ANTHONY CASTO GRAPHIC DESIGNER Leesburg, FL • 614.506.2838 www.anthonycasto.com • [email protected]

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

12+ years experience with a true passion for conceptual storytelling, visual communication, graphic design, page layout, and art directing. Consistently creates evocative, bold, and award-winning designs. Known by peers and managers as a creative, upbeat, reliable, and responsible employee with strong leadership skills and works well under pressure. Strong record of success in every role as evidenced by increases in responsibility and promotions. Skilled illustrator, both by hand and via software, with advanced technical abilities and strong conceptual aptitude.

I wholeheartedly recommend Anthony Casto for any artistic position he seeks. I've seen Anthony excel time and time again. He's creative, works well on deadline and “ with others. He would be a great value to any business. He's always looking for unique and compelling ways to present information. He’s simply one of the best people I've ever worked with.” Gary Corsair - Senior Writer, The Villages Media Group

SKILLS

Design: Magazine/newspaper layouts, photo illustrations, hand-drawn illustrations, infographics, print ads, web ads and banners, brochures, event booths, logos, corporate stationery, posters.

Software: Adobe Creative Suite 5.5, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Professional, Apple iLife and iWork, Microsoft Word and Excel, Final Cut Pro, Mac OSX.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

AKERS MEDIA GROUP — LEESBURG, FL — 2011 TO CURRENT Multimedia group and publisher of Healthy Living Magazine, STYLE Magazine, The Villages VLIFE, including a full service design agency, Akers Creative, and Lake STYLE TV.

Senior Designer

Lateral shift to senior designer to be used in greater capacity for the business by using stylized visual design skills, sophisticated and illustrative photo treatments, and design instincts to conceptualize and strategize department pages, section layouts, and feature story spreads while also preflighting pages for final print, and working closely with creative officer.

Selected contributions: . Utilize conceptual skills to execute and design 40+ pages monthly that display intelligent, entertaining, creative, fun, and fresh concepts for flagship magazine - results were so successful it boosted the quality of the magazine and has sustained the highest standard for clients and community readership. The magazine has elevated in popularity, gained positive community praise, and was awarded the best overall magazine in the state of Florida and recently credited with design work and conceptual contributions earning Charlie Awards for Best Overall Magazine Design from the Florida Magazine Association for the past two years. . Assumed responsibility for conducting photo shoots throughout the community during events and in-house studio shoots, eliminating overhead costs of freelance photographers during tight deadlines. . Work closely with photographer by supplying concepts and hand-drawn sketches to help create affective and complete designs so model, client, and photographer experience comfortable, positive, and productive photo sessions. . Spearheaded re-design and art directed photography for a once bland and stale 4-page fitness section into a visually striking and engaging segment that received praise among community, publisher, and peers which transformed into a staple of the magazine and highlight of the publication. ANTHONY CASTO GRAPHIC DESIGNER Page 2 Art Director Originally invited to design in-house as a freelance designer/production artist to produce ads for clients and create feature spread layouts, department pages, and illustrations in art department but quickly promoted full- time as a result of work ethic, camaraderie, positive customer feedback, and design skills to become Art Director for a newly commissioned magazine. Art directed, managed, participated in all projects and creative planning, design execution of layouts using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, coordinated with clients and external agencies in the development of advertisements while art directing photo sessions, handled preflight maintenance for final press printing using web based platform for digital uploading. Created quality advertisement designs to sustain client base that generated repeat business and also influenced clients to purchase premium upgrades that brought in more than $20,000 in return.

Selected contributions:

. Quickly earned credibility with senior executives and team by leading and managing within tight deadlines, working closely with senior editor and publisher to execute creative concepts and story ideas, attended advisory board meetings to establish professional perspectives in forward thinking process and overall development, practiced a steady calmness and good attitude assisting challenging clients while also volunteering extra time assisting art department during late night deadlines.

. Actively involved with senior editor and executive staff meetings to concept cover designs, type treatments, story ideas, and feature story designs.

. Elevated company revenue with a highly praised 8-page advertisement design for a reputable cancer center who extended their 1-month contract to a 12-month contract within 72-hours which generated upwards of $10,000 dollars per month for a year and also influenced retirement community to extend a monthly contract to a yearly contract for the back cover of the publication that also generated equal return.

