Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb East.
Hi Caleb, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was 17 when I bought my first iPhone a few months after getting my first job, and I downloaded instagram. The son of my painting and pottery-throwing mother, I had taken up drawing, painting and illustration. This was especially so after I had been insanely obsessed with the Tokusatsu genre in middle school. Now honestly, I really got into art because I wanted to depict Godzilla! My crazy middle school brain told me I NEEDED to, obviously.
On Instagram I discovered the world of today’s graphic designers and was immediately absorbed with the total effect of their work, and additionally how these creatives carried themselves. Social Media has a very tactile way of posturing a viewer to ‘dig’ whatever they are beholding. 1924 was honestly a knockout to me, and I learned how he transferred his sketchbook illustrations to digital in order to turn his drawings into graphics that are ready for commercial use. While I’ve taken up some additional skills like type design, production design, motion graphics & advertising, hand-drawn illustrations (especially for branding) has been my main game since then.
I had taken saturday morning credit classes at the art school during the last semester of my senior year, and then I actually only went to the school a semester before dropping out. I believed I could learn much more efficiently at less expense via the relevant literature in my field, frequent drawing & design practice, online courses, and taking up freelance projects—whatever came my way. When COVID hit I was working retail and remained full time whilst studying diligently and really hitting the sketchbook daily.
I’ve accumulated a few rad sources of recurring work such as from a Christian camp for boys & young men who come from broken families, many local small businesses, projects from some churches. Recently I’ve started designing celtic-style monograms for weddings, as many of my friends have been getting married! Those insular manuscripts like the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels are probably the most enchanting works of design I’ve ever seen. It’s been a pleasure for me to have helped my friend grow his landscaping business LawnPal, which is really my day-job, and yes, I’m almost always out in the field with them! But of course, I built out the all the branding and the website, and many social media designs. Also… some super rad MERCH! I’m grateful that God gave me this unexpected opportunity, as we’re trying to build a business that has a culture rooted in the Gospel—where we find our validation in the work of Our Lord rather than the mere performance of ourselves. Remarkably, this actually causes us to work harder, as we know we’re vindicated and thus freed to love each other and our neighbors, and to extend that Grace to others. I’m eager to grow in my MYSTERIAN freelance work, and also to truly excited for what’s in store with LawnPal, as I look forward to growing into more of a solid designer role in the future. I’ve gotta say though, I sure will miss the hard manual labor, and part of me hope that the day it comes to an end is not soon!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think something I could have done better was working on having the boldness to charge what would be a fair price for me, and also not leaning on a business partner (as I had two occasions were I tried to start a studio with someone who was a little older and had experience in sales) for getting the work I need.
I also had a few times over the past few years where I’d aggressively shoot out cold emails to try and generate more work, mostly to no avail. Those were disappointing times to be honest! It would have been better to try to cultivate solid relationships with prospective clients instead. A solid thing I’ve started networking-wise is I actually created an art and design reposting page on Instagram & FaceBook for work by Reformed Christians (the faith tradition I’m in). It’s a nice way to be a blessing to that huge community by directing work to the artists. And it also links to my work as well!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a graphic designer that specializes in illustration. I really think my best work has been some of my personal projects—namely event graphics for a ministry I was a part of. I really think I’m in my element when I’m coming up a unique/quirky/symbolic concept, illustrating it, and giving it colors and typography that have a pointed theory of communication and atmosphere.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My mom is a painter and potter as I mentioned, and my Uncle is a great impressionist painter as well.
My pastor and a lot of my friends and family are very encouraging and supportive of my work. It’s a blessing to have created a lot of designs that attempted to capture the zietgiest or ground of the atmosphere in my community.
Pricing:
- Simple Brand Design package $600
- Celtic-style illustrated Monogram $400
- Brand Illustration set $1000
- Brand font $1500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mysterian.design/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mysterian.design/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
