Wrote, performed for local SF comedy radio show for six years (18-40 yr. old audience) ...Wrote/Creative director for major Video games- comedy based (6-12 year olds) comedy based), Have been doing a cartoon a day now (17- 90 year olds audience) and self publishing a monthly booklet and self published co-authored comedy steampunk novel (18- 64)
Wes Jenkins
PRINT-INTERACTIVE- AND BROADCAST
35 Year Experience As A Happy-Hyphenated-Creative
Concept-Collaboration-Proposals-Presentations-Fun and Funny Stories-Game Design-Character Bios-Print Graphics and Illustration-Narrative Design-Design Docs-Voice Over-Director-Team Player-Artist and One Fun Guy To Work With…Comedy writer…
(Seriously)
Overview:
6 Years with Lego Products
6 Years with Stanford University Projects
6 years with Mindscape, Inc. Games
6 years with Comedy Radio Shows
PRESENTLY: Pencil Illustration and Photshop
Partial Additional Client List:
NASA, Zappa, Disney, PBS, ABC, MCA, IBM, California Academy of Sciences, Critical Mass Interactive…
I've held every major position from Production Artist to Creative Director giving me a unique understanding of the process.
Awards and Accolades 1998-2009
Smithsonian Institution Award for Innovation
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Best Kid Title of the Year
Family PC Award for Excellence/Top Rated Product of the Year
British Association of Toy Retailers Toy of the Century
Children's Educational Software/Discovery School
Computer Game Developers Spotlight Award
The Review Zone Title of the Year
International EMMA Title of the Year
Education Social Sciences, Art and Management
BFA San Francisco Academy of Art University: Advertising, Illustration and Design
BA University of Hartford, Connecticut: Social Psychology and Mass Communication
Management classes at Stanford University
Additional Trade Training Certificates in: Genigraphics, Bosch FGS4000, Symbolics,
PageMaker, Director, 3D Studio...
Skilled in Traditional Studio and Digital Art/Mac and PC: Photoshop, PowerPoint, Word, Office, Pen, Pencil, Dyes, Markers and...
Additionally experienced in Flash MX, Director, 3D Studio, PageMaker, Quark, Streamline, Debabilizer, Quantel/Harry Paint-Box, D-Paint, Ani-Pro, Excel, Project, Bosch FGS 4000, Genigraphics, Symbolics and...
Trained in and Directed Production in Broadcast Video, Quicktime, After-Effects, HTML, 3D Studio/Max, audio production
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I am presently Self Employed and I freelance in my comfy home studio.
Partial client list from 2001-2010
• Lego: Interactive stories/Narrative Design
• HopeLabs: Concept/design for Interactive product for hospitalized kids with cancer
• Virtual Heroes: Concept Development and Product Proposal to 3rd party Publishers
• Critical Mass Interactive: Concept Development and Product Proposals to 3rd party Publishers
• Shoot the Moon in Pleasanton, California for Fisher-Price, Inc. East Aurora, NY
Interactive Book concept and content design, Rough comps and the creative collaboration.
