Michael Widener II's Online Design Portfolio

👆My Twitch Channel👇

As of April 23rd, 2025:
(Pacific Standard Time)

This year, I launched my Twitch Channel. I tested several options for quality streaming and settled on one. Now my channel is active.

I play video games that have cooperative or solo play. I'm not a fan of the death matches or Player versus Player games. The only Player versus Player games I play are Table Top Games, such as Magic the Gathering or Star Wars Unlimited. I may stream the video game versions of those if I find the gaming community is free of bad actors.

E-Sports gaming has come a long way and the competitive play is big time. But Twitch is new, and the play there is whatever the Channel's owner makes it. That's where I enter the field. I make my Twitch Channel about learning, not personality. You won't hear voice-overs there. Not at all. You'll just see me playing a game. I'm just not a fan of having fans of personality. Be a fan of our content, not our personal, phyiscal traits, like our voices or our appearance.

- Written by Michael Widener II
- Newbie Twitch Streamer.
- Copyright Creative Commons: BY ND.

👆My Path👇

Reading this you'll think it's a joke if you're not the believer that I am.

Reading this, you might think it's a joke—unless you're the kind of believer I am.

I'm a Star Wars fan, a science fan (I read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time from cover to cover), and a fan of fantasy. For example, I love The Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time, and all the fantastic movies that celebrate these stories. I also love Star Trek—the celebrities who bring it to life, the people behind the scenes, and the passionate fans who dress up in cosplay. I love it all. I do not like drunkenness, rowdiness, or violence—unless it’s pretend—and I despise unfairness.

Why am I putting this here? Because in my quest to find myself—which has been my path—I did find me! I found the Mormon faith: Christianity of a specific and meaningful nature. It involves being an “agent” in one's life, and it’s miraculous that I’m only now managing to join the Church. Back in 2005—twenty years ago—I recorded a documentary for my senior thesis, one of two, and I highlighted the concept of agency in making great video games. It turns out, “agency” in faith was my final destination. And I found myself.

I even bought The Jedi Path, a book Star Wars fans can buy that highlights the values of the Jedi. And do you know which real-world religion that book most closely mirrors? You guessed it: Mormonism. So, subconsciously and deliberately, I’ve been searching for this path since I made that video—and ever since I purchased The Jedi Path in 2010. That’s 15 years it took me to find them. So this is nothing shallow. That faith is my calling, and now I’m there.

Life has a way of leading us where we need to go—if we follow one sentence from Star Wars:

“You will know what to do and what is true when you are calm. When you feel peaceful; not while you are angry.”
— Yoda, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

-Written by Michael Widener II
-Owner of Phantom Records GP

2016 - Present

Self-employed:
Working Independently.

From 2016, Michael worked for sub-contractors as well as clients with ongoing needs because they purchased websites that were more complex than their available time allowed them to manage. To ease their transition, Michael continued providing support and, in the process, gained valuable insight into the distinctions between corporate, small business, and large-budget web project stakeholders. His experience includes being a successful one-man web start-up, a self-employed businessman creating web solutions for other small businesses, and a sub-contractor working for major corporations like IBM and the Department of Defense, sometimes through triple-layered sub-contracts. This breadth of roles enabled Michael to understand the unique strengths and challenges of various organizational ecosystems, as well as the decision-making dynamics that either resolved or perpetuated problems within them.
2015 - 2016

Full Sail University:
Studying Remotely.

Michael initially struggled with pricing his services, inadvertently undercharging for the quality he provided. This led to attracting clients who undervalued his work, often expecting services for free. Through these challenges, Michael learned the importance of establishing clear legal agreements to ensure payment for services rendered. To further enhance his skills, he enrolled in Full Sail University, aiming to refine his craft even though his quality was already well-regarded. However, the difficulty in holding clients accountable eventually prompted Michael to leave school and focus on finding stable work opportunities instead.
2011 - 2015

Sub-contracted independently &
via recruiter-placement.

After graduating from American University, Michael applied his education and experience to develop Phantom Records' website into a rich, multimedia, database-driven site. After updating the site to the most modern it can be, his employer, Phantom Records, moved the site into maintenance mode. Without a site to apply his talents, Michael negotiated the option to take on contracts that would allow him to remain current and broaden his skill set. Between 2013 and now, Michael completed several contracts building sites for the TSA, the Glenmont United Methodist Church, and a start-up government contractor.

