Student’s Casella artwork to be featured in Las Vegas Waste Expo

Mid-October of last year, I started my Graphic Design internship with Casella Waste, an opportunity that fell from the sky for me. Ever since, I’ve been working on numerous projects regarding mostly print and digital graphics. I’ve done print ads, posters, graphics for social media and Casella’s newsletters, animations and signage.

Part of the reason I was offered this internship, at least from what I’ve been told, was my artistic abilities that I’ve shown in my portfolio. Because the time I had left with Casella in the fall semester was so short, we weren’t really able to utilize my artistic skills. Luckily, my internship got extended, so I had lot more time to show what I can do.

Earlier this year, I was told about this Waste Expo thing happening in Las Vegas in early May, and that Casella would like to participate as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. The Waste Expo is North America’s largest event dedicated to the solid waste, recycling, organics and sustainability industries.

Among its many great features, more than 500 companies exhibit their products and services. It also features educational sessions and practices and opportunities to connect with industry leaders.

Waste Expo also offers the unique Carts on Display competition, where participants creatively transform standard waste carts into works of art.

That’s where my part comes in.

I was asked if I’d be interested in doing such thing. They thought that it’d be really cool if I could paint it. It was not hard decision for me at all. Having my work displayed in Las Vegas? You can’t say no to that.

The idea was to somehow represent 50 years of the company. We came up with a design, I made some sketches and sent it for approval. It didn’t get approved at first, so we had to change the concept a little bit and the whole process just ended up taking a lot longer than expected. I originally thought I would have at least three weeks to do it, but I ended up having only eight days.

At that point I was told that I don’t have to do it, that it was up to me to decide whether I’m able to make it or no. I was seriously considering not doing it. But I couldn’t just give up without even trying.

So, for the next seven days, I spent pretty much 15 hours a day in this temporary studio in the Wooldridge House that professor Oliver Schemm was kind enough to set up for me. 

The time pressure was stressing me out at first, but once I saw the progress I was making, it disappeared. I ended up enjoying it a lot. It’s been almost a year since I painted or crafted anything like that, and it was a nice change from staring at the computer screen for the past few months.

The final design consists of three parts. The bottom half of the cart has subtle scribbles of recyclable items and company taglines. The upper half represents the evolution of Casella over the past 50 years, using simple icons like the first truck or the first material recovery facility. The third part is the lid that has two portraits, both of the founders John and Doug Casella, one of them from 50 years ago and one from today.

It was a challenge, but I got it done. I’d like to thank the Casella’s marketing team for giving me this opportunity and for all the help, and to professors Phil Whitman, Oliver Schemm and Bill DeForest for advising me throughout the process. The cart is now in Vegas and I’m excited to see how it’ll do.

I’ll be posting videos and more info about the whole process on my Instagram page @pepino.arts.cz