Michael LaBash

Developer BIO

Michael LaBash was born in Indiana but was raised in Sydney, Australia. After high school, he returned to the USA. and attended Indiana University. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in Fine Arts and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

After spending the summer doing a prized graphic design internship at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. he moved to San Francisco at the beginning of 1982. In San Franciso, he worked either full-time or freelance for many of the top design firms such as Primo Angeli, Steinhilber Deutsch & Gard and Spiegelman & Associates designing everything from corporate identity programs to magazines to package design.

In the mid-80s he spent a few years working exclusively as a freelance designer, mostly designing packaging for the software game company Electronic Arts. Some of the titles he designed include John Madden Football, Populous, Powermonger, Mail Order Monsters, Julius Erving vs. Larry Bird One-on-one and the Bard's Tale series.

Also during this time, he started a recording studio, Dancing Dog, in Emeryville and was the singer/songwrtier in the band Mr. Dog, which later became The Counting Crows ... but that's another story ...

In 1988, he accepted a position as Senior Designer at Spiegelman & Associates. There he designed many award-winning magazines, logos, and packages.

In 1993 he started his own design company, New Possibilities Design, which he still operates at present. He designs for both print and the web. While all this was going on (it started back in high school), Michael LaBash was drawing like mad and has been published in zines throughout the world and in the small press and the underground.

Websites

• komix.it interview -- Interview with Michael LaBash about his life and art
• lavapenhome04 -- The art of Michael LaBash
• The Graphic Graphic Art of Michael LaBash -- Interview about his work on Underdog Online (5th November 2003)

Games Credited

Indianapolis 500: The Simulation (1989), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (1989), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate (1988), Electronic Arts, Inc.
The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight (1988), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Earl Weaver Baseball (1987), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Tales of the Unknown, Volume I: The Bard's Tale (1985), Electronic Arts, Inc.
World Tour Golf (1985), Electronic Arts, Inc.