Jason Arend Featured Professional. In February I was honored to be the Business Journals featured professional. The article highlights many of my professional accomplishments over the last 10 years, what I’m currently working on and some big things I have planned for the future. Below is a copy of the article.

Professional Spotlight: Jason Arend

Jason Arend is the youngest professional we have ever featured and at only 25 years of age he has accomplished more than most will in a lifetime. Starting college at 16, Jason has degrees in both Electronic Media Production and Electronics Technologies & Computer Science. At 17 Jason Started working at ABC KSPR 33 as the Graphic Designer, 3D animator and editor for commercial production as well as the director of daily news promotions. At 19  Jason was asked to teach “Producing and Directing Television” and “Post Production in After Effects”, the cap-stone courses of the Electronic Media Production Program at Ozarks Technical College. All of the students he was teaching were older than himself. In 2004, after several years of freelancing, Jason left teaching to start Creative Deviance Studios, an award winning production company, where he worked on everything from comprehensive multi-channel marketing campaigns, design and development to art-house film productions. In 2006 Jason was chosen to be one of the headlining artists for the MOTUV international Art Exhibition showcasing nearly 20 pieces of his original art and photography with simultaneous openings in Kansas City, San Francisco and Beijing.

Not only is Jason extremely talented in art, media and marketing but he is one of the rare few that can that can bridge artistic creativity with cutting edge technical and business prowess. In 2007 Jason joined PFI and has helped grow their web division from a small 4 man operation to a global brand that now ships to over 40 countries. He has accomplished a lot in 3 years creating a consistent image and brand for the company, helping build the television show “Shopping Western Style” on satellite and cable channels with 40 million subscribers, designing packaging for PFI’s Napa Valley Wines and other products, developing an enterprise level online video shopping experience and recently finishing a global syndication deal that will take PFI’s show to another 52 million viewers worldwide.

The amazing success he has helped bring to these companies has only increased his responsibilities. He is now the director of E-Commerce, Online Marketing and Creative Services for all PFI Companies including Diamond Ridge Market, Saddle City, PFI Western Store, PFI Family Wines, PFI Family Farms, PFI Magazine and pfiwestern.com. He is also Director of Production for PFI’s Internationally Syndicated television show and now oversees media and global marketing for the Starlite Theatre in Branson, Missouri.  Jason has recently become more involved to take the theatre to new levels as they present an all star lineup for this season including The World Famous Platters, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, The Texas Tenors from America’s Got Talent and the new Vegas Cirque show “Montage”.

Jason is now considered to be one of the leading pioneers in the global video commerce industry. In November of 2009 he was invited to give a speech in Silicon Valley on the successful multichannel video marketing strategy he created at PFI and the cutting edge technology he developed to achieve it. Attending were 3,000 media executives from the largest media & technology companies in the world. Other speakers included executives from NBC Universal, CNN, HBO, Microsoft, Google, Youtube, HSN, majorleaguebaseball.com and XBox Live. Jason has already been invited to give several more speeches around the country this year including the VIP guest speaker for a global webinar on Successfully Monetizing Online Video in March, a featured speaker for Streaming Media East in New York City May 11 and one of the main speakers at Seattle’s Video Commerce Summit in July where he will be the first to publicly lay down a vision for the future of video commerce in mobile technologies and television.

Despite the economic recession the innovative business model and cutting edge work Jason has done in video commerce and online video marketing has helped take PFI to new levels as they enter their 35th year in business. The technology he is currently working on will allow a consumer to simply touch an object within a video and instantly be shown more information on the product including the ability to buy it immediately. The technology can be used on computers, tablets and other form factors such as multitouch mobile devices.

Improving the quality of arts and education continues to be an important part of Jason’s life. Jason has often teamed up with other local artists and filmmakers to produce some of the most successful community theatre at the Vandivort Center in Springfield, MO including Dracula in both 2005 and 2008. Where he worked on audio and visual design, SFX, all artwork, marketing and Technical engineering. In 2009 he created the campaign and artwork for the successful production of Evil Dead the Musical. Since 2002 Jason has sat on the Electronic Media Production Advisory Board at OTC, a committee made up of media professionals to consult in industry trends, community needs, cirriculumn development and better preparation of students for the workforce. In October of 2009 at the age of 25 Jason Arend was unanimously voted chairman of the board the youngest person to ever hold this position. Jason has also received numerous awards in design, media marketing and development including several Addys, the Missouri Broadcasters Award while at ABC KSPR 33 and was just nominated for the Business Journals top 40 businessmen under 40.

