{"id":2964,"date":"2021-09-21T20:08:18","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T17:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/?page_id=2964"},"modified":"2023-10-06T10:25:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T07:25:27","slug":"cv","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/about\/cv\/","title":{"rendered":"Curriculum vitae"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/wp-uploads\/2021\/09\/Michel-PXL_20201001__1200px.jpg\" title=\"Michel Bozgounov\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/wp-uploads\/2021\/09\/Michel-PXL_20201001__240px.jpg\" alt=\"Michel Bozgounov\" style=\"display: block; float: left; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; padding: 5px; border: 1px solid #CCC; background: #EEE;\"><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>~ CV quick nav ~<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#personal\">Personal information<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#work\">Work experience<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#education\">Education<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#language\">Language skills<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#skills\">Skills and competences<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#linkedin\">LinkedIn recommendations<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#appendix\">Appendix<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 id=\"personal\">1. Personal information<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>first\/last name:&nbsp; Michel Bozgounov<\/li>\n<li>nationality:&nbsp; Bulgarian<\/li>\n<li>LinkedIn profile:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/optimiced\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/optimiced<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Dribbble profile:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/dribbble.com\/optimiced\">https:\/\/dribbble.com\/optimiced<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Author\/editor page @ S.M.:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/author\/michel-bozgounov\/\">https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/author\/michel-bozgounov\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>personal website: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/\">www.optimiced.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"work\">2. Work experience<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Editor<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; 2011 \u2013 present day<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/about\/\">Smashing Media AG<\/a><\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; As an editor, I am editing and preparing articles for publishing in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/\">Smashing Magazine<\/a>. I collaborate with authors, the editor-in-chief, co-editors, experts, and proofreaders. My primary focus is on articles about design and UI design tools. Currently I am contributing mainly to the Graphics and Design sections in the magazine; in the past I was the leading editor of the Adobe Fireworks section.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Technical Editor<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; May 2017 \u2013 present day<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.milestonesys.com\/\">Milestone Systems<\/a><\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; As a technical editor, I am editing, writing and preparing articles for publishing in the <a href=\"https:\/\/supportcommunity.milestonesys.com\/s\/knowledgebase?language=en_US\">Milestone Knowledge Base<\/a>. I keep close communication with Support engineers, technical reviewers, QA, and developers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Author<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; 2010 \u2013 2014<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/about\/\">Smashing Media AG<\/a><\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; As an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/author\/michel-bozgounov\/\">author<\/a> I wrote several articles on the topic of Adobe Fireworks as a UI design and illustration tool: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2010\/05\/adobe-fireworks-is-it-worth-switching-to-cs5\/\">Adobe Fireworks: Is It Worth Switching to CS5?<\/a><\/em> (2010), <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2010\/09\/the-power-of-adobe-fireworks-what-can-you-achieve-with-it\/\">The Power of Adobe Fireworks \u2013 What Can You Achieve With It?<\/a><\/em> (2010), <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2013\/12\/present-future-adobe-fireworks\/\">The Present And Future Of Adobe Fireworks<\/a><\/em> (2013), <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2014\/07\/useful-adobe-fireworks-resources-extensions-part1\/\">Useful Adobe Fireworks Resources: Extensions (Part 1)<\/a><\/em> (2014), <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2014\/08\/useful-adobe-fireworks-resources-tutorials-articles-freebies-part2\/\">Useful Adobe Fireworks Resources: Tutorials, Articles And Freebies (Part 2)<\/a><\/em> (2014).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Technical Writer<\/strong>, <strong>Editor<\/strong>, <strong>Manual QA<\/strong>, <strong>Support<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; March 2015 \u2013 July 2016<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designer.io\/en\/\">Gravit GmbH<\/a> (now part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.corel.com\/en\/\">Corel Corp.