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phillryu · Mar 8, 2004, 07:07 PM

"Perhaps the name Mike Matas is not instantly familiar, but you have no doubt seen his works. Mike's work as an icon and user interface designer has resulted in the Watson icon, interface design for much of The Omni Group's software, and even an appearance on TechTV's The Screen Savers. This impressive resum� is made even more so by the fact that Mike is only 17 years old (he started working at the OmniGroup at age 15). While Mike lives right across a lake from Microsoft headquarters, it is quickly becoming apparent that his name will become well known among Mac users in the future. In this Insider edition, we talk about his career, what he thinks of the Mac OS X interface, and what he plans to do after leaving the OmniGroup."

Check it out.

mac15 · Mar 8, 2004, 07:18 PM

Awesome, and to think he's only 17. I thought this kid was way older

Nice to know there are some seventeen year olds who have talent unlike myself

swiz · Mar 8, 2004, 07:20 PM

Mikes a nice kid.
I can call him a kid because i am 27.

heh

NetworkShadow · Mar 8, 2004, 07:20 PM

Nice!

codywalton · Mar 8, 2004, 07:30 PM

Originally posted by swiz:
Mikes a nice kid.
I can call him a kid because i am 27. heh

yep. I'm 25. Damn punk kids, Get off my lawn! HAHA.

digitaljames · Mar 8, 2004, 08:09 PM

Originally posted by swiz:
Mikes a nice kid.
I can call him a kid because i am 27. heh

Kevins such a nice kid.
I can call him that because I am 44.

Holigen · Mar 8, 2004, 08:16 PM

Haha, comeon kids lets all settle down now

idle · Mar 8, 2004, 08:30 PM

with guys like him entering the mockup-theme contest should really get interesting in its result... i'm getting excited almost. nice interview btw.

[ idle. ]

swiz · Mar 8, 2004, 09:13 PM

Originally posted by digitaljames:
Kevins such a nice kid.
I can call him that because I am 44.

LOL.
I swear i sat there for almost a minute trying to decide which smiley to use in that post, i was this close to using that one.

digitaljames · Mar 8, 2004, 09:31 PM

heehee.....

Holigen · Mar 8, 2004, 09:59 PM

Wow, looks like veryone is getting new sigs these days... A big improvement swiz

again

Zimphire · Mar 8, 2004, 10:08 PM

Impressive. Makes one humble.

Nebagakid · Mar 8, 2004, 10:55 PM

I think you are all neglecting another 17 kid..... namely I..... me. '

yeah , he is really ****ing talented. I wish I had his skillz,

not skills, but skillz.

Dace · Mar 8, 2004, 11:38 PM

Originally posted by Nebagakid:
I think you are all neglecting another 17 kid..... namely I..... me. '

yeah , he is really ****ing talented. I wish I had his skillz,

not skills, but skillz.

It's the name your age game. Well I just turned 22 this march.

I like Mike's icons...I can't design great icons like his but at least I can drow "freehand". Actually I started drawing before I moved on to using the computer....altthough I did use "MS Paint" when I was younger, it made me an expert at mouse control.

starman · Mar 9, 2004, 09:37 AM

Mindfad deserves this kind of recognition, as does swiz and Adam.

Mike

OwlBoy · Mar 9, 2004, 04:34 PM

Cool

Though am I the only one who remembers him as the kid on Apple Insider Forums who could not spell?

-Owl

phillryu · Mar 9, 2004, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by starman:
Mindfad deserves this kind of recognition, as does swiz and Adam.

Mike

Their time will come

Personally, I found this interview to be one of the most interesting so far, as I had always wondered what other people thought about 3D interfaces, etc.

And about the whole age thing, well, that's what you get in the computer world, I suppose. A 16 year old interviewing a 17 year old, with graphics supplied by a college student.

Nebagakid · Mar 9, 2004, 06:22 PM

I agree, this was my favorite insider so far.

and I remember the kid on AI who could not splel, until he got OmniWeb with the built in spell checker

fireside · Mar 9, 2004, 06:26 PM

pretty amazing/impressive resume the kid has got there. i see big things in his future.

wreks · 01:00 AM

Originally posted by OwlBoy:
Cool

Though am I the only one who remembers him as the kid on Apple Insider Forums who could not spell?

That's how I remember him. Back in the day we'd say how great it was going to be when he got X because of it's built in spell check.

I used to post on AI a lot then they went away, I came over here, but don't post that much.. and now going back to AI it just isn't the same

Good for Mike though. I remember his itools homepage, Mike's Icons with stuff from Monsters Inc, pictures of him standing with Steve Jobs, macworld videos.. Some of his first icons were rather bad though.

mac15 · Mar 10, 2004, 09:17 AM

Yeah but look at the quality of his icons now, they're are amazing. Better than most of Apples Icons and thats something. And we all start somewhere, he's just a freak

OwlBoy · Mar 10, 2004, 12:56 PM

Originally posted by wreks:
That's how I remember him. Back in the day we'd say how great it was going to be when he got X because of it's built in spell check. I used to post on AI a lot then they went away, I came over here, but don't post that much.. and now going back to AI it just isn't the same

Good for Mike though. I remember his itools homepage, Mike's Icons with stuff from Monsters Inc, pictures of him standing with Steve Jobs, macworld videos.. Some of his first icons were rather bad though.

A limewire one he made stands out in my mind as a good one

-Owl

MindFad · Mar 10, 2004, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by starman:
Mindfad deserves this kind of recognition, as does swiz and Adam.

Mike

Awh, thanks. I think I'm too shy for interviews. I would be honored to if anyone ever asked me to. If I'm asked the right questions, and don't sound like an ass in the end.

I would definitely really like to see Adam or Swiz on there, though. Make it so!

I need to get off my arse and more icons, is what I need to do. I'm busy, but I'm working on it, people. My old icons are pretty cheesy compared to what I can do now, I think. I'll get workin', I swear.

Nice article, though. I really enjoyed it. Great work.

phillryu · Mar 10, 2004, 02:29 PM

Want to get started on icons? Stop hanging out at the lounge.

I mean, over 5000 posts? :O I remember you joined relatively recently!

EDIT: Ok, so you joined a while before me, but I suppose I never really saw you before. Anyway, love your Zelda icons, so keep up the good work.

MindFad · Mar 10, 2004, 02:55 PM

Yeah, I've got 11 months on ya.

But yeah, the Lounge needs less of me.

I'll get on some new icons. I don't want to be known as the Nintendo icons guys, even though I already am.

mrfrost · Mar 10, 2004, 03:23 PM

Originally posted by MindFad:
Yeah, I've got 11 months on ya. But yeah, the Lounge needs less of me.

I'll get on some new icons. I don't want to be known as the Nintendo icons guys, even though I already am.

Nintendo icon god.