior to that I’ve led the design efforts at Scatter, a media and production studio that is pioneering the emerging language of volumetric filmmaking. Through the years, our immersive films and volumetric capture tools, fostered a creative community, won an Emmy and gained recognition from the most prestigious film festivals such as the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals.

In my freelance practice I have worked primarily on digital products and user centric experiences, leading many projects from pitch phase to full design and launch. In 2018 I was part of the team responsible for the design bible that guides the graphics in the first season of Netflix’s Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: combining motion gfx and interactive, my focus in this non-traditional project was on data visualization which the show does heavy use of. Among others, my work has been honored in several exhibitions around the world such as SIGGRAPH 2009, Expo Milano 2015, Italia150, Maker Faire Europe and featured in publications such as Domus, Wired, Information Graphics (Taschen), Data Flow 2 (Gestalten), Leonardo Journal (MIT Press), The Outpost and Visual Complexity (Princeton Architectural Press).

I hold a M.Sc. in Communication Design from the School of Design at the Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy) where I have been a researcher for 4 years and one of the founding members of DensityDesign. Set in between Design and Humanities, my research focused on the formalization of a new approach to the visualization of phenomena, namely the heterogeneous whole of stories, events, connections, places, processes of evolution and characters that creates the persistent context through which we understand data and information. Following several lectures and academic presentations, on 2011 I was invited to Stanford University as international visitor, to contribute at the project Mapping the Republic of Letters.

Being in an interdisciplinary environment is what drives me the most in my daily life. Besides visual arts and cinema, my interests span from technology to sensory ethnography and food culture.

Fun facts — I have a background in acting and for 9 years I was a member of a theatre company for which I also became art director. At the age of 24 I was elected councilman in my hometown and I served as such for 4 years. I have never felt more unfit.

Contacts

graphieti@gmail.com