Mike Clarida, Toy designer/Illustrator-freelance artist for hire in Hiawassee, GA

About

What is my story??? My professional experience is in the creation of original and branded graphic design, illustration, product and toy design design and character art for fortune 500 companies: Disney, Coke, Hard Rock Cafe, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Margaritaville, Marvel snd DC Entertainment. I am currently a freelance artist for hire. I have created art for consumer products both hard and soft lines, graphic design, toy turn arounds, apparel illustration, character design, background illustration, package design, logo design, plush dolls, specialty headwear, editorial illustration, and game art as well as digital story illustration. I am also open to representation. Please contact me directly at: mclarida@gmail.com

Education

BFA. Illustration Illustration, Design, Story

Ringling School of Art and Design

1997 - 2000
Associate of Arts (A.A.) Humanities and voice/theater

Daytona State College

1992 - 1996

Experience

Toy designer

Snap Toys LLC

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Nov 2016 - Present (8 years)

I currently design and concept toys for the retail themed consumer market. These include specialized toys and collectibles available in theme parks and online specialty markets. Requirements include creating functional toys adhering to strict property guidelines and facilitating difficult requests under tight deadlines.
Toy designer/Illustrator

Play Visions LLC

Independence, KS

Nov 2016 - Present (8 years)

This position is focused on the development of hard line consume products for the entertainment theme park consumer. I have been contracted as a freelance contractor to facilitate art creation requests ranging from character plush turnarounds to production correction overlays to consulting. Clients have included Disney, and Universal Studios.
Hard Line product designer

Options LLC

Orlando, FL

Apr 2016 - Present (8 years 7 months)

My current position as freelance contract hard line consumer product is an on going freelance position. I create and modify consumer products(park souvenirs, packaging, consumables, collectable, plush, toys, graphic art collectable) as well as production and concept art for Universal Studios and all of its current owned properties(Marvel, Warner Bros, Harry Potter, Transformers, Toothsome Chocolate, Jurassic park) just to name a few. I create and facilitate any request for art creation. Products created are sold in Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.
Teacher grades k-12

Apopka Christian academy

Aug 2014 - Present (10 years 3 months)

I am a part time art teacher for grades k-12. This position is a great opportunity to give back into the community and bring the love of art to a new generation of hungry young people.
Freelance Graphic artist/Illustrator

Walt Disney design and consumer products/Parks

Lake Buena Vista, FL

Jun 2014 - Present (10 years 5 months)

I have been hired by Disney to create illustration and graphic design for consumer products and product development. This work is on a freelance basis and will basically be anything they want. Character model sheets to consumer hard and soft goods,to apparel and some 3d sculpting.
Owner-founder-Creative director

Michael Clarida Illustration/Amplified imagewerks inc.

Jul 1997 - Present (27 years 4 months)

Amplified Imagewerks is a full service design and illustration firm created and managed by me. This is a continually evolving entity that serves as a creative outlet and freelance business. I have created everything about this company. It is my art and my vision.
www.amplifiedimagewerks.com
Mural artist

Florida Hospital

Orlando, FL

Dec 2013 - May 2017 (3 years 5 months)

I have been contracted to do a series of large scale mural projects for Florida Hospital. They have asked me to develop and execute murals for their Centra Care locations in Florida. I design the characters and translate them into composition illustrations and then transfer them to interior walls. The average scale of a single mural is 200sq ft.
Senior graphic designer/illustrator

EOI Apparel

Oct 2003 - Aug 2014 (10 years 10 months)

I was the lead graphic artist/illustrator for EOI Apparel. EOI is a design and illustration firm that has been an industry leader in entertainment based apparel for over ten years. They have many private label clients(Disney, Universal Studios, Marvel Entertainment,Hard Rock Cafe, Coke, Sea World, Busch Gardens, Dillards).
http://www.eoiapparel.com
Lead graphic artist/Illustrator

Foot Locker

Jul 2000 - May 2002 (1 year 10 months)

Create original graphic design and illustration for retail goods sold in Foot Locker and Champs sports world wide. Clients included: Nike, Adidas, Oakley, Disney, Champs, Puma, and all CLC licensed collegiate properties.

Industries

Skills

Elsewhere on the Web

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1

On Coroflot

@mclarida, member since 2006

Following 15
Followers 72

Mike Clarida

Assistant Professor - Educator, Communication Design, Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design

Systems Administrator, Visible Futures Lab (VFL)