• Delaplaine Creative, Corte Madera, California
Creative Director, Writer, Designer for CD ROM/Web based products: WINGS: an age appropriate, skill specific, thoroughly tested, measurably proven, content learning product that is just downright fun for kids. Research indicates that the cognitive and language skills for children ages 3 to 6 increase by 300% after 6 months of product use. Also contributed to the development of TIVY, an E-learning math program K to 12
• Versaly Games: Digital Designs and Photoshop Illustrations for wireless applications and screen savers
• David Rapaport, Ph.D. Booklets and brochures design
• N2digital: Game Design, Story and Character Development, Design Documents and Storyboards
• Kamico Instructional Media: Photoshop- change/enhance B/W art to full color for print activities
• IBM/Tivoli Software: Flash MX production for web based training
• Fusion Learning Systems: Photoshop screen comps
• Tellem Industries: Corporate Imaging and Collateral Design/Production
• Merit Industries: Wholesale advertising layout/design
• Austin Community College: Occasional guest speaker
• Fusion Learning Systems: Photoshop screen comps
• Tellem Industries: Corporate Imaging and Collateral Design/Production
• Merit Industries: Wholesale advertising layout/design
• Austin Community College: Occasional guest speaker
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Product Designer/Core Design Team for IGNITE! LEARNING, Inc. 2000-2001
Start-up Multimedia/on-line courseware product line for Middle Schools. Neil Bush, CEO/ 11044 Research Boulevard, Austin, Texas. Responsibilities included, but were not limited to the concept and content co-development, co-direction of media pieces, collaboration with cross disciplines, creation of a Product Style Guide, presentations, storyboards and the co-design of a compelling, audience appropriate and state-standardized Earth Science E-Learning Courseware. I also provided analysis, evaluation and feedback for the History Courseware followed by suggestions, recommendations and proposals for product improvements and enhancements. Company downsizing made me embrace freelance assignments
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Senior Producer/Creative Lead with LEGO Media International, 1998-2001 Colet Court, 100 Hammersmith Road, London, UK. Additional headquarters in Billund, Denmark and Enfield Connecticut. Concept and Content Development, Character, story and product development, writing, presentations, proposals, Management and mentoring of outside developers and vendors, co-founded the Learning Range, extensive world travel, global focus testing and analysis, meeting and consultations with several LEGO departments, Outside studios/vendors, the BBC and MIT Media Labs, Active member of the global future concept development team. Products included LEGO Island II, My Style Kindergarten and MY Style Pre School and various product proposals, stories and character developments. I loved every moment with LEGO (seriously, I did.) Surgery prevented my pond-hopping. I was made redundant. I telecommuted for several months until flying overseas was critical.
Director of Creative Services with Sierra On-Line in Bellevue,WA, 6 month Administrative role with a company and affiliates in flux; emphasis on ROIs, reimaging, reorganizing, 3E trade show and refereeing in-house squabbles. I left due to a much more employee-friendly environment with LEGO
Creative Director with Mindscape, Inc, 1992-1998 Novato, California. Concept, content, writing, presentations, proposals, management and mentoring, talent casting, studio talent direction, voice overs, off-line and on-line art, animation and design, client pitches, Focus testing, Design Documents, Style Guides and video demos. Started as an artist in '92, promoted to Art Director/Team Lead and left as a Creative Director in '97-98. Products included: LEGO Island, 20th Century Almanac, Mario's Missing, Mario's Time Machine, Mario's City Deluxe, Star Wars Chess. Thunder in Paradise, Peter Rabbit's Math Garden and several product proposals. In addition wrote a 60 second radio ad for LEGO Island on Disney Radio, collaborated with ad agency on broadcast ads, sell-sheets and roughs for packaging designs and print ads
Executive Producer, Director, Writer and AFTRA Performer
Radio Shorts, San Francisco, California 1992-1998
A weekly, half-hour comedy radio show. Radio Shorts is an honored inductee
in the Museum of Radio and Television, NY. Aired: WCBS in Cleveland, Ohio, KUSF in San Francisco, California. Selected shows have aired in NY (Hofstra University), Dallas, Texas (Hour of Slack), Berkeley and Belgium. I put it together on evenings & weekends with a talent staff of approximately 30.
Art Director, Artist/Exhibits
California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco, California
Creating posters, merchandise, brochures, banners, Junior Academy Activity Books and exhibit art for 11 departments and the Academy Store plus the management of the print artist staff. Great fun, great people and coffee breaks with penguins was a genuine perk!
Creative Director and Business Partner
Five Star Ranch, Pescadero, California
Entrepreneurial and General Partnership effort. 3D animation, storyboards, slide shows, digital art and concept development.
Partial Client List: IBM, Pacific Video, Stanford Medical Center, Hoover
Institution, SRI, Disney Productions, Mixed FX, ABC and Frank Zappa's Intercontinental Absurdities.
