In their words…
“Decimated Designs is here to create things the world has never seen before. An original idea is precious and rare, and if you want to see ideas come to life then you’re in the right place. Whether you are in need of someone to bring your designs off the page or develop concepts from the ground up, we want to work with you. Through our impeccable design process, a high level of craftsmanship, and the use of quality materials, we are able to get you the right price for your creation. Working with countless haunts, theaters, events, and films through the years, owner Kyle Pasciutti and manager Bobby Arel have designed, produced, fabricated, managed, acted, and oh so much more. Our years of experience working in the entertainment and haunted attraction industries tell us exactly what works in the trenches. We love challenging ourselves and continually expand our knowledge base and skill set to be able to undertake even bolder works. On the day-to-day, Kyle leads the design and production aspect of things making sure that our creations are going to be a huge asset to your business, while Bobby runs the managerial side making sure orders are shipped accurately and out on time! We are currently situated in Connecticut though travel is a large and welcome part of what we do and shipping is always an easy option. Thanks for stopping by! We hope you enjoy what you see here and don’t hesitate to contact us for any reason.” 
Jack Nickelz: So what got you intrigued in the world of makeup FX and such?
Decimated Designs: I applied my first prosthetic when I was 9 years old, taking one of those cheesy Terminator face pieces with a light-up eye, some fake skin, and a muscle suit and turning myself into Robo-Hulk… Ha! Halloween has always been my thing, and the idea of transforming oneself be it through makeup or costume or even character acting fascinates me. My roots are in theater and live performance, the idea of something happening in front of an audience in real time… Of a performer breathing the same air as the people entranced by what they have become has a deep hold in my passion.
Jack Nickelz: What have been some of your fav. special effect/make up FX movies?
Decimated Designs: This is a tough one because there are so many! Even now that I can tell you how almost any effect was done I still like to sit back and be that young child watching Ghostbusters for the first time and falling into the magic of it all. The first movie that I loved so much that I just HAD to know how they did the effects was John Carpenter’s The Thing, but the werewolf transformation in An American Werewolf in London is also a fairly standard go-to. I couldn’t leave out the zombies though, with the Dawn of the Dead remake, Sean of the Dead, and Zombieland. If you want to go REALLY crazy, I could get into the likes of Tokyo Gore Police, but sometimes just a small change can have huge effects in something like Splice. Really I just love geeking about the latest & greatest to hit the screen!
Jack Nickelz: Now did you go to school to train or were you self taught?
Decimated Designs: LOTS of classes and seminars, lectures, demonstrations, plenty of books, and YouTube, but mostly hands-on experience, trial & error, and some good mentors have gotten me to where I am.
Jack Nickelz: What has been one of your biggest projects to date?
Decimated Designs: The Stay Puft suit we made for Epic Rap Battles of History has certainly received the most attention, for sheer size I’d have to go with the 13′ tall Stay Puft we made for a charity group out in St. Louis, and heading up the makeup team for Zombie Charge obstacle 5K has been one of the largest scale having made-up somewhere around 1,000 zombies for the various runs over the past 2 years.
Jack Nickelz: What has been your hardest project to date?
Decimated Designs: We made the 13′ tall version of the Stay Puft costume for a charity group that actually could walk around. Designing something that big isn’t terrible, but to make it light enough to wear, figuring out stilts and how everything will sit on the performer and how they will be able to see, that starts to get interesting. Now take all that, and make the designs able to come apart and pack into boxes small enough to ship 1/2 way across the country and be reassembled by volunteers who have never seen the big guy put-together before… Things got interesting on that one 🙂
Jack Nickelz: What FX makeup artists have influenced you?
Decimated Designs: I take influence from absolutely everywhere! I have a HUGE folder on my computer of images that I can go to when I’m feeling stuck, but for names to throw out: Greg Nicotero, Dick Smith, Rick Baker, Tom from Nimba Creations, and of course my FaceOff friends Tate, Stella, Sue, & Athena.
Jack Nickelz: Would we ever see you do a show like SyFy’s Face Off?