Now that Michael has demonstrated his ability to create modern, database-driven websites, he is broadening his skill set with bleeding-edge Web Design, JavaScript Web Development, and Data Visualization Programming for the NIH. Michael's longer-term plan is to master both the creative and technical aspects of creating electronic experiences. Additionally, he is under the direction of his mentor, learning the software development lifecycle to round out his skills with project management and business development. In a few years, his expertise will equip him to contribute to enterprise-level, web-based projects and step in at any stage to ensure the beauty of its design, the soundness of its programming, and the success of the project through professional project management. He will be a valuable asset on any web-based project.
2003 - 2011

American University &
A 1st Undergraduate Degree

Shortly after Michael was hired at a promising new start-up, the tragic events of 9/11 led investors to withdraw funding, forcing the company to shut down. With start-up funding drying up across Silicon Valley, Michael decided it was the perfect opportunity to return to school. Seeking a more fulfilling educational experience, he moved to the East Coast and enrolled at American University, where he designed a unique degree program combining Graphic Design, Multimedia, and Web Programming. This initiative led to Michael earning the only Bachelor of Science in Multimedia Design and Development in the University's history. While attending school part-time, he worked part-time to immediately apply his studies to real-world projects. On May 8, 2011, he graduated with a 3.49 GPA and was honored to walk with the University’s top-performing students.
1996 - 2000

Overseas Travel - Web Research

When traveling between school and work became too grueling, Michael's high school friend invited him to move to New Zealand for a change of pace. There, Michael created an online video game retailer that received 1.2 million hits in its first year. He and his partner made the front page of New Zealand's largest newspaper and were featured on television as an innovative, technology-based retailer. At the time, theirs was the only website featuring videos of gameplay to overcome buyer's reluctance and give customers a preview of gameplay before purchasing. A little-known fact about Michael is that Amazon.com cited Michael's website, www.gamescape.co.nz, in its Patent document US7792705. You can copy and paste this link to see that document and search for www.gamescape.co.nz to see Michael's citation at: patents.google.com.

During the time Michael was in New Zealand, the dot-com bubble started growing. Unemployment in the U.S. hit an all-time low of 4.6%. Tech companies were searching high and low for creative talent to fuel innovative start-ups. When Michael's parent learned of this, they made Michael move back to the United States to seek more lucrative employment than they estimated he would find in New Zealand. Michael was engaged to get married and he was forced to break off his engagement and leave his girlfriend. It set a stage for a tumultuous relationship with his parents from then onward.

Michael moved back to the United States to leverage his experience in his New Zealand start-up and grow his experience in the larger, more competitive U.S. market. In Los Gatos, California, Michael learned the value of separating the front-end from the back-end so specialized talent can be more productive. Michael was promoted to Product Manager after creating a prototype to redesign his employer's software interface based on user feedback. Later, he was promoted to Director of User Interface Design. Michael's work helped sell their web application and their start-up for several hundred thousand dollars and won Michael an invitation to join the same executive team at their next start-up.
1995 - 1996

Animation Trade School & PC Tech Support Trade Work

After feeling disconnected from the workforce for too long, yet realizing he needed to remain current with evolving technologies, Michael decided to take a new approach: to work while going to school. He took a job at a computer store as a salesperson and technician so he could personally build the products he sold. He also attended animation school to continue his pursuit of digital design. He learned customer service and technical support and then moved on to network administration, obtaining his Novell Netware Certification and earning $60 an hour doing network "house calls." Michael's boss called his computers "bullet-proof." It may have had something to do with Michael's 27-step preparation plan used on every computer he built.
1994 - 1995

Skywalker Ranch (Intern), George Lucas Educational Foundation (Intern Data-entry Clerk) &
Finding The Path

Michael left the University of San Francisco for a once-in-a-lifetime internship at Skywalker Ranch with his idol, George Lucas. Michael became an IT Assistant at the George Lucas Educational Foundation where he improved his computer support skills while studying the convergence of education and technology in the Foundation's specialized education technology library. He also used Mozilla during its first launch and was excited about his future. Researching the Foundation's library revealed a computer animation school in Sunnyvale, California. Immediately following his internship's end, Michael applied, was accepted, enrolled and moved to Sunnyvale to attend.
1989 - 1994

University of San Francisco (1994) Oakland Hills Fire (1991) Community College (1990) & Started DBA Phantom Records (1989)

After deciding he would like to become better at Graphic Design, Michael left the workforce to focus full-time on education. He enrolled in Community College in Oakland, California, majoring in Desktop Publishing. Michael transferred to the University of San Francisco to continue his education. He was elected Freshman Class President in his first year and won as a write-in after memorizing the names of 200 freshmen he had just met. He is the only one who has ever done that in the school's history.
1988 - 1989

Image Graphics Co. (My First Design Job)

