The Best Part Portfolio

Hello.

You've reached the online portfolio of Orlando artist, designer and The Best Part blogger Jason Dean. The work below is a small sampling of projects I've had the pleasure of working on over the past ten years as a consultant to various design studios, ad agencies and personal clients. While I am currently busy with my full-time Brand Architecture consulting gig, blogging and ongoing personal projects, I'm always open to creating time for freelance projects and collaborations. After all, my favorite project is always the next one.

ABC's of Branding Posters

As a personal project, I created these posters presenting the abc's through the use of some of the more famous, infamous and interesting marks of our time. Using no ink whatsoever, they're printed using a foil stamping and embossing process that I think fits the concept of looking at brand marks and type in general with a certain reverence (whether in a good or bad way). One is silver foil on black paper and one gold foil on cream, both stocks are French Pop-Tone. Thanks to Brand Architecture allowing me to pursue this as a personal project, these are available for purchase in The Best Part Shop.

Brand Architecture Illustrations

Here are a few illustrations done for a self-promotional Brand Architecture mailer. Meant to demonstrate our ability to approach every project open to a wide variety of possible solutions, several team members contributed designs for a final product that shows how we as designers visually explore every possible avenue to reach a brand's full potential.

Outback Steakhouse Rebranding

As a consultant to Brand Architecture, Inc., I was lucky enough to work on the enormous project of rebranding Outback Steakhouse. From identity to in-restaurant marketing to building and interior design, I worked with the BA team to visually update every facet of the Outback brand over the course of several years.

Vidaza Folder System

This folder was conceived for the pharmaceutical product Vidaza (used to treat certain types of bone marrow cancers and blood cell disorders) in order to deliver all information a patient would need in one simple, easy to navigate package that is small enough to fit in a standard file cabinet. Visual cues and color coding were used to both represent the brand and help guide the user through each necessary step. Designed while working with GSW Worldwide.

Lee Roy Selmon's Menu Illustrations

Lee Roy Selmon's is a restaurant that serves southern comfort food with a modern twist, its' namesake is an NFL Hall of Famer who injects every dish with a bit of his inspiring story and family tradition. So it seemed natural to inject these illustration concepts designed for his menu cover with a bit of the same traditional, handmade feel. Done as a consultant to Brand Architecture, Inc.

CCAD Ad

While still living in Columbus, I created this ad for the Columbus College of Art & Design. They wanted to communicate the idea of CCAD being an Imagination Foundation, and I thought splitting the words up in an inventive way would accomplish this. Intended for use in newspapers, I chose to use limited color and focus on typography and language.

Brand Mark Concepts

Here are some selections of brand mark concepts for a few companies I've had the pleasure of working with. The FARA Energy Ball is an annual charity event benefitting research of Freidrich's Ataxia, an extremely rare and debilitating disease that slowly robs its victims of energy. Aroma is a boutique mail-order baked goods company literally run from the kitchen of my mother-in-law. Methajex is a pharmaceutical product that provides users of intravenous drugs a healthier way to stop using, and Staton Media is a multimedia publishing company that specializes in film and print publications for conventions. All work for The FARA Energy Ball and Staton Media was done as a consultant to Brand Architecture, Inc.

SJP Presentation

This is a presentation created as a consultant to St. John & Partners for a human resources management company. While it may not seem to be the most glamorous assignment, I am rather pleased with the result, especially the simple union of type, color and image.

CSCA Call For Entries

Call for entries for the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts Creative Best Awards. This solution focuses on delivering information in a readable, easy to navigate format. It would've been easy to overdesign this piece for the sake of showcasing my own skills, but in the end I chose a rigid, Swiss-inspired grid and simple layout for the sake of readability.

Sketchbook

Like many designers, I keep a sketchbook of some kind at all times. The selections below are from a book I created a few years back using nothing but found materials and tape. It became a bit of a visual diary, much of which revolved around current events and life experiences at the time.