Matthew Byrnes
New Media Designer, Knight Center for International Media
By fusing his skills in interactive media with traditional practices in print and broadcast journalism, Matthew Byrnes is working on the cutting edge of news media in the digital age.
After receiving his associate’s in Multimedia and Web Design from the Art Institute of Atlanta, Byrnes was immediately employed as a designer and information architect at S.M.A.R.T. Marketing, a leading marketing technology company that has pioneered modern practices in online sales, advertising and search engine optimization. While working there, he gained tremendous insight on creating new media ventures and marketing them worldwide.
After one year of service to this company, Byrnes decided it was time to embark on a new path that would enhance both his career and education. With this, he started his own business entitled Sharp Concept Media Production and enrolled in the Visual Communication program at the University of Miami, School of Communication.
While attending as a full time student, Byrnes was also doing business with clients from all over the world. This combination of learning from highly experienced professors and highly ambitious entrepreneurs led him to a particularly unique range of skills.
“Some say that my professional background is unorthodox but that’s just that way I like it,” Byrnes said. “I never set out to specialized in one area of communications but a great many of them.”
This mentality led Byrnes to expand his efforts from the field of advertising and new media to the field of journalism, where he has achieved his most notable success to date. In 2007 Byrnes launched FloridaWarming.com a website dedicate to educating on the topic of global warming and its resulting effects in Florida. The project was widely successful and awarded by many prestigious organizations such as the Broadcast Education Association and Society of Professional Journalism. This accomplishment also awarded Byrnes the opportunity to attend the School of Communication’s graduate journalism program with an assistantship and work at the Knight Center for International Media.
“I am ecstatic about my future relationship with the School of Communication and Knight Center for International Media,” Byrnes said. “This organization embodies the type of work that I am truly passionate about and I will dedicate my greatest efforts to its success.”