. Effectively used photography skills by taking photographs in-house and in the community to accomplish page designs from conception to final design eliminating overhead costs for company to seek and hire freelance photography in a tight deadline.

THE VILLAGES MEDIA GROUP, Lady Lake, FL — 2006 to 2011 Media group for large active-adult community – manages newspaper, magazine, radio and TV stations. Graphic Designer Initially hired to design layouts for daily newspaper, then promoted after 4 years to design for 130-page monthly magazine. Participated in project and creative planning, design layouts, executed designs using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, managed vendors and external agencies, directed photo shoots, managed proof and preflight for printing. Also handled special design projects such as creating graphic wraps for radio station van and event booths. Selected contributions: . Revitalized outdated newspaper by proposing redesign of lifestyle section. Subsequently asked to redesign additional pages as a result of the success of this new look. . Spearheaded design and development of new hyper-local pull-out section for newspaper. Led cross- functional team to conceive, design and produce section generating up to $150,000 per weekly issue. Contributions included name creation, content strategy, logo design, and page layouts. . Received 10 design awards between 2008 and 2011 for full-page feature layouts and photo illustrations for riveting stylized movie poster designs for entertainment/film page with sensitivity to local taste and demographic. . Assumed responsibility for conducting photo shoots throughout the community, saving money on photography costs while producing high-quality work, and engaging positively with readership. . Designed hand-illustrated 8-page spread within short 3-day timeframe, creating 11 cartoon illustrations. Won first place in state design competitions.

ANTHONY CASTO GRAPHIC DESIGNER Page 3

BROWN PUBLISHING COMPANY – THE MADISON PRESS NEWSPAPER, London, OH — 2004 to 2006 Privately owned newspaper Graphic Designer Coordinated, designed, and customized ads for newspaper publication, and worked closely with clients to prepare the ads for printing. Also designed the front page of the paper’s Saturday edition. Successfully handled busy workload, consistently meeting tight deadlines. . Increased the efficiency of ad creation, freeing up time to contribute by designing special sections and inserts. . Influenced a move to more creative layouts and page designs by redesigning the front page of the Saturday edition, a move that was extremely well-received. . Stepped up to assist manager with tasks and projects as needed while still delivering own work on time and to a high quality.

HONORS AND AWARDS

2013 - Employee of the Year Award from Akers Media Group 2013 - 1st place Florida Magazine Association Charlie Award for Best Overall Design-Healthy Living Magazine 2013 - 2nd place Silver Award from Florida Magazine Association for Best Table of Contents Design 2011 - 1st place Florida Magazine Association Charlie Award for Best Illustration 2011 - 2nd place in Sunshine State Awards 2010 - 1st and 2nd place in Florida Society of Newspaper Editors’ Journalism Competition 2009 - 1st place in Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism Contest 2009 - 1st and 3rd place in Florida Society of Newspaper Editors’ Journalism Competition 2009 - 1st place in Sunshine State Awards Competition 2009 - 1st place Gold Winner in FNAME Annual Conference

MY EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design and Advertising Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio (2001) Commercial Arts 1 & 2 Degree Northeast Career Center, Columbus, Ohio (1995-1997)

Professional Development: . American Graphics Institute (AGI) Seminar for Adobe InDesign Training 1 & 2 . Skill Path Training Conference for Adobe Photoshop Users: Mastering the Basics of Photoshop Track 1 & 2.

Affiliations: . Society for News Design's & News Page Designer (npd.snd.org) . Florida Press Club (www.floridapressclub.org) ANTHONY CASTO GRAPHIC DESIGNER Page 4

REFERENCES

Gary Corsair Features Writer The Villages Media Group

Cell: 352-217-9994 Office: 352-753-1119 Email: [email protected] — [email protected]

Keith Chartrand Sports Editor The Villages Media Group

Cell: 407-489-3620 Office: 352-753-1119 ext.7910 Email: [email protected] — [email protected]

Holly Lawler Recreation News Editor The Villages Media Group

Cell: 352-409-1390 Office: 352-753-1119 Email: [email protected]

BA Wells Circulation Manager Brown Publishing - The Madison Press

Cell: 740-506-3264 Office: 740-852-1616 ext. 24 Email: [email protected]