In 2010 Jason will be officially launching “Evolve” a high-end media, web, design, development and consulting venture with partner and developer Myke Bates.  He assured us that his previous accomplishments are nothing compared to what he planned for the future and at 25 this is one rising star everyone in the industry is keeping an eye on. 

Jason Arend Design Reel. I’m in the middle of working on a new Production Reel of some of my work in film, television, special effects, motion graphics and animation which should be out in the next few months. In the meantime I’m releasing something a little different. I’ve put together an animated portfolio consisting of static visual works including packaging design, web design, poster and promotional design, logo design, corporate identity and brand design, user interface design, poster design, national print campaigns and more. I have setup several ways for you to view the Design Reel video. Instructions are included above each embeded video on the page. For the very best viewing experience I recommend downloading the full 1080P video to your desktop, open the file in a quicktime h.264 supported video player, enter fullscreen and crank up the volume!

Design Reel Production. To breath life in to these otherwise motionless designs I used a combination of Adobe Photoshop, Logic Pro and Adobe After Effects. All animation, compositing, special effects and rendering was done in Adobe After Effects and music was mixed in Apple’s Logic Pro.

Watch The Animated SD Design Reel Video. Below is the Vimeo hosted SD encode. If you have a slower connection but still like to view the video in HD click the link in the player to view it on Vimeo’s site.

Watch The Animated HD 720P Design Reel Video. Below is the 1280x720p H.264 HD encode. If your computer has trouble handling it or it is taking too long to load on slower connections you can view the Vimeo hosted SD version above. Click the image to view the 720P HD version of the design reel in a lightwindow.

Watch The Animated HD 1080P Design Reel Video. Below is the 1920x1080p H.264 HD encode. If your computer has trouble handling it or it is taking too long to load on slower connections you can view the Vimeo hosted SD version above. Click the image to view the 1080P HD version of the design reel in a lightwindow.

Download the Design Reel Video to Your Desktop. As I said above for the best viewing experience I recommend downloading one of the HD videos to your desktop, opening it Quicktime, view the video in fullscreen and turn up the volume. To download the design reel video click one of the links below. If your browser proceeds to load the video in the browser simply right click on the links below and click download or save file.

• Click here to download the 1920x1080P HD Design Reel Video.
• Click here to download the 1280x720P HD Design Reel Video.

Included Design Works. Designing for nearly 10 years has allowed me to build a rather large portfolio and with literally thousands of designs it can be hard to chose a handful to showcase in this reel. Here is a breakdown of the included works.

1. Dracula DVD Packaging Design and Artwork
View more artwork and design from Dracula

2. CD Cover Artwork and Packaging Design for MF Magazine
View more CD design images from this project

3. MOTUV International Art Exhibition Advertising Design
View more artwork and advertising design images for MOTUV

4. Pixel Perfections Photography Logo Design
View more logo design images for Pixel Perfections Photography

5. PFI Interactive Kiosk Demo Design
View more design images and videos from the development of PFI’s Interactive Kiosk

6. PFI Family Wines Magazine Advertisement Design
View more magazine advertisement designs for PFI Family Wines

7. E-Commerce Web Design, Television and Video Commerce Development
View more images from PFI’s e-commerce web designs and video commerce development

8. Dracula Teaser Promotional Poster Design
View more artwork and designs from Dracula

9. Corporate Identity Package Design for Concannon Plastic Surgery
Graphics design, web design, logo design and other projects can be viewed in the gallery

10. Web Designs and Photography for Creative Deviance Studios
Graphics design, web design, logo design and other projects can be viewed in the gallery

11. Wine Bottle Design and Poster Design for In-store Displays
View wine bottle designs and poster designs for in-store displays

12. Poster Artwork and Advertising Designs for Evil Dead: The Musical
View all poster artwork and advertising designs for Evil Dead: The Musical

In addition to the featured works several other pieces can be seen in the background.