Staff Artist
Moonlighting position while managing a start up computer animation and graphics service (Five Star Ranch)
Winterland/Bill Graham Presents, San Francisco, California
Creating silkscreen art and production for major retail outlets, MCA and Bill Graham Presents..
Art Director/Graphic Artist III Stanford University, Stanford, California 1982 to 1987
Information Technology Services, Video Applications Laboratory, Stanford Medical Center, Hoover Institution, the Stanford Press and many affiliate programs such as NASA, SRI, PBS, The National Commission on Space and the Computer Graphics Consortium. Responsibilities included, but were not limited to, the co-management and co- development of Stanford's computer graphics department in print and in animation. Duties also included Illustrations for over 500 technical journals, brochure designs, slide presentations, exhibit design and production.
Partner/ Creative Director/Artist
Art Services For Marketing, San Francisco, California
A three-person art team providing agency support in design, production,
storyboarding, Illustration, concept development and copy writing.
Partial Client List: Elektra Asylum, J. Walter Thompson, Ketchum Advertising, Taylor Teevan Advertising, Chevron, USF… Area.
> Wes Jenkins provided the concept and content including but certainly not limited to story/narrative design and character development, design documents, style guides, story boards, presentations and character dialog (Narrative Design) as the Creative Director, Designer, Writer and Co-Manager of Lego Island, an international best selling product that earned substantial profits, and accolades as well as the inspiration for sequels, spin-offs, toy products, a restaurant, and a float in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Wes also wrote Lego Island 2 for CD Rom, GameBoy, and Playstation. Seven Million units sold and still counting!
> Wes Directed, produced, designed, wrote and co-managed the development of Wings, a preschool interactive learning product that increases a child's (ages 3 to 7) cognitive and language skills by a measurable 300% that is also just downright fun. There's over 60 activities in this CD Rom web-expansion product
> Winner of a design/concept interactive product for hospitalized kids with cancer-HopeLabs
> Collaboratively organized the production staff, development process and strategy, which resulted in a 200+% increase in sales, a newly motivated team with an enhanced, focused and intuitively designed product.
> Wes directed, storyboarded and co-animated titles, bumpers and headers for prime time network broadcasts including a PBS miniseries "The Great Space Race", an ABC Show and a Disney Special "The 50th Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."
> Wes created graphics for a socio-cultural music interview periodical, Search and Destroy. Years later, these images appear in Paul Allen's museum in Seattle, Washington, Experience Music Project (EMP) at the standing exhibit about the music scene of the 70's.
> Wes has had a high profile, pro-active role in approximately 12 multimedia products including SNES Mario's Time Machine, Mario's Missing, Star Wars Chess to name but a few.
> Finally, he, well, me really, learned a lot from a lot of smart people met that I met along the way. People like Frank Zappa, Rick Griffin, June Foray (Rocky of Rocky and Bullwinkle), David Landers (Squiggy from Lavern and Shirley), Bill Graham...to name but a few.
Professional Strengths in Creative Direction, Concept and Content Development, Graphics, Illustration, Color Logic, Proposals, Presentations, Procedures, Strategy, Focus Testing and Marketing Data Analysis, Team Building and Mentoring, Collaboration and Cooperation, Intuitive Interface Design and Navigation, Flow Charts, Storyboarding, Story and Character Development, Sound FX, Voice-Over, Humor and Humanism, Scheduling and Budget, ROI, Review and Critiquing, Talent Casting and Studio Direction, Audience Empathy, Verbal, Written, Visual and Leadership Skills, Enthusiasm and Dedication, a Sense of Fun and Passion, Appreciation for and Respectful of Talent, Diversity, the Creative Process, User Centered Usability, Serendipity and Planning, Transferable Skills with the ability to see the Big Picture and a genuine commitment to excellence with loyalty to the team, the product and most importantly, the audience.