Michael Baker – About Me
First and foremost, I'm a copy editor. After two decades in editorial roles at a large private art school, the Academy of Art University, my work life has been focused on creating clear prose while operating under precise style guidelines in the service of specific pedagogical methodologies.
To be a good editor, you also need to be a writer. I have a lot of experience working with subject matter experts to develop copy describing various technical subjects. I've helped compose step-by-step content that explains all sorts of complex procedures and techniques.
For example, imagine you'd like to draw a lion with some accuracy. In order to create such a drawing, you'd need to understand the anatomy and musculature of the animal. I worked with experts to develop copy like this, beginning from the step-by-steps of the sketch phase and moving on to 3D modeling in programs like Maya or ZBrush.
Or imagine you'd like to create a model of a product. I've worked on foundational 2D– and 3D-perspective drawing classes, and I've also written step-by-step copy for computer-aided engineering programs like SolidWorks that are used to develop advanced functional models.
Now imagine you'd like to make a video — actually, imagine you'd like to make a feature film! I've worked on screenwriting classes, on directing classes, on cinematography classes, and even unit-production management. I've edited step-by-step copy for programs like Adobe Premiere Pro CC and the rest of the suite (not to mention earlier iterations of the suite).
So I've worked with a lot of instructional copy in my career. That said, I've been doing less writing in recent years. My most recent focus has been on the task of video captioning production. Many contemporary companies settle for machine captions that are riddled with all sorts of errors. As a captioning supervisor, I produced edited captions for varied media — software tutorials, practical demonstrations, film clips, interviews, and so on — always following general and departmental editorial style rules. Beyond that, I hired and trained my staff to meet that same standard of quality.
Of course, not all of my writing experience has been focused on technical or instructional prose. I once served as the editor of the Academy's marketing website. I interviewed notable Academy personnel and alumni, adapted descriptive content to a more casual voice, and designed a content strategy for a new version of the site.
In my professional role prior to the Academy, I worked in more of a news milieu, massaging press releases,
producing interview content with pharma industry experts, and writing engaging product descriptions for the site's online store.
A lot of the content I've worked on over the years is only visible to Academy of Art University students and staff, so I will not be sharing examples on this site. Similarly, the content I worked on for Bio Online no longer exists because that website no longer exists. You can see remnants of it on the Wayback Machine if you look in the right places.
Since so much of what I've worked on is not available, I'll be using this site to produce writing samples that demonstrate some of the copy I'm capable of producing, while also exploring some topics of interest. So you might see a technical writing sample or a recipe or a movie review.
To be honest, I'm looking forward to finding a new job and deactivating this website, but in the meantime, thank you for joining me on this journey and I hope you enjoy the ride!