Lasting Memories

Michael James Moon
Feb. 10, 1974-Dec. 9, 2017
Mountain View, CA

“I distill organization’s strategies, technologies, and services into solid gold nuggets your grandmother can understand. Then I make them real.” -- Michael Moon.

Creative director, consultant, educator, and writer Michael James Moon passed away on Dec. 9, 2017, surrounded by family. Michael was born on Feb. 10, 1974, in San Jose, California and grew up in San Jose and Portland, Oregon. He attended Jesuit High School in Portland and Cornell University, where he received a BA in English and BS degrees in economics and political science.

While at Cornell, Michael participated in a range of cultural and creative activities, including legendary local band Pope Icky. Michael worked for Ziba Design in Portland, Tajima Creative in Menlo Park, and Duarte Design before launching his own firm, The Moon Agency, in 2010. In his independent work, Michael scripted and produced short documentaries for the International Peace Initiative for the Jakarta International Defense Dialogue and the Vienna Bicentenary Conference.

He taught design thinking for more than 40 students at the Woxen School of Business in Hyderabad, India. He also served as faculty to the TED fellows program at TED India and TED Global in Oxford, England.

Michael was deeply engaged in community service, providing presentation coaching to the Leadership Palo Alto Fellows, serving on the board of the Churchill Club and the San Jose ICA and working to develop pro-bono branding for the Palo Alto Art Center.

Michael is survived by his father Jim Moon of Lincoln, California, his mother Brenda Moon of Portland, Oregon, his brother Mark Moon of Sydney, Australia, and his wife, Karen Kienzle, of Mountain View, California.