Back before I got all old and creepy and long before I did the silly “drain tip” video, I did time in a series of really embarrassing, big hair, glam bands. Photos from this era ensure I will never run for public office. After years of abuse, my liver decided to leave the music business and pursue a career in design, I grudgingly followed.
I’m currently the Head Honcho (and Janitor) of Yellowfish, a goofy little web and print design company. I’ve also weaseled my way into some nifty partnerships with AdJack.tv and MacHintsAndTips.com. Lurid details of these exploits are down below.
Most reasonable people know me as “the drain tip guy” from FamilyHack.com, a video that has been viewed over 3 million times. Suffice it to say, my mother cries herself to sleep, muttering something about her only son “sucking on the Internet”.
If you would like to work with me or just tell me what a remarkable (and humble) hunk of man meat I am, contact me at 858-225-7599 or email michael at aboutmichaeldavis dot com. Your are dismissed.
Yellowfish is the bizarre little graphic design studio I run. Over the last 9 years we’ve duped some of the smartest companies in the world into working with us. Big throbbing Fortune 500’s and wee tiny startups are equally smitten with our enigmatic charms.
The talented designers I hire to make me look good deserve all the credit. Instead, I give them stale cigarettes and an hour of sunlight. My advice to any aspiring designers is to consider a career as a condiment. Most people like mayonnaise more than an hipster designer. Mmmm…mayonnaise.
My foxy wife Hannah and I started Family Hack as a place to yak about how our family, with three small kids, figures out how to travel the world, work from anywhere, while home schooling our kids.
What started as us blathering on about life hacks, saving money and cool stuff we love, the site now draws over 1 Million unique visitors a month. This just confirms that the world is truly ridiculous.
Sometimes the nice comments from readers make my head get all puffy. These occasional delusions of grandeur make me want to buy a big boat and a sword. Definitely a sword.
Many moons ago, Paul Taylor and I worked together on a Mac Magazine. He edited, I designed and we both consumed unholy amounts of liquor to counter the pressure of brutal deadlines. The magazine went bust…it’s a mystery to me too.
Paul went on to run Mac Hints & Tips, a site chock full of cool tricks. I swanned around Ad Agencies and Design Studios, wearing lots of black and drinking boatloads of coffee.
Recently, we partnered on a complete redesign of Mac Hints & Tips, offering a searchable database of over 9,500 tips. I also host some video tutorials and teach a little quantum physics. OK, that last part is a lie, but what the hell are you going to do with quantum physics? Soup up your riding mower?
But seriously, if you own a Mac, visit Mac Hints & Tips. It’s awesome. Because I said so!
When the Adjack guy said “I want to start a YouTube for Commercials”, I blew coffee out my nose. Hell, people HATE commercials…and there already is a YouTube.
Here’s the rub. People are greedy bastards who will gladly sell their souls in 30 second increments for the chance to win big money. And that is the genius of AdJack. Watch 5 good commercials to be entered in a weekly drawing for over $500,000. Oh so tasty!
Advertisers dig it too. Unlike TV, AdJack shows them exactly how many people watched, and whether they liked an ad or not. Pretty slick eh?
So, I passed on being a hired gun and went in as a partner. My role is Art Director, Brand Cop and all around Snarkopotomus. Now, go watch and win already…geez.
Campaign Fox is my shiny new email marketing service. I know what you are thinking…another asshole in his bathrobe telling me to spam people. While I do wear a bathrobe most of the day, CampaignFox is the real deal.
Currently being beta tested exclusively by clients of Yellowfish, Campaign Fox let’s users easily create great looking emails and then dazzles with reports that kick serious booty. Really…if you want to know when someone opened your email, which links they clicked and whether they look good in a corduroy pimp hat, Campaign Fox is the tool for you.