All Design, Production and Artwork by Jason Arend

Jason Arend | www.jasonarend.com
Jason Arend | Twitter www.twitter.com/jasonarend
Jason Arend | Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/jasonarend
Jason Arend | Vimeo www.vimeo.com/jasonarend
Jason Arend | Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/jasonarend
Jason Arend | Delicious www.delicious.com/jasonarend

PFI is looking for a Senior Graphic Web Designer. This position is in charge of creating websites, landing pages, email campaigns, designing print materials, product packaging, interactive promotions, occasional television graphics and more. Main responsibilities include promotional and product merchandising through graphic design and web design. Will design weekly marketing campaigns, check all designs for cross browser compatibility, design email marketing campaigns and test for compatibility across different clients and new web banners each week for on site and offsite ads. To be eligible the candidate must have at least 3 to 5 years of web/print/multimedia/marketing design experience

-Must have strong knowledge of design fundamentals, layout, typography, print and web specifications
-Intermediate understanding of XHTML/CSS, with direct experience optimizing design concepts around these technologies
-Ability to come up with visual comps in a short period of time, must meet strict deadlines
-Must be very articulate, have excellent written and oral communication skills, and able to explain abstract concepts effectively
-Ability to prioritize and multi-task within a fast paced, professional environment
-Ability to understand site functionality and customer expectations of assigned responsibilities
-Ability to apply user interface and interactive design best practices to projects
-Must actively study and apply new trends in marketing, web development, e-commerce and design
-Must have outstanding creativity, attention to detail, and concern for accuracy
-Must be able to work effectively within a team environment
-Must be able to perform A/B Multivariate testing on landing pages and other designs
-Have a general knowledge of Web Analytics and how to measure the effectiveness of your work

Must have advanced knowledge of:
-Photoshop
-Illustrator
-Dreamweaver
-Flash

Must have intermediate knowledge of:
-CSS/XHTML
-E-commerce
-Online marketing
-SEO

This is NOT a work from home, freelance or outsourced position. A resume and outstanding portfolio are required!

Send all materials to jasona@pfiwestern.com

PFI is looking for a photographer and graphic designer with the ability to thrive in an fast paced, high volume environment. This is an in-house production environment, almost exclusively product on white, focusing on footwear, apparel and accessories. You will be responsible for executing high-quality digital photography for our online catalog, maintaining consistently high standards for accuracy, aesthetics, and productivity.

This position requires decisive on-set troubleshooting of photography challenges, balances individual productivity and execution, while maintaining high standards for shooting web-based images. Ultimately responsible for the quality and appearance of photographs online: has a deep understanding of all stages of the photography and editing process.

Successful candidates will be strong communicators, detail-oriented, have a passion for photography, successful candidates are tech-savvy and shop online.

Additional Responsibilities:
- Product editing in Photoshop
- Graphic Design for online banners and other promotional materials
- Writing blogs and other online articles

Qualifications:
- 2 year or 4 year degree in photography/graphic design and/or related field or industry experience
- A strong online portfolio of print and online materials that demonstrate applied knowledge of digital photography, studio lighting, composition, color quality, and aesthetics.
- Working knowledge of Photoshop
- Proven ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines

Additional Skills:
- Experience in videography is a plus
- Working knowledge of Dreamweaver, Illustrator and Content Management Systems is a plus
- Understanding of color correction in photoshop
- Basic HTML
- Strong written communication skills with experience in blogging

This is NOT a work from home, freelance or outsourced position. A resume and outstanding portfolio are required!

Send all materials to jasona@pfiwestern.com

E-Commerce Web Design and Video Commerce Development. PFI is one of the largest western retailers in the world and when I took over their e-commerce division the online store was in desperate need of a makeover and some crucial enhancements. After nearly six months of research and pouring over years of data I redesigned every square inch of the site optimizing every pixel to consistently brand PFI, better organize products and operations, maximize conversions, and create an effective yet enjoyable customer shopping experience.

This page is currently under construction. I will be posting a comprehensive writeup on our successful multichannel video strategy and UI design very shortly. Check back soon!

Research, Development, Video Commerce Strategy and Design by Jason Arend
E-Commerce and Video Commerce Development by Myke Bates

Dev Team

Jason Arend
Director of E-Commerce, Online Marketing and Creative Services for all PFI Companies
Director of Television Production

Myke Bates
Senior Developer

Chris Cooper
Banner Design

Gareth Van Orman
Product Image Editing and Cross Browser Compatibility

Andree Dixon
Product Merchandising and Copywriting

Pixel Perfections Photography Logo Design. Here a two different logo designs I did for Pixel Perfection Photography. The two logo concepts explore variations in type and color based on the clients requests. All designs are clean with a pixel graphic and typeface.

