Bio

Here's a bit more about me and my creative journey. There are also a few picturess below that huge wall of copy. If you'd like to learn more or ask me a question, send me an email. Link on my "contact" page.

* Bio incoming

My name is Mikey Hayes, I started Middle Ground in 2019.

When I founded Middle Ground I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I did not know how to produce well-made artifacts, I didn't conceptualize myself as an artist, and I felt confused pretty much constantly.

I remember filling journals with questions and I desperately wanted to know where the creative journey was headed. I felt that if I knew where I was going I could sprint in that direction. After a year or so of trying to figure it all out I realized knowledge about where I was headed wasn't all that essential.

So I decided to keep making things. To build my way there even if I didn't know where "there" actually was. The decision to keep making things eventually became a project I started called Saturday Type Club. Every Saturday I would publish a type-based design project regardless of what I thought about it. This weekly, mandatory practice grew my design chops and formed me into someone who can regularly show up.

After some time of being solely a designer I started implementing writing into what I made. I chewed on how to best combine type-based design and writing and stumbled my way into forming the Tid-Bit Badge Catalog. I completed the project in 2022 and subsequently set off to start another writing gig.

With my passion for writing now top of mind I wrote, designed, and published my first book Stepless, in 2023. It was exactly the project I needed to make. Although the process of publishing Stepless was confusing and tedious it confirmed that Middle Ground needed to change at its core.

In 2024 Middle Ground officially became Middle Ground Design and Publishing. Writing had been fully integrated into my ongoing creative practice.My passion for publishing didn't stop either, in 2024 I self-published my second book Log Out.

Now, in 2026 Middle Ground has taken on the addege of "heriloom design studio" and even though I have more clarity the story of Middle Ground is still being written. I'm sure this long bio will at some point be even longer. I've had many confusing days and a ton of second guesses.