Andrew Burwell
Designer. Strategist.
Astrophotographer.
Award-winning digital strategy leader by day, astrophotographer and Mac app developer by night. Building software for the astronomy community from the same passion that keeps me pointed at the stars.
Where Design Meets the Cosmos
I'm a graphic designer and digital strategist with over two decades in creative leadership — from art directing magazines to leading global web strategy at SLB, one of the world's largest energy technology companies. My career has spanned brand storytelling, VR experiences, content strategy, and the emerging field of Generative Engine Optimization.
Outside the office, I've spent nearly a decade practicing astrophotography on the Apple Mac platform. What started as a backyard hobby in Bortle 9 Houston skies evolved into operating a remote telescope observatory in Animas, New Mexico — 1,500 miles and a world of dark sky away. I run macobservatory.com, the go-to resource for Mac-based astrophotography.
Recently, I've channeled my design background and domain expertise into native Mac app development, building a suite of tools that the astronomy community has been missing on macOS. No coding background required — just a designer who refused to wait for someone else to build it.
Professional Journey
The Mac Observatory
A Bortle 1 Sky, 1,500 Miles Away
macobservatory.com is the web's most comprehensive resource for astrophotography on the Apple Mac. It covers everything from software reviews and tutorials to equipment deep-dives and complete workflow guides for planetary and deep sky imaging on macOS.
My remote observatory is hosted at DSP Remote in Animas, New Mexico — a Bortle 1/2 dark sky site that I operate entirely from Houston using N.I.N.A. imaging software. The setup includes a Takahashi TOA-130NFB refractor paired with a ZWO ASI6200MM-Pro camera and Chroma filters, optimized for high-resolution deep sky work under some of the darkest skies in North America.
I also maintain a planetary imaging setup closer to home, using an EdgeHD 11" and ZWO ASI cameras for high-frame-rate capture of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon.
Mac Observatory Suite
A collection of native macOS apps built in Swift/SwiftUI to fill the gaps that have long existed in the Mac astrophotography ecosystem. Designed by an astrophotographer, for astrophotographers.