DAVE CANTU

    Senior Visual Designer | Environmental Graphics & UX

    ABOUT ME
    I bridge the gap between high-fidelity visual design and user experience. With 30+ years in the industry, I specialize in solving complex visual problems—whether that's architectural signage for a city block or the UI architecture for a software theme. CORE SKILLS Environmental Graphic Design • Brand Identity • UX/UI • Commercial Illustration

LARGE SCALE & ENVIRONMENTAL VISUALIZATION

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Project: "The Zone" Architectural Identity Technical Scope: 3D environmental rendering to visualize brand integration on existing architecture. Key Details: The close-up visualization simulates specific lighting temperatures (LED vs. ambient) and material reflectivity to ensure the signage would be legible and impactful against the building's facade.

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Project: Texas Citizens Bank (Brand Retrofit) Challenge: Integrating modern corporate identity (monument signage) while strictly adhering to historic preservation mandates for the existing roof structure. Solution: Modeled the full site and existing architecture to demonstrate how the new monument sign would capture traffic attention without conflicting with the protected historic silhouette on the roof.

CREATING UI DESIGN & DIGITAL THEMES SINCE 2004

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Project: RapidWeaver Theme Ecosystem (2004-2010) Role: Original Commercial Theme Architect Context: Pioneered the first third-party theme market for the RapidWeaver platform. The Innovation: As seen in the "Wood Frame" screenshot, I developed early "No-Code" customization tools (RWmultitool), allowing non-technical users to toggle sidebar placements and color schemes long before modern site builders existed.

COMMERCIAL ILLUSTRATION & BRANDING

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Project: Editorial & Narrative Illustration Scope: From technical editorial cartoons to full-length published children's books. Key Strength: Ability to adapt visual style to the audience—using "witty/sketchy" styles for rapid tech blogs (left) and "rich/painterly" styles for long-form narrative storytelling (right).

LETS WORK TOGETHER
I am currently open to remote roles in Visual Design and Creative Direction.
www.linkedin.com/in/dave-cantu-b15819b8
dave@davecantu.me