Michael Kay — Partner

I first learned about visual communication as a young photojournalist, but from working at a newspaper was drawn to graphic design. After a few years of producing and designing publications, including one of my own, along came the emergence of the Internet in the mid-1990's. The potential of web sites to communicate and innovate was too compelling to resist.

Eager to learn from experience and my talented peers, I cut my teeth at companies which broke a lot ground in defining this new medium. As a staff member at Hotwired (of Wired magazine), CondeNet, and Phoenix-Pop I saw how critical my common-sense approach was to this medium. The approach of creating stuff that puts the audience (users) first, to give them something of value, no matter what the day's trend brings. Since then, I have integrated the more formal practices of Usability and Information Architecture into everything I do.

After growing within these organizations, it was time to set out on my own, designing and building Web-based solutions for small to medium businesses and organizations. Recently I have joined forces with Dyske Suematsu, who has been a close friend since the days when we were roommates while studying at the School of Visual Arts in New York. We have always maintained a connection, sharing what we have discovered from our distinct perspectives.

In late 2006, I moved from New York City to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though just a few years ago, at the time it was not common to be so far away geographically from one's clients. However, it worked out, even better than I had imagined, and since then I have developed strong working relationships with clients and colleagues in many places (a few of whom I have never even met face-to-face).

The cultural contrasts of having a presence in two countries informs the work I do both professionally and creatively, and I now also work with some clients over here in the southern hemisphere. Although physically 5000 miles apart, Dyske and I have collaborated with great success on both complex and simple projects; and today I see plenty of other people working at a distance.

Dyske Suematsu — Partner

Growing up in Japan, I was always jealous of the English alphabet. It is ironic that Japan, a culture known for its simplicity, has such a visually complex language. I dreamed of using only English, and not having to worry about memorizing a seemingly infinite number of characters in Japanese. That dream came true when I moved to the US through an exchange program to attend high school in California. After a year, I loved it so much that I decided to stay in the States indefinitely.

After two years of high school, I moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts from January 1987 to June 1990, and received a BFA in Fine Arts. Since my primary focus in college was conceptual art, I worked in a variety of mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, video, computer programming, photography, printmaking, and performance.

At night, I attended The Juilliard School of Music from September 1988 to June 1990 to study history and theory of music, as well as analysis of modern compositions. During the summer of 1989, I also attended Mannes School of Music to study orchestration and ear-training.

After graduation, I wanted to experience something entirely different from the art world, so I got a job on Wall Street. I sat next to traders on trading floors, creating custom pricing applications for so-called “Interest Rate Derivatives.”

Then came the Dotcom boom. I quickly left Wall Street and worked for a few small Dotcom companies as programmer and designer. In 1997, I met Manny Kivowitz, the principal of KSK:STUDIOS which at the time was a commercial and video production company. Desktop computers were just becoming capable of handling motion graphics for video, so I took the opportunity to develop it as a business with Manny. I worked with him on a freelance basis until 2001. Then I decided to join KSK:STUDIOS as creative director, overseeing several designers. Since then KSK has built its reputation for seamlessly fusing quality graphic design with film and video production, and for building websites that integrate high aesthetics and functionality.

In 2004, I decided to leave KSK to start my own business. I felt it was a good time in my life to do so, and so far so good.

Roxanne Wolanczyk — Partner

Growing up in the East Village, the arts were always a center of my life. Attending art school was a natural assumption rather than a belabored choice. I studied at Pratt Institute graduating with a BFA in sculpture in 1994.

Throughout the 1990’s I exhibited my artwork (wolanczyk.com) in venues such as The Brooklyn Museum, The Bronx Museum, and various galleries. I began to work digitally in 2001 (prettysite.com, bitskis.com), enthusiastically embracing the internet for its potential to reach a mass audience and not just the educated art consumer.

Through the years, I have also worked as a graphic designer for print and web at large and small advertising agencies, and for individual clients.

Most recently I have authored and illustrated two children’s books (currently being marketed) and I have co-created several unique children’s applications for the iPhone.