Looking to take on some new work, whether it's freelance or full time!
About
Yo! I’m Matese, but you can call me Tese. A musician turned designer, I’ve been a “creative” my entire life. My approach to design is like my career path—non-linear. I went to school for music before making the switch to design. Now I feel like I do my best work when I can help build a brand from the ground up. By approaching every problem differently, I find that I’m able to design in a way that doesn’t just convey ideas, but tells stories.
If you’re looking for me outside of this screen you can usually find me at a vintage shop, a basketball court, or a golf course.
Currently available for freelance/contract opportunities.
Projects
Black Campaign School is a year round leadership, political education and strategy program started in 2017. I was approached by BCS in the summer of 2022 to work with the team at Three Point Strategies to revamp the branding / identity of Black Campaign School as well as develop the identity for the resurrection of “Black Camp”, a hands-on, immersive camp located at the historic Haley Farm in Tennessee.
The goal was to create a brand that separated itself from the typical political & DC world. Something that showed intentionality but also screams joy and black excellence. Organizing and campaigning is loud, in your face and direct, therefore I knew that the logo needed to be a reflection of that. After a lot of exploration I found the Artex type family by Optimo and we knew that it fit perfectly. Upon further exploration we kept stumbling upon the theme of horizon. Knowing that BCS would be hosting Black Camp at Haley Farm for the foreseeable future, we took the prominent and historic library and paired that up with the motif of a new horizon for the logomark.
Following the design of the logomark I designed out their brand guidelines along with many deliverables for their Black Camp event in December.
IDYLL is a new company looking to create the new wave of music using the blockchain and Web3 capabilities. I worked with them to help define the brand identity, design a pitch deck, as well as create templates & system for them to use on social media.
The word “Idyll” is rooted in simplicity, which is the direction that we wanted to take with the logo. The “I” In IDYLL represents the new wave that the brand wanted to be. Knowing that the company is rooted in music, we thought it made sense to have the color scheme and gradient resemble the colors that you see in a concert.
Summer of 2022 I designed a logo for an ad-hoc group for students of color at Denison University. This logo was inspired by the Kente Cloth pattern and can be used in many different mediums such as letterhead, clothing, merch, etc.