Michael got his first job in Graphic Design at a small design studio in Oakland, California. Back then, computers were slower and relatively more expensive. Michael learned to design on a small black and white screen using Super Paint on a Mac SE/30 and ran the mail merge for the studio's marketing campaign using Microsoft Word. The company was attempting a Work from Home model and if only A.I. had been available then, we could have done it, successfully. Work from Home offices are less likely to suffer a pandemic and less likely to spread infectious disease between workers.
1984-1988

The College Preparatory School

Not everyone attends a high school renowned for honor, integrity, and creativity. Michael attended CPS in Oakland, California, where he acclimated to intellectual rigor, problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork through sports. The University of California recognizes CPS as an honors institution because all classes are taught at the honors level. Michael graduated with a 3.5 GPA, which, when adjusted for honors-level coursework, translates to a 4.5 GPA under the grading system used by post-secondary institutions and universities.
See My
Favorite
Designs
👇

👆My Animated Graphics👇

You’ve seen animation in Pixar films, or classic movie intros like The Matrix and Spider-Man. But my work lives in a different space—closer to UI interaction and digital storytelling.

I design motion graphics for the web and immersive experiences, from CSS button hover effects to music-synced 3D character animations.

Using tools like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, After Effects, and Adobe Aero, I bring interfaces and characters to life—sometimes even rigging motion capture of my own dance moves to humanoid assets.

Think: mini animated moments that are timed to music, enhance a user experience, or simply make digital design feel alive.

-Written by Michael Widener, Owner of Phantom Records GP.

MOTION GRAPHICS

Animated Text Titles

"Motion Graphics" are animations created to show in video footage. I majored in the science of multimedia, including web, animation, or video-displayed-animations (motion graphics). Those are animation that are specifically created to appear "on top of" video footage. In the video attached here, all of the text is animated. The footage was captured from source DVDs and then I added music to the background for the right vibe. I also selected and editing the timing in all of the footage and chose all of the tranisitions. I used Adobe Creative Cloud, and Apple Final Cut Pro to do this. You can't tell which parts are original and which parts are from the DVDs I captured or from the Xbox console I capture while playing video games to illustrate the point I am making in this video because the style I chose for my work blends so seamelessly in appearance and timing that you don't know which is which. That's because that's how talented I am. I did that deliberatel. Because that's what a professional does when they work to integrate their work within existing work.
Flash Animation

Step Stand Disarm

This text left here for die-hard animation fans. (Otherwise, it's too much information.) Michael created an interactive "mini game" animation to represent the "Peace Process" in an interesting way. He bought a dance pad with a USB cable connection. The dance pad is three feet by three feet wide. He then designed a "cover" for the pad. His "cover" was also three feet by three, designed in Adobe Photoshop and created at full print quality: 300DPI. That is an extremely large file and it was very time consuming to work with but Michael believes in quality and flexibility so he did it anyway. He had the "cover" printed at FedEx Office on to vinyl paper. The then "stuck" the "cover" on top of the dance pad so that his "pictures" precisely covered the dance pad's contact points. In other words, a dancer stepping on his "pictures" would activate the "hotspots" beneath the "cover" and send a signal into the "mini game" he created. The "mini game" was made in Adobe Flash, and he used a small Mac OS X utlitity to interpret the dance pad's "buttons" to send keyboard keystrokes depending on which one was "stepped on" or "pressed." The keystrokes were then mapped, within Flash, to activate certain animation sequences. During his design process, it was told to Michael that moving within Flash from one "Scene" to another the way Michael wanted was impossible. Michael searched Google for three days and found the same claim. So what did he do? He guessed. Based on the "syntax" of ActionScript, Michael created an original code sequence and it worked.
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS ANIMATION

Kinetic Type

"Kinetic Type" is a type of animation with moving text. Movies that have opening sequences with elaborate movements, such as the Spiderman movies, where the camera moves around the web hopping from one text phrase to another, are using "Kinetic Type" or "moving text." Michael used Adobe After Effects to create this animation. But with this one, he also used his DJ-skill to "time" the animation to the audio in the attached sound file. An author read their famous passage from "Lenore," and Michael animated the entire portion. This is only a portion, as the project was split between Michael and others. This is Michael's portion.
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS WEB BANNERS & ADS

AARP Amimations

After creating hollywood quality animations for this project, Michael received feedback that he only had to make very simply, slow-moving animations because the senior customers viewing the animations were likely only interested in that, instead of something too fancy. Michael created these to accomodate the Client's request. These are very easy to make and fun to make in various colors or to make various alternatives such as ones that play normally and ones that play on holidays with different, festive animations. See one of them here. NOTE: The animation is very slow! You have to wait for it!
Where
I Learned
This
👇