My name is Toby Dush. I graduated from UW Stout with a BFA in Graphic Design & Interactive Media, double concentrating in communication and interaction. There, I learned the Adobe Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I also learned to code in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Now I am in the Twin Cities looking for a job in my field.
One thing that I try to do is apply joyous effort into everything I do; from design to cooking, my goal is to be happy and enjoy life. I want to find a team that can help me turn my passion and energy into something beautiful.So without further ado, welcome to my website — scroll down leisurely and click around.
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Stout gave me an excellent 4 years. I learned so much and pushed myself in so many different ways I didn’t know I could be pushed. Here are some of my favorite designs. They range from websites to ad campaigns. Scroll down and take a peek. Or just click one of the names to skip right to the work.
My only true professional graphic design job was at the Menard Center. It was a small team of 5 on the Stout campus that hosted events about social justice and civil liberties. I did everything from maintaining the website to creating posts for each event. With luck, your project can be the next to be added to this area.
Here is where I showcase all my extra creative projects. Not all of them are design-related, but it would be a shame not to include them. So here is my playground, my experiments that go beyond graphic design.
I coded and designed this site. But what is Worm Charming, and why did I make this? Well, worm charming is the practice of creating vibrations in the ground to emulate the worm’s natural predator, the mole. I created this for a class; the prompt was to host an event and design a website for it. I wanted to do something different, and while researching, I found an annual worm charming competition in the UK. So, I decided to host Wisconsin’s first worm charming event and invite my friends. The site served as a way to build anticipation, gather a head count, and educate people about what Worm Charming is about. The event was a success, and creating the site was a lot of fun.
Event PageThis website takes this tradition and brings it up to speed with current Y2K trends. I used Photoshop to create the individual worms. The target audience was young people between 18 and 25. The Y2K aesthetic added to the appeal of the site; it is current and cool. The aesthetic also lent an eye-catching factor to the site. The whole thing is bright and moving. It feels like worms are wiggling around asking you to come to the event. It draws people in and gets them excited.
Next PageThis project was not finished in one day; I didn’t wake up and suddenly have this great idea. It came through process. I started with mood boards, sketches, and wire frames. I always start physical. This usually translates to taking notes and making sketches. Below are some sketches and links to wire frames.
Wire Frame Visual DesignFor this site, I knew early on I wanted to use the Y2K aesthetic. Here is an early mood board that brought this vision to life. I primarily use Pinterest when looking for image references. And in the case of this project, all the worms’ accessories and face parts came from Pinterest.
Next PageMurmur, where to start? This project means so much to me. It was my senior project at Stout, a showcase of all the work I did leading up to my final year and all the people who helped me. Murmur is a website that holds individuals’ keepsakes and stories. It is a site where people can come together and share intimate moments about their past. The goal of the project was to have users submit stories and feel interconnected to each other, but it became so much more than that.
All the stories submitted were by real people, most of whom were my friends and family. These stories allowed me to learn a new part of these individuals; it was like opening a door I never knew existed. This is where it became more than a project to me. I created personalized posters for each person, writing back to them about how much the story meant to me and how important they were in my life. I would be lying to you if I said I only cried once during this project. It was so meaningful to feel all the support from those around me; hearing the stories they shared touched me. Below is an example of the posters I made. It utilizes the trifold, so it acts as a small zine that unfolds into a larger image of their keepsake.
I had so much fun creating this brand. Here are some photos I took of a couple of individuals alongside their keepsakes.
The website is the main feature of the brand. It is where everything stems from. The stories are held and submitted through the site. I used Jotform, so all stories and keepsake images went directly to my email, where I edited and uploaded them. The zines & posters are also sold on the site. If the site were to actually sell the posters, the spot where I wrote messages to the people who submitted keepsakes would be replaced with a spot where users could write their messages to whoever they were making the poster for. The site is also fully responsive, so it can be viewed on any device or browser.
Website Wire Frame Visual Design Next PageFor the publication side of Murmur, I created a zine. It is a bimonthly issue based on the best keepsakes submitted within the time frame. The zine I created for my senior show is the family issue. It contains all the stories about families. I experimented with implied grids and unusual type placement. I enjoyed pushing the boundaries with this zine. It takes the type and pushes it right up against the image, really fighting for dominance.