<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; As a technical writer, I was creating tutorials and help pages for the Gravit Documentation section. As an editor, I was editing the team\u2019s newsletters, blog posts, and announcements. As a member of the QA team I was manually testing beta versions of the Gravit Designer app, exploring its stability, performance and features, and then logging any issues found. As a member of the support team, I was communicating closely with the people using the app and the development team, verifying and logging bugs, and suggesting new features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Web Designer<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; January 2011 \u2013 July 2011<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110902190859\/http:\/\/www.webres.de\/en\">Webres GmbH<\/a><\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; I was designing and providing support for the Joomla and WordPress websites that the company was making for their clients. I was installing plugins and writing HTML\/CSS code. I was reviewing websites of clients and making suggestions for improvements, in regard to their usability and accessibility. I also did some logo design and UI design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Volunteer Beta Tester<\/strong> (<strong>Manual QA<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; January 2006 \u2013 2013<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/\">Adobe Inc.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; I was testing beta builds of Adobe Fireworks (CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.1, CS6), Dreamweaver (CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6) and Illustrator (CS5, CS5.1, CS6). I was suggesting new features and logging bugs. I worked closely with the Adobe development teams, Adobe product managers, and with other Prerelease members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Web Designer<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; 2005 \u2013 2010<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; self-employed (freelance)<\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; As a freelancer web designer, I was creating websites and writing XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.1 code. I also did some logo design, UI design and print design. I worked with WordPress (setting up themes and plugins) and I was making websites from scratch (HTML\/CSS layouts).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>position:&nbsp; <strong>Web Designer<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; 2004 \u2013 2008<\/li>\n<li>employer:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluelink.net\/en\">BlueLink Information Network<\/a> NGO<\/li>\n<li>activities\/responsibilities:&nbsp; I was creating websites and providing support for existing ones. I was working with CMS systems (APC\u2019s ActionApps, and WordPress). I did some UI design and print design and I was writing XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.1 code. I was also providing technical support for our computers and for the local network.\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"education\">3. Education<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>qualification awarded:&nbsp; <strong>bachelor\u2019s degree in music arts<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; 1994 \u2013 1998<\/li>\n<li>educational organization:&nbsp; <a href=\"http:\/\/ns.nma.bg\/en\/about\">Music Academy Pancho Vladigerov<\/a> (Sofia)<\/li>\n<li>principal subjects\/skills covered:&nbsp; violin, chamber music, music arts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>qualification awarded:&nbsp; <strong>high school of music diploma<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>when:&nbsp; 1990 \u2013 1994<\/li>\n<li>educational organization:&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/nmu.bg\/\">Music School Lyubomir Pipkov<\/a> (Sofia)<\/li>\n<li>principal subjects\/skills covered:&nbsp; violin, chamber music, music arts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"language\">4. Language skills<\/h3>\n<p>I am fluent in <strong>English<\/strong> and <strong>Bulgarian<\/strong>, and I have some reading, writing, and conversational skills in Russian and French. The table below shares all the details.<\/p>\n<p><!-- https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/web\/cv\/michel-bozgounov-languages.jpg --><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid #CCC; border-collapse: collapse; width: 90%; background: #FFF;\" cellpadding=\"5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"background: #CDE2F6;\">\n<th scope=\"col\">&nbsp;<a href=\"#CEFRL\" title=\"Common European Framework of Reference for Languages\">(*)<\/a>&nbsp;<\/th>\n<th colspan=\"2\" scope=\"col\">understanding<\/th>\n<th colspan=\"2\" scope=\"col\">speaking<\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\">writing<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td>listening<\/td>\n<td>reading<\/td>\n<td>spoken interaction<\/td>\n<td>spoken production<\/td>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Bulgarian<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>English<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>C1 (advanced)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C1 (advanced)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Russian<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C2 (proficient)<\/td>\n<td>C1 (advanced)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>French<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>B2 (intermediate)<\/td>\n<td>C1 (advanced)<\/td>\n<td>B1 (intermediate)<\/td>\n<td>B1 (intermediate)<\/td>\n<td>B1 (intermediate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages#Common_reference_levels\n\" id=\"CEFRL\">(*) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"skills\">5. Skills and competences<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Many years of experience as technical editor (English).