Designed by Jason Arend

Interactive Kiosk Development For PFI. In the 4th quarter of 2008 we recognized a challenge in the brick and mortar stores that when we have the greatest amount of traffic we are getting the least amount of customer data i.e.: emails and segmentation data, since we needed to get people through the checkout lines faster during those peak times. By developing an interactive kiosk system placed through-out the stores I could create a customer data acquisition solution that didn’t slow down the checkout process or take away from the customer’s shopping experience. First I setup a promotion to entice customers within the store to use the kiosks and add value for the taking the time to participate. A shiny light animation grabs your attention to enter a drawing for a $500 shopping spree. The text header animation is the only part of the system that is done in Flash everything else is done in javascript and PHP. The first screen gather’s basic customer information such as email, name, address, gender and birthday. Then the following screens collect information on how they heard about PFI and what led them to come in so we can track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns across on different channels. The other screens gauge interest in specific product types for syndication then feedback, comments, and suggestions.

First Version Kiosk Hardware. When choosing what type of computer to use for the very first kiosks we needed something as cheap as possible that took up little to no space and and looked good aesthetically in our stores. The all in one Apple iMacs were the perfect solution. Purchasing used 15 inch imacs we were to get the cost per unit down to $200.

New Features In Kiosk Version 2. Almost immediately after we deployed the first few kiosks we started on the next version with some added functionality. The second version supports any screen resolution allowing it to be on any type of computer and display. Since it is all web based there are no limitations on supported operating system. The kiosk can be any on platform that has an internet browser. It can also be run locally without an internet connection to securely gather leads and customer data at remote events, concerts and trade shows. Using a web based approach allows us to quickly change the kiosk experience and tailor it to a each promotion or event. Another feature in the second version was the ability to append an employee ID to a customer profile. Now we can run internal contest with store employees to create competition in getting customers to participate. The employees can also use a new admin system that can pull up there customers and view or add additional notes.

Watch The Animated HD Video Demonstration Below

Watch HD Video

Development by Jason Arend and Myke Bates

Design, Animation and Video Production by Jason Arend

Myke Bates http://www.mykebates.com

Wine Advertisement Poster Design. Here is a wine advertisement I designed for PFI Family Wines and the Diamond Ridge Market. It was mainly used for large 4 foot tall posters in retail displays. The wine bottles and packaging I originally designed in 2007 for PFI’s wines from Napa Valley.

Designed by Jason Arend

PFI Family Wines Magazine Advertisement Design. After designing the packaging for the entire line of PFI Family Wines I designed a series of magazine ads for the product launch. The following design was made completely from scratch no photographs of the bottles were actually taken. The ad appeared in numerous magazine issues through out 2007 & 2008.

Artwork and Design by Jason Arend

The Production of Bram Stokers Dracula. In 2005 we produced a live production of Bram Stokers Dracula at The Vandivort Center Theatre. One of the most successful productions ever we and when we were asked to do another run in 2008 we knew it wanted to take it very different direction conceptually and artistically. From set design and sound design, casting, poster design and artwork, to music soundtrack and DVD release.

Dracula Poster Artwork and Promotional Design. When we started discussing artwork for this production we knew we wanted several different designs. After I designed literally 20 different posters each conveying different stylized emotions form the production we settled on 3 official designs and 1 teaser poster as seen below.

Dracula Teaser Poster Design. For the teaser poster I used a more provocative image printed on 8.5 x 11 glossy flyers. These were used several months before the production and main marketing campaigns began.

Dracula DVD Artwork and Packaging Design. For this run Filmmaker Justin Evangelista spent nearly 4 months documenting every aspect of production. He produced several behind the scenes webisodes as part of the marketing campaign leading up to the opening. After 4 months of filming and over 100 hours of footage later Justin began work on the official DVD releases of both the Production itself and a special hour long behind the scenes featurette. The special edition DVD comes in 3 collectors edition version each containing the award winning posters I designed as inserts. I designed the DVD packaging to use the same visual consistency of the rest of the marketing campaign. Below is the DVD Artwork and packaging for the upcoming release.

Musical Compisition and the Dracula Soundtrack. One of the only things we used from the 2005 production was some of the original scores composed by Bryan Arata. At the time of the 2008 of Dracula Bryan was in LA assisting in composition of the Family Guy and American Dad underscores. Often working by video conference he composed a whole new soundtrack that we intergrated with certain songs from his orginal scores in 2005 below is the soundtrack design for the CD.

Artwork and Design by Jason Arend
Original Character Photography by David Fleming