Full ZineThe word murmur, according to the dictionary, means “a low, continuous sound, as of a brook, the wind, or trees, or of low, indistinct voices.” This name aligns with our brand message because our goal is to uncover the quiet stories hidden in everyday objects. Murmur had many different iterations. Below are some of my notes and in-process work. To learn more about Murmur, look at my process book.
Process Book Next PageThis project is a rebrand I did for the existing company Speks. Speks is a fidget toy company; their niche is targeting an adult audience. I choose to rebrand them because, although they are targeting adults, their ads still feel kid-like. For this campaign, I focused on the ideo of having fun in a job setting while also elevating the brand with surrealist imagery.
The main design of the rebrand features a surrealist collage style paired with sarcastic messaging. I combined imagery of Speks’ fidget toys with free-use images of workers, collaging them together by hand. After scanning the compositions back into my computer, I digitally overlaid and distorted the images further to enhance the surreal effect. I emphasized the merger of digital and physical distortion in this rebrand.
The cornerstone of this project is a frame-by-frame ad I created in Photoshop, featuring my own VoiceOver. The ad opens with a frustrated office worker stuck in a dead-end job. After discovering Speks, his luck changes, and he quickly rises through the company ranks and lands the coveted corner office. The ad uses witty storytelling to highlight the product while showcasing the project’s surrealist collage style in motion.
Along with the TV Ad, another impactful part of this rebrand were the magazine ads. They draw attention and include relatable taglines. The toys are fighting the workers, symbolizing the pressure of a job. For these ads, I created two full-page spreads and one single-page ad.
Take Your Office to Recess with Speks. This is the main event I created for the rebrand. Speks will come to the office and set up classic recess games in their parking lot. Then, during the workers’ lunch break, they will be able to play in the parking lot. Along with the games, food trucks will be parked in the lot to provide lunch to the workers. The games include four square, jump rope, basketball, and hula hoop. Each winner receives a Speks gift bag.
This event does two things. It brings awareness to Speks in the office space. And, it brings some fun competition to the workspace. The posters and branding for the event utilize the witty messaging of the rebrand, but in a competitive way. The event also brings a nostalgic feeling to the office; it’s not every day you get to go out for recess in your forties. During the event, Speks and the partner company will post stories of the event on their social media, generating excitement around the brand and sparking interest from other companies.
This project pushed me in many different ways. I had multiple deliverables due within a set deadline, which required me to balance my time while still producing meaningful and engaging designs. I really honed my creative process, developing mood boards, wireframes, and taking detailed notes throughout. From start to finish, this was a learning experience. One of the most rewarding moments was presenting my process book to Knock Studio and receiving feedback from industry professionals. Overall, I learned a lot about time managment and how far I can push an idea.
Process BookTunnel Vision Magazine is a high-end publication designed to elevate the reader’s emotional awareness. Each issue focuses on a single emotion, exploring it from multiple lenses for a deep and immersive experience. Why the name Tunnel Vision? The title draws from the idea of rabbit holes, those moments when we become so consumed by a thought or feeling that the outside world fades away. It’s about emotional immersion, about getting lost in reflection or sensation, and coming out changed.
The magazine is targeted towards highly educated readers seeking insightful and artful meditations on emotion. Its goal is to spark internal reflection and invite readers to feel something new or see a familiar emotion in a different light. Visually, Tunnel Vision employs a tightly controlled aesthetic: each issue uses only four colors throughout, creating a cohesive and focused tone. Imagery is bitmap-based, combining and distorting visual elements to provoke emotional responses and deepen engagement. The debut issue, “Enter Euphoria,” is a deep dive into the feeling of euphoria, its highs, contradictions, and fleeting nature.
Full Zine Next PageI enjoyed creating Enter Euphoria. Fully committing every choice to a single emotional goal was a great challenge for me. Sourcing the text was one of the most important parts of the project. I found a wide range of text from an MLK speech to a poem my roommate’s grandfather wrote; it’s all in there. Beyond the magazine itself, I also explored building out the brand in different ways. I created merch, Instagram, and website mockups to take a peek into how the brand would feel more fleshed out. Look at my pitch deck to see the full extent of the project and for more insights.
Ok, this one is a little bit out there. I created a web experience that sees how far one will take their boredom. The human attention span is shortening every day; social media and short-form content are effecting our ability to think and focus. Even while I am writting this, I am getting distracted by my phone’s notifications.
