Mike Hughes

Mike Hughes

Graphic Designer | Production Artist

Send me your broken files.

InDesign templates and long documents for proposal teams. I build the templates, fix the files, and check them before they go out. I built or rebuilt the 15 proposal templates the Sodexo team used.

"He's an absolute perfectionist!"

Payal Shah, Mike's manager at Sodexo
Email me for a walkthrough Resume (PDF)
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 20 No. 3, 2013, pages 8 and 9: the whole 20 Years in NASCAR feature spread, with a large gold headline, a driver portrait, a race car and columns of body copy.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 20 No. 2, pages 8 and 9: the whole Elkton Branch 50th Anniversary Party feature spread, with a gold headline, a plaque photo, a pull quote, columns of body copy and a row of event photos.
Based in
Hagerstown, MD
Works
Remote or hybrid
Hours
Eastern time
Status
Available now

Work

  • Two Northeastern Exposure covers side by side. Before, Vol. 19 No. 3: a dark cover with a gold slab masthead and a red truck. After, Vol. 20 No. 3: a white cover with a large maroon masthead and a NASCAR driver.
    Northeastern Exposure Vol. 23 No. 1, page 10: the Newport-Wilmington grand opening feature, with a gold and gray headline, an italic deck, a vendor list sidebar, two columns with a drop cap and a crowd photo.

    Magazine template, 2012 to 2017, client work

    Northeastern Exposure redesign

    I designed the original template, then the redesign: after several years on the old look, the client and I were ready for something new. The template ran from 2012 to 2017, 8.5 x 11, built in InDesign with paragraph, character and object styles and master pages.

    Client: Northeastern Supply. InDesign. No AI used. Nine new covers

  • Template anatomy sheet: Northeastern Exposure Vol. 22 No. 2, page 5, with labels for the department banner, headline and deck, text column, live area, subhead band, gutter, hero image and caption, section tag, pull quote sidebar and running foot.

    Template anatomy, client work

    Inside the template

    A real page from Vol. 22 No. 2 with every part named: department banner, headline and deck, text column, hero image, subhead band, gutter, pull quote sidebar, live area and running foot. Each part is a style or a frame, so a team can run the template without breaking it.

    Client: Northeastern Supply. InDesign. No AI used.

  • Northeastern Exposure feature spread, the Harford Award: a headline, a trophy photo and three columns of body copy.

    Interiors

    Magazine interiors

    Northeastern Exposure and AD Today feature spreads: three-column body, pull quotes, sidebars. A contents page that lists every feature against its page number.

    No AI used.

  • Inside of the Northeastern Supply line card: dense vendor lists by division and a Value-added services panel.

    Dense pages

    Line card, front and inside

    Hundreds of product and vendor lines in small type, on a two-sided sheet across five divisions. Every name has to be spelled right and sit in the right division.

  • Hubbard Supply desk pad calendar: a January date grid under a 150th-anniversary header.

    Date grids

    Calendars

    Wall, desk pad and year at a glance. Every date, holiday and moon phase checked before release. One wrong date spoils the run.

  • The United Workers home page on a desktop browser: the headline Poverty is killing us. We organize to live.

    Website, 2026, client work

    United Workers website

    I designed and directed the website.

    AI The photographs are software-treated, none generated. Photography by United Workers members and staff. Code built with Claude Code under my direction.

  • The Tucker Barnes Comics website on a desktop browser: a blue page with the yellow comic logo.

    Website, 2025 to 2026, client work

    Tucker Barnes Comics

    Website design and build (Squarespace) by me. Logo and comic art by Randy Fishell.

    Comic art and characters: Randy Fishell. Background: a stock image I modified. Custom CSS by me. tuckerbarnes.fun

  • The Acts of Praise website on a desktop browser: a dark gold page with a worship banner and a headline about a visual worship movement.

    Website, 2026, client work

    Acts of Praise

    Logo, brand, website and messaging by me.

    AI The hero video and the three call-to-action background images are AI-generated; I directed them, and the video took about five hours to get right. Code built with Claude Code under my direction.

  • Pages 10 and 11 of the Bible Biker study book, straight from the print PDF: a gold pull quote above two columns of Scripture and commentary on each page.

    Books, 2026, Client: Bible Biker Ministries

    Bible Biker study books

    Designer and art director for two study books for Bible Biker Ministries. Built HTML-to-PDF; print-ready, 8.5 x 11, 108 and 78 pages.

    AI The paintings in the books are AI-generated, art directed by me. Code built with Claude Code under my direction. biblebiker.com

Northeastern Exposure, spread by spread

Full spreads from the customer magazine, not cropped. Design and layout: Mike Hughes. Client: Northeastern Supply. No AI used.