<\/li>\n<li>Many years of experience as manual QA (beta tester) of graphic design applications.<\/li>\n<li>Web design experience, understanding of HTML\/CSS, browser (Firefox and Chrome) dev tools.<\/li>\n<li>Experience setting up, using, and customizing WordPress blogs (themes, plugins), some FTP and SSH skills.<\/li>\n<li>Experience using Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fireworks, Gravit Designer and Affinity Designer vector design tools. Currently also putting Figma Design to my to-do list.<\/li>\n<li>Microsoft Windows power user (Windows 10, Windows 8\/8.1, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 98 SE).<\/li>\n<li>Some illustration and <a href=\"http:\/\/500px.com\/optimiced\">photography<\/a> skills.<\/li>\n<li>Many years of experience working in remote multi-cultural teams (Smashing Magazine, Gravit, Adobe).<\/li>\n<li>Experience using Trello and Notion; some experience with bug tracking systems (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlassian.com\/software\/jira\">JIRA\/Atlassian<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/caravelahq.com\/\">Caravela<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/adobeprerelease.com\">Adobe Prerelease<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Azure_DevOps_Server\">Microsoft TFS<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"linkedin\">6. LinkedIn recommendations<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cI have the opportunity and good fortune to work with Michel through several channels over the past 10+ years.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;We first met and collaborated through product development forums, beta testing, and product strategy panels for Adobe after the acquisition of Macromedia. He was a frequent contributor for Fireworks and was also able to contribute for Dreamweaver and Flash and the workflows across the tools. His prolific feedback and numerous ideas contributed to product features, training materials, and presentations.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;After significant changes to the Adobe Creative Suite tools (refocused into the Creative Cloud), Michel and I worked together when he edited design and software articles for Smashing Magazine and I was an expert reviewer. He was able to identify and engage talented authors from around the world to bring their expertise in design methods and tools to many. He established strong working relationships with authors and the publisher, and he always helped authors deliver high quality content.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;Finally, over the past several years he has been also involved in some of the Bulgaria Web Summit (BWS) series of conferences in Sofia. His work with the conference organizers has helped attract and host a few expert speakers from the web and mobile design communities from all around the world, and it is due to his efforts that I also have had the pleasure of attending and presenting at one of these conferences.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;Michel is deeply interested and engaged in nearly all facets of digital design, from UX, interaction, and visual design, to content strategy and writing, to professional training for designers and developers. His ability to foster connections, communicate clearly, and encourage others to be as passionate about design and technology has made him a valued friend and colleague to many.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 David M. Hogue, Ph.D. (Design Lead at Google), 04\/Oct.\/2021<\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cIt was my pleasure to work with Michel when we were working on building the next versions of Adobe Fireworks.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;One thing that stood out for me was his deep passion for what he believes in and stands by, with good understanding and logical reasoning. When you are working towards making something good, even better, such deep passion is much needed and appreciated.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;He was able to build his space, respect and knowledge within the Fireworks community for obvious reasons. His commitment towards the improvement of the app was evident by his dedication in writing articles, posting feedback, bugs, and feature requests.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;Having a conversation with Michel was enlightening also for me as an engineer as I was able to understand the other side of the design world and see how the app is used in real world scenarios.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Sarthak Singhal (Engineer at Adobe), 27\/Mar.\/2017<\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cMichel is a UI designer who volunteered to help make Adobe Fireworks better. I had the chance to work with him during many Adobe Prerelease cycles and his enthusiasm, attention to detail and seemingly endless energy were important to all of us.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;Michel was of great help when the development team needed to find and consistently reproduce bugs in the beta versions of the software. The bug reports he submitted were always very detailed, and he also helped us with some cool ideas for new features \u2014 some of which were later implemented in Fireworks. If chance presents, I&#8217;d be happy to work with Michel again!