A Tempting Meditation starts with a normal meditation. It prompts the user to just sit and relax. But, after a bit, some white balls appear on the screen. If the user clicks on all five balls, a short video will start looping. The videos start out pleasant, like running water or a fire crackling. The more the user clicks the balls, the faster they appear and the more distracting the noises become, like a construction site or a NASCAR race. The site acts as a social experiment. How far will one go with the Soundscape moving farther from the original meditation setting?
The Civil Liberties Extravaganza was my favorite event I helped run at the Menards Center. It was a Kahoot game, speaker event, and art contest all in one. My first design challenge was creating the art contest poster. It had to be in line with our civil liberty messaging while also catching people’s eyes. I ended up with this megaphone poster. We received over 20 applications to the art contest. I was then in charge of organizing the entries and helped decide the winners. The winners were announced on the day of the event.
The second event poster I made was for the actual event. It was in the same style as the previous poster, with some deviation. I continued with the colors and text warping, but I layered images under the text, not beside it. I made all the physical posters that went up and oversaw the digital signage. I had a second graphic designer who was under my supervision during my time at the Menards Center. She made the digital marketing with my approval.
Next PageThis event was in April, but the planning started months in advance. We brainstormed and hand-picked Kahoot questions to test the audience. Then we selected speakers to come talk at the event. Alongside the planning of the event, I had to decide on the visual language and marketing. Here is an early mood board that informed a lot of my design choices.
Next PageHere are some examples of handouts I made for the Menard Center. These are just a few of the many handouts I created. I was part of hiring two employees. I created the job descriptions, advertising banners, handouts, and updated websites. After they were hired, I helped train them and ensured they were following the creative direction of the Center that I created. The other handouts showcase our events and highlight our Director. Overall, the Menard Center gave me quite a bit of creative freedom, which allowed me to create a cohesive style and expand my design knowledge in a professional setting. I loved this job, and it had a great impact on me as a designer and person. It helped me aline my priorities and create meaningful connections.
This is my favorite ring I have ever owned. I love collecting jewelry and accessories. Usually, I go thrifting to find new ones. But, for this ring, I made it myself using lost wax casting. It is based on the album Swimming by Mac Miller. I love that album, and I love what Mac Miller stood for in his artistic career, always pushing himself out of his comfort zone to create new art. He is a big inspiration to me, and I wear this ring every day.
Get Your Ass Out of Bed, or GYAOOB for short, is a small publication I made from found materials. I went to Brussels, Belgium, as part of a study abroad trip. It was the second stop in a three-week, three-workshop trip. I made this publication with two of my classmates, Paige Warmus and Alex Martin. The story follows a wealthy woman who spends a night partying in the city, and when she awakes, she continues indulging until the fear the outside world gets to her and she shuts herself in her mansion. But upon facing her fear, she realizes the world isn’t all that bad after all.
We went to a flea market while in Brussels and found a book of historical spaces and an old family photo album where we took most of the collage images from. We also took photos of other pieces in the market to use in the collage. The space around the flea market was heavily graffiti-ed and the items themselves were taken from lower-class estate sales. This led us to create a punk college-style book to juxtapose the content we were working with. But highlight the space the flea market was held in.
Full Book Next PageHere is the table of context for our publication. It shows each chapter and the progression of the story. I also included a few pages of notes I took during the trip. We were given the prompt Get Your Ass Out of Bed and we had to work from there. In the end, I am glad with how the work turned out. We only had three days to create it, and it pushed our creativity.
Next PageThis is another metals project I made. Growing up, I hated my teeth. I had braces all of high school, got 8 of my teeth pulled, and after the removal, all my teeth were spaced out. I never smiled with my teeth, and it was a big insurcity of mine. I got over this insecurity in college and started smiling with my teeth more. Life is too short to hold yourself back. This piece is a self-portrait of my teeth. I had them molded by a dentist and glued them to this chain I made. The chain is weathered and purposely imperfect to symbolize my battle with self-image.
I included this piece because it means a lot to me. I made it in my sophomore year of college. I hand-kerned the type and created this. It is Italic Trajan. This was the first time I had to handwrite type for class, and I was given the freedom to experiment. I choose to distort the letters with a gridded cubical space. It is a story read from the left cubicle onwards. It follows a new employee who gets overwhelmed by the job and quits in a rage. The word awake is the title of the story. I remember creating this piece with a micron pen and sweating during the whole process. If I made one mistake, I would have to start over. This piece has less to do with my current work and more to showcase some of the work that led me on my graphic design journey.