Decimated Designs: A friend sent me the FaceOff season 1 casting application about 36 hours before it was due… I dropped everything I was doing and threw my best at it, but back then I was still fairly new in the field and didn’t have quality materials nearby. Looking back, my prosthetic was terrible, edges looked like a grocery bag, and I was dead tired in the audition video from being up forever trying to get it done. Of course I didn’t end up on the show lol! I started work on something for Season 2 but got very sick and almost ended up in the hospital. I did get asked to apply for Jim Henson’s Creature Creators but was FAR too busy at the time. The thing to realize about that show is that the winners aren’t necessarily the ones who come out on top at the end, but rather the ones who producers and directors remember and stick out as someone they’d like to work with in the future. Personalities. That’s not where I am at the moment. Currently, I am working to grow the new shop we just opened and get some great work out in the field. I’d rather be known for incredible work than wacky reality TV show antics. 
Jack Nickelz: Where can people find your work at?
Decimated Designs: Online at www.DecimatedDesigns.com and www.Facebook.com/GetDecimated. We do a number of conventions each year including CT Horror Fest, Walker Stalker Con, and the occasional Comic Con, but our biggest show presence is the Haunted House Trade show circuit including Transworld and National Haunters Convention. We work plenty of events especially zombie runs of which we are partial to Zombie Charge, and Halloween time we are absolute madmen but call The Only Scream in Town haunted house in North Haven home base. Film, commercial, and Web series work abounds, but we are especially looking forward to the release of Dynamite: A Cautionary Tale this year.
Jack Nickelz: What is the creative process like when you start to work on a project?
Decimated Designs: We always start with the basics: How much time do we have, what kind of budget do we have, and what else do we have going on? Wish we could start with the fun stuff, but that’s the reality of running a business. After the details are out of the way, we looking at inspiration… Has anybody done this before? Do we like what they did? Maybe we like what one person did on one part, what someone else did on another part, and we’re going to completely reinvent another section. Being that we do SO MANY different types of art & design work, most every project takes its own route, but that’s why you come to us… When you have a project that everyone else has turned away, we’re here to jump on & make the impossible happen. It would be impossible for that to happen if we ran the same game plan for everything that came in 🙂
Jack Nickelz: How did you come up with your name?
Decimated Designs: We purchased a haunted house called “Decimation Scream Park” a few years back and when we moved into this business we needed an LLC. We already had the one for the haunt and by then we wanted to change the name of the haunt, so “Decimated” and “Decimation” was close enough that we carried it right over… Simple as that 🙂
Jack Nickelz: Who are the people a part of Decimated Designs and what are their roles?
Decimated Designs: Kyle Pasciutti (writing this) is the owner; head designer, head makeup artist, graphic designer, web designer, etc. etc… Bobby Arel is the head manager and major shop assistant. It’s his job to make sure we make money and stay on track while helping things in the shop move smoothly. Jessi Mercier is one of our lead makeup artists and also designs and works in the shop here and there. She is very influential in making sure the zombie runs and convention makeups go off without a hitch. Beyond that, we have a cast of characters that help out on all fronts as well as numerous “friend businesses” who share work when a project or part of a project more fits one of our specialties. 
Jack Nickelz: What do you have planned for the year 2015?
Decimated Designs: New products, bigger convention & trade show presences, and we’ll be teaching classes soon! The new shop really opens up all sorts of possibilities that we are thrilled to be bringing out.
Jack Nickelz: Thank you for taking time out to do this interview. Is there anything else you would like to say to the fans and readers?
Decimated Designs: We live in an age where the impossible happens every day. You no longer have to go to the movies to see a creature transform before your eyes. The world is amazing and we’re here to help push the boundaries even further. Should you have an idea you want to see jump out into reality, please do not hesitate to drop us a line. Thanks much! #GetDecimated
For more on Decimated Designs, check out:
http://instagram.com/getdecimated https://www.youtube.com/user/GetDecimated
https://twitter.com/getdecimated http://www.decimateddesigns.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GetDecimated
