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Thomas Casterline
Design Work
Here you will find an archive of my design based work.
This can include graphic designs, drawings, photography, all things that I would consider to utilize design aspects that I prioritize within media.
I prefer using designs that include strong contrast and vibrant colors. Most, if not all, of my works include those as priorities when trying to push a subject or design forward.
I want my art and designs to be eye catching and pleasing to look it, so finding a balance between what is vibrant and colorful and what is too bright and over saturated is key.
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"Nagra Matcher"
"Nagra Matcher" is a hypothetical matchbook design that was designed to have similar texture to a real life matchbook.
The style was based upon news press printing, as well as stencil graffiti art. The design itself was inspired by various hot sauce bottles, usually the type that are designed to be uncomfortable to consume include some sort of skeleton or skull on the bottle to symbolize death or danger. I figured that most people who would own a matchbook would use the matches for cigarettes, it would be visually interesting to show the cigarette angle on the design itself.
"Pamphlet Mockup"
This was a practice I did to create a pamphlet design that can be used in a professional environment.
I looked to the modern trends of minimalism to create something that can be applied to most any business, Everything including in this practice file can be considered place holders.
I feel its important to create a file that can be re-used at a later date if there needs to be any updates or changes made. It is also useful to have for when working in an environment with multiple designers, I like to make sure the project file itself has each layer and piece labeled clearly so others can understand and edit the file with little difficulty.
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"The Light Show"
This is a mockup of a hypothetical light show, I made this as a practice for focusing on typography and the color scheme of a designed piece.
I wanted to have the text be as legible as possible while mimicking a neon light type look, I had to play with the values and colors to make sure the text could be read and not be overwhelming.
The photo used is one I took myself, as discussed further down on this page.
"Live Music Ad"
This is a mockup of a protentional for live music at a local restaurant.
I wanted to use this local restaurant specifically for the rustic design of their logo, I wanted to do a simple design that still utilizes texture to further an eye catching advertisement.
The idea was to make the piece have the color scheme of stained wood while also having the information as simple and legible as possible.
I did not have access to the logo, so I had to use an image of one of their shirts and a series of filters to separate the logo from the original photo to use for this work.
"Hadley Heights Ads"
"Hadley Heights Ads" are a set of Mockup Ads made for a friend based upon their camp site.
The photos and Logo were provided, so the exercise was to create two different advertisements for the hypothetical camp site. One for the Camp site itself and another for Golfing.
I took inspiration from various posters I'd see posted within school buildings when I attended college, as well as local ads for golf courses and camp sites.
"Blue Light in the Dark"
"Blue Light in the Dark" is an example of how I like to approach photography, I highly prioritize heavy contrast in all of my creative work as well as vibrant colors.
I found that , while utilizing light sources is very effective when photographing a subject, I found an interest in turning the light source itself into the subject and what kind of look can be achieved by changing the lights surroundings.
This was simply a colored light bulb in a lamp while the room was pitch black, but due to the reflective plastic inside of the lamp and constant editing of the camera's exposure, I was able to get this clear look at the lamp.
I appreciate the somewhat abstract look of the piece, and it reminds me of various types of album art with similar color pallets and design aspects.
"Blue Man in a Blue Car"
In a similar vein as the previous work, "Blue Man in a Blue Car" is another example of photography where I aimed to showcase the importance of contrast and colors within my work.
This was one of two photos I quickly snapped while I had a chance, and it was simply taken into Adobe Photoshop and the contrast was bumped up a bit to make the blue the most vibrant part of the picture.
Even a simple picture as this can be enhanced with a little more contrast, I'd say it comes off like an old photo you'd find in a school textbook or an old news letter.
"Self Portrait"
Colors are a really important aspect of my work, but above all else I was a strong sense of contrast to emphasize the subject of the piece.
My self portrait was made using a projector to outline a photo of myself, and then charcoal for the actual piece. Having only shades of black to work with was the most difficult part of the project at first, but as time went on and I got more of the piece filled in it started feeling more natural creating the rest of the work.
Focusing on the contrast itself is what made this project for me, and I use it as reference whenever I have a hard time figuring out a contrast-centric look for a piece.
"Headphones Ad"
"Headphones Ad" is a mini project where I made a 3D model of headphones and rendered it out into an advertisement format.
This was made to look like a magazine advertisement from the mid 2000s, and the headphones themselves were made to look like a modern minimalistic design.
The render was made using Maya, and the render was then taken into Adobe Photoshop to spruce up, edit the colors to make them a bit more vibrant and to add text.
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