Michael “MJ” Johnson
Senior Designer
A native of Virginia, Michael honed his web design skills running a music fanzine in the late 90s out of his college dorm at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Snatched up by a dot-com investor in 2000 and moved to Philadelphia, he spent the early days of his career as a Flash developer and animator before web standards and grid systems caught his eye. He never looked back.
Prior to joining Happy Cog, Michael led design efforts as an art director at Empathy Lab for three years, providing direction and strategic leadership on patient-compliance programs, streaming video portals and entertainment destinations. Over his 11-year career he has designed experiences and campaigns for Dow Jones, GlaxoSmithKline, LG Mobile, Castrol, the WWE, Lincoln Vehicles, and multiple consumer brands under the McNeil umbrella, including Splenda, Acuvue and Tylenol, among others.
Outside his day-to-day at Happy Cog, Michael is an active member of the Philadelphia design community and vocal supporter for PhilaMade. He lives in Philadelphia with his girlfriend and “Philly special” talking pit mix, Che.