\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Alan Musselman (Entrepreneur; formerly Fireworks Product Manager at Adobe), 18\/Dec.\/2014<\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cMichel is a very talented designer and editor with deep knowledge on a lot of topics. He is very passionate about design and efficient use of tools for communicating ideas. I have had the opportunity of working with him on a few Smashing Magazine articles and enjoyed the careful editing and attention to craft he brings. He is very reliable and a joy to collaborate with. Michel is very patient, persistent, kind and knows how to help polish an article while maintaining the authenticity of your voice. I look forward to working more with him in the future.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Olawale Oladunni (Head of Digital Experience, Talent Solutions at LinkedIn), 10\/Dec.\/2014<\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cMichel is a brilliant editor and copywriter. I had the pleasure to work with him on a few articles and tutorials for Smashing Magazine and I am looking forward to working with him again soon. His knowledge of some of the Adobe tools is impressive: not only on the design side, but also on the technical side.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;Michel makes you always feel comfortable and his interpersonal skills are just awesome. I have been in touch with him for almost two years now and I am always amazed by his optimism and practicality, great suggestions and deep knowledge of many topics. What I love the most though is his great passion for digital products and a natural positive attitude towards problem-solving. He stays positive no matter what and that\u2019s incredible.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;We\u2019ve done some great work together so far and I can\u2019t wait to produce more articles and editorial materials together with him.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Fabio Benedetti (Senior Product Designer at Apple), 26\/Sep.\/2014<\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cMichel is a hard-working, patient and intelligent writer, editor and front-end developer who wears many hats. He is a person whom you can trust and a person you can rely on. He combines social skills, knowledge, persistence and kindness to get work done just the way it\u2019s supposed to be done. It matters. And it shines through in every article he edits and published for us at Smashing Magazine.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Vitaly Friedman (Smashing Magazine\u2019s Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief), 21\/Aug.\/2014<\/li>\n<li>For details, check my public LinkedIn profile:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/optimiced\/\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/optimiced\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"appendix\">7. Appendix<\/h3>\n<p>See also what others are saying about me and my work:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMichel, your solution is ingenious. Most importantly, your demo page works in Safari (no flash). Thanks for the hard work!\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Jeffrey Zeldman, author of &#8220;Designing With Web Standards&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110319024342\/http:\/\/www.zeldman.com\/2009\/07\/08\/firefox-forces-red-background-flash\/#comment-44430\">#<\/a>, July 2009)<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMichel, you are tireless homme fantastique, thank you!\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Jeffrey Zeldman, author of &#8220;Designing With Web Standards&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110319024342\/http:\/\/www.zeldman.com\/2009\/07\/08\/firefox-forces-red-background-flash\/#comment-44452\">#<\/a>, July 2009)<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe worked with Michel together on the new design for my personal website: his commitment to work was great, his HTML\/CSS was as bulletproof as possible, and the final design was both elegant and lightweight.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n\u2014 Nikolay Dimitrov, <a href=\"http:\/\/nixonixo.com\/\">illustrator &amp; photographer<\/a> (May 2010)<\/p>\n<hr size=\"1\" \/>\n<p>[ <em>CV last updated: 04\/Oct.\/2021<\/em> ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>~ CV quick nav ~ Personal information Work experience Education Language skills Skills and competences LinkedIn recommendations Appendix 1. Personal information first\/last name:&nbsp; Michel Bozgounov nationality:&nbsp; Bulgarian LinkedIn profile:&nbsp; https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/optimiced Dribbble profile:&nbsp; https:\/\/dribbble.com\/optimiced Author\/editor page @ S.M.:&nbsp; https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/author\/michel-bozgounov\/ personal website: www.optimiced.com 2. Work experience position:&nbsp; Editor when:&nbsp; 2011 \u2013 present day employer:&nbsp; Smashing Media AG&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2986,"parent":3034,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2964","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2964"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3428,"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2964\/revisions\/3428"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optimiced.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}