About
Design fueled by the things I love.
Hi, I'm Michael Rascon — a graphic designer, illustrator, and brand designer with a soft spot for record covers, LEGO, and the smell of a fresh screen-printed poster.
I believe great design comes from being genuinely interested in the world outside the software window. Everything I collect, watch, and build in my spare time quietly feeds the work I ship for clients.
Beyond the desk
The hobbies that keep the work honest.
№ 01
LEGO Collecting
Building modular sets teaches me the same thing brand systems do — small, well-designed parts, arranged with intent, add up to something greater than themselves.
№ 02
Music & Vinyl Records
Album art from the '70s and '90s is my first teacher. Cover typography, gatefold layouts, and label design still influence how I think about hierarchy and mood.
№ 03
Painting & Drawing
A daily sketch and paint practice keeps my hand loose. Most of my illustration work starts on canvas or in a sketchbook before it ever touches a Bézier curve.
№ 04
Drawing
Sketchbook work is where most of my ideas start. A charcoal portrait study of faces and character, a pen-and-ink desert scene of half-buried guitars, and a mixed-media piece — watercolor for the fiery red sky, oil pastel for the cool cloudy blue, and ink and pencil for the character.
Where this site came from
I painted this portfolio on my wall first.
The shapes, the palette, the energy of this whole site started as a Memphis-style pattern I hand-painted across the wall of my room. The site is a digital echo of that mural.
Software & Skills
What I bring to the studio.
Primary Software
Design
Workflow
On AI in the workflow
I use AI as a creative tool — brainstorming directions, generating variations, and cleaning up production steps. The original design decisions, the drawings, and the final files still come from me. AI accelerates my process; it doesn't replace it.