Northeastern Exposure Vol. 25 No. 1, pages 8 and 9: a large gold headline reading The NE Advantage, a sidebar list headed What is the NE Advantage, rounded photo strips of a store counter and warehouse, and columns of body copy.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 25 No. 1, pages 8 and 9The NE Advantage: a full-width gold headline and a feature on the company's service, with a sidebar list and photos.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 25 No. 2, pages 6 and 7: the Chestertown grand opening, with a gray headline block, a collage of customer and vendor photos, a vendor list and an Open for Business sign on the new branch.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 25 No. 2, pages 6 and 7Chestertown branch grand opening: photo collage, vendor list and an Open for Business sign.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 25 No. 2, pages 8 and 9: a maroon and gold NE Cares tile, a photo strip with charity logos, five short text modules and a gold band thanking a retiring branch manager.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 25 No. 2, pages 8 and 9NE Cares: a community-giving spread built from short modules, with a retirement tribute band.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 24 No. 2, pages 8 and 9: a large TRUST NE logo headline over photo bands of customers, staff and a branch, with a subhead and three columns of body copy.
Northeastern Exposure Vol. 24 No. 2, pages 8 and 9Trust NE: the cover-story spread, with a logo headline and photo bands.

Consumers Pipe calendars

Ten-plus years of annual wall calendars. Shown here: Consumers Pipe & Supply, with my header art and imprint on the supplier's calendar stock.

Consumers Pipe and Supply calendar header: a blue swoosh logo, counter and inside sales names with extensions, a row of vendor logos and an orange and black column of branch addresses.
Header with the staff directory.
Consumers Pipe and Supply calendar header: a delivery truck over an orange and blue map of the service area, a welding photo, a counter photo and branch addresses.
Header with a branch map.
Consumers Pipe and Supply calendar header: a blue delivery truck in front of an office, a California branch map, and an orange bar reading call 800-338-PIPE.
Header with a truck and the emergency line.
Consumers Pipe and Supply 2027 calendar header: welding, a flatbed truck loaded with pipe and a counter conversation, over a navy band that reads valve actuation, cutting, grooving, threading, 24-hour emergency service.
2027 edition, delivered 2026.

Download portfolio (PDF) My file check (PDF)

I had the pleasure of working closely with Mike on several challenging projects with short turn around times. His exceptional problem-solving skills and attention to detail were instrumental in our shared success.

Kalyn Mace, Project & Proposal Manager (worked with Mike at Sodexo)

Adobe Certified Professional in InDesign. Templates and long documents other people can run: proposals, magazines, catalogs, calendars. Print-ready files, on deadline.

How I prepare files for press

In InDesign, before export

  1. Read the printer's spec first

    Trim, bleed, PDF standard, color space, resolution, ink limit. Set the document to it.

  2. Links panel

    No missing or modified links. 300 ppi effective for photos, higher for line art.

  3. Fonts

    All active, none missing or substituted, no faux bold or italic.

  4. Preflight panel

    Custom profile for the printer. Zero errors before export.

  5. Separations preview

    Total ink against the printer's limit. Rich black for large areas, per the printer's recipe. Small type 100 K only.

  6. Package

    Fonts, links, IDML and a report, so the job can be opened anywhere.

After export: Acrobat checks, proof, release

  1. Export to the printer's standard

    PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 as specified, marks and bleed as asked, output intent set.

  2. Acrobat Output Preview

    Separations, total area coverage at the printer's limit, overprint simulation.

  3. Acrobat Preflight

    Run the PDF/X verification profile. Fix in the native file, not the PDF, unless the printer asks for a quick fix.

  4. Proof before release

    Read it against the final copy, check folds and page order. Keep the preflight report with the job.

Mike is dedicated to getting the job done, on time, accurately and within budget.

Daniel Leister, who reported to Mike at Three Marketiers (now Senior Web Developer at JPL)

Mike takes designs to the next level. He is excellent at hearing what the customer wants and creating something that includes those items, yet is beyond what they could have even imagined. He always works extra to make sure a project is complete on time and the customer is highly satisfied. His skills in Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator are beyond mastery!

LINDSAY WILLIAMS Sales Director, SWAG Marketing

Mike Hughes exhibits supreme attention to detail. He is creative and fluid, and works well in creating designs and adapting his designs to tweaks and suggestions. He can successfully complete assignments across varied genres, subjects, looks, themes, and instruments. He is dependable and ethical, is team-oriented and is an asset to any team.

MICK BLAKE Mike's manager at Three Marketiers (COO then)

He not only taught me a lot about all of the little things but big picture he is truly an inspiration . . . He's got a vision that is like no other.

JENNIFER PORTER designer Mike supervised

Get in touch

Have a project or a role to fill? Email or call.

Location
Hagerstown, MD, or remote. Available now: full-time, contract or part-time.