Derek Castelli Derek CastelliChristian, husband, and designer

About Derek Castelli

Self-taught designer designing brands and making sites for non-profits and startups since 2010. Oh and always a side project or three. Husband to my best friend, home in Des Moines with Lilo, Kiya, Leroy and Irma. And a Christian before all of it.

  1. As a kid

    It started on paper. The first designing I remember is making custom environments for my Micro Machines on notebook paper with markers. Then I watched my dad design our house in AutoCAD, and I’d draw floor plans and elevations on grid paper.

  2. 2010

    A $100 logo. My first ever client was Chris Ducker. He needed a logo for his blog and I only charged $100. Through college I wrote for a blog about blogging, launched a design blog and a college tips blog, and had an opinion column in the Iowa State Daily.

  3. 2012

    Apple Retail. For six years I worked directly with customers, and loved to surprise and delight them. It’s why I’d still rather have customers than clients.

  4. 2018

    Designing a church. I led experience design at my then church: the physical spaces, the screens and our digital properties. Months before the world shut down I learned Webflow and redesigned the site, with a “Chat with a Pastor” service anyone could book as soon as the same day. It got the attention of Hillsong Church.

  5. 2020

    Out on my own. That June I left to start my own business for the first time: an LLC, the connections I had, and slowly, work. Things weren’t great, but I got by.

  6. 2022

    Sites, and apps. I went full-time freelancing in Webflow, first with One Branding (GoGuardian, IGN), now as the website design/dev with Kem Design. On the side, Testament Made: apps with customers of their own, starting with Harvous.

Right now

Designing & developing sites with Kem DesignMaking sites with other various clientsMaking 3 apps on the side

Highlights

Derek with Corey Moen and Matthew P Munger on the Restock podcast, Episode 10 — No Regrets Watch on YouTube Restock Podcast · Ep. 10 — No Regrets Corey Moen and Matthew P Munger had me on Restock, their No-Code Supply Co. show, to talk my path from architecture to design, specialized agents, and dynamic websites. The Mac Desk First Mac Apps, Built with AI May 2026 It started when another Mac app crashed on me—I built Binky and Dinky with Claude and Cursor, my first shipped Mac apps. Both within weeks would get 200+ stars on GitHub. Church & Code Faith-Tech Side Projects 2024 — NOW Harvous is the Bible app I dogfood—threads, scripture, cross-refs, and group sharing. 3,685+ commits, early access at harvous.com. Here’s My Church indexed 256k+ churches on day one.
Résumé7 roles · 2007 to now

Current

Testament Made, LLCJun 2020 — PresentFreelance web designer partnering with clients and teams to make sites in Webflow, and making apps on the side.Kem Design Co.May 2024 — PresentWebflow Expert assisting the team when it comes to making sites.

Past experience

Jamm DesignsJan 2025 — May 2026Senior Web Designer (Freelance), designing sites and developing them in Webflow one update at a time.
ApollosJun 2024 — Sep 2025Partnered with the Apollos web team to design and develop Webflow sites for churches.
One BrandingOct 2022 — Sep 2024Web designer and Webflow developer working with various clients from edutech to video gaming.
Eternity ChurchOct 2018 — Jun 2020Created and oversaw all creative elements of the church from graphics to merch to production.
Apple RetailAug 2012 — Oct 2018A mentor and leader in sales connecting with customers to truly get the Apple products they need.

Education

Iowa State UniversityAug 2007 — May 2014Obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with supplementary time in Advertising and the College of Design.

Good at: Webflow & site design, UI/UX thinking, Brand & logo design, Working with teams, Product design, Prompt communication, Customer support, Writing in public, Actively using AI tools.