ArcStone Spotlight: Mike Sasorith

Mike Sasorith

Position: Designer

Start date: October 2016

You were always on my mind. Design was always on my mind, and I was lucky enough to already know this was what I wanted to do when I was in high school. I thought that the path that I was supposed to take was to go to a design and art school and be an artsy-fartsy type of person, which is why I went to MCAD [Minneapolis College of Art and Design]. Although I learned a lot there, it didn't fit me and I dropped out after a semester.

Since MCAD didn't have general courses, like math and science, I had to catch up. I first took some courses at Normandale, and eventually was able to use those credits to transfer to the U of M, which was more fitting for me.

What’s cool is that design has become such a broad term and any interests that you have can influence your work. At the U of M, once you get the foundation courses out of the way, you can control where you want to go. You can do web design or focus on typography. One guy that I had a couple courses with was really into shoe design and he was able to build his own program around that passion. That eventually led to him working at Adidas designing shoes for pro athletes. 

It's truly amazing how design can take you to a variety of different paths. 

Wish list. I had always wanted to work in the nonprofit world and use my skills to help people. During college, I interned at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota and did graphic design work for them. It was an inspiring experience and really gave me a taste of how I could apply my skills to do good.

After graduating, my goal was to try and find an agency that did that type of work. Interestingly, I first ended up at Bosch Security Systems – which is basically the opposite of a nonprofit organization, but I learned a lot and honed in on my skills in branding and marketing.

Quick on the draw. I drew and illustrated images ever since I was a kid, and it started when I was inspired by drawing done by my cousin’s friend. He was a very good illustrator and he had a drawing of a wolf that was super realistic. After that, I always tried to emulate that.

Even though I drew a lot, I didn't see myself as an artist. Fine arts didn't seem to be the right path for me, but I still wanted to pursue a career where I could draw and sketch — that's how I decided to go towards a path of design. 

I tend to draw people and animals, but I've come to realize that I'm pretty good at drawing cartoons and anime-looking characters. Since everyone was into Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon and Pokemon when I was kid, I was highly influenced by those cartoons. It was in college where I was able to get better at drawing more realistically. 

A mountain to climb. My girlfriend's sister has been rock climbing for about ten years and we ended up trying it and have been doing it since. My girlfriend and I go rock climbing at least every other day, although we haven’t gone outdoor climbing yet. 

Rock climbing takes athleticism, but it’s also a lot of problem solving. You have to figure out the path you want to go. If you’re stuck, the longer you’re waiting to figure out your next move, the more energy you're using. You have to think quickly. It’s a puzzle.  

The rest is history. I’m low key outside of work at ArcStone. I like to read, whether that's books, news articles or even comic books. Lately I’ve been into war and history books, which I used to hate because I was forced to read them in school. But, now that I'm out of school, I miss learning. I've made it a goal to keep up on learning history. The books I've been reading recently have been focused on the Vietnam War, the Secret War in Laos, and civil rights in the US.