Thomas Wilson
'22, Art
by Kristin Steiner
When Professor of Art and Design, Luke Matjas, MFA, put the call out to designers about developing the cover art for 海角社区CI鈥檚 2022-23 University Catalog, Thomas Wilson didn鈥檛 hesitate to answer. The 海角社区CI alum (鈥�22, Art) was ready to tackle a new project and hone the skills he developed in Matjas鈥� courses to create something unique for 海角社区CI鈥檚 latest edition of the annual catalog.
A transfer student to the University in 2020, Wilson took classes online for his first two semesters at 海角社区CI. When he was finally able to take classes in-person for the Fall 2021 semester, he immediately took notice of the campus鈥� beautiful architecture.
鈥淚 think one of the standout pieces of this campus, visually, are the buildings. They鈥檙e very iconic, and everything is so cohesive,鈥� he said.
Since he only attended two semesters on campus, Wilson felt he brought a unique, outsider鈥檚 perspective to this year鈥檚 catalog cover design and worked to create something completely original.
鈥淚 kind of wanted to take it and flip it on its head a little bit, you know? Like, the building is now pink, and upside down, and transparent. I wanted to play with the shapes and the color of the campus, try to experiment and kind of break it out of a box.鈥�
On top of changing shapes and colors, he also took into consideration the University鈥檚 upcoming 20th anniversary.
鈥淭wenty years is a while and you know, things grow and change, and this campus has grown and changed. That was a lot of my thought process behind it 鈥� kind of changing, radically, how the campus feels, through design, as it has throughout the years. It鈥檚 changed dramatically.鈥�
When he鈥檚 not designing cover art or working for Associated Students Incorporated (ASI) as a graphic designer, Wilson loves making art of his own, often drawing and sketching in his spare time. A lover of the outdoors, he spends a lot of time in nature, hiking and camping in the Sespe Wilderness near Ojai. With hopes to one day become an art director who gets to oversee and mentor other designers, the biggest goal Wilson has is to share his art with others, however that may come about.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 usually do projects like this, but it was definitely really awesome to just take hold of that opportunity when someone presents it. It鈥檚 really fun to have your art out in the world.鈥