Portfolio of Jason Kress, Creative Director

LOGOMARKS

dubaudi
efrayed
a1552
jkrate
groka
nearbya
choice
ib
axius
nicetv
grokb
stihl
b1552
kratea
nearbyb
krateb
bpd
cftc
mb
c1552

Project NAME
KRATE SUPPLY COMPANY

Project description/GOAL
To create a brand out of the combination of my wife and my online nicknames; JKREW and ohkate, while incorporating our love of the automotive lifestyle. No concrete “goal” decided upon, merely just to have fun and be creative during winter.

Materials Used
Brand creation consisting of various logo marks, typefaces, clothing and a full line of custom automotive care products. Guerrilla marketing, online presence consisting of a web storefront, social media use and traditional advertising.

Clothing experiments using various forms of silk screening, custom spot varnish hangtags, custom packaging using vintage butcher paper and silk screened wet seal tape.

Car care products were custom mixed by various vendors and packaged by hand in custom designed containers; all in house. All ingredients were chemical-free and “green”. Hand-designed labeling created out of single color vinyl stickers were hand signed and dated to create a more unique and high-end product.

Skateboard decks consisted of hand illustrated takes on beer brands using the Krate brand to create the “shitty beer series”; limited run and availability.

RESULT
A lot of new friends.

Project NAME
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY PRESENTS

Project description/GOAL
Each wedding anniversary, my wife and I make presents using only traditional gift materials.

Materials Used
First year anniversary present was a hand cut illustration made out of homemade paper of two birds (us) on a cherry blossom tree (where I proposed) and our wedding date in Kanji script (wife was born in Japan).

Second year was cotton, using homemade stock out of cotton and a combination of epoxy and accelerant to fix to base.

RESULT
Loads of brownie points and bragging rights amongst friends.

Project NAME
HIDDEN GAUGE SOLUTION

Project description/GOAL
To display two gauges (turbo boost and air/fuel ratio) in drivers line of sight that will be able to be hidden from view when not driving.

Materials Used
PVC tubing was used for a basic frame at time of initial mockup. Fiberglass resin and hardener over flexible cloth was used to create the basic outer shell while automotive filler and flexible composite were used to shape and finish the contoured enclosure.

The dash was removed from the car and gutted with a rotary tool. Hinges were installed and a small, yet powerful linear actuator was sourced and secured to the dash framework in the car. AC/heating duct work had to be trimmed and re-routed to remain fully functional and give way to the actuator arm.

Gauges as well as OEM tweeter were wired to again, regain full functionality of the dash, pre-gauge work. Finally, the actuator was wired to the center console to allow raising and lowering of gauges.

RESULT
A discreet, fully functional gauge setup that can be hidden from view or raised for driving use by the flip of a switch. All the while retaining an OEM look and finish.

Project NAME
MACINTOSH SE / IPAD VIEWING STAND

Project description/GOAL
I wanted to make a viewing stand for my wife who watched a lot of movies on her iPad on lazy weekend mornings.

Materials Used
I found a used SE at a local flea market and with hopes of a refurbishment dashed, I decided to give it another go at life with the internals replaced with an iPad. After gutting the SE, I cut out a slot on the side which would allow for easy iPad removal and then plastic welded the drive openings and fin vents closed. Lastly, a few coats of flexible filler and flat paint finished off the project.

RESULT
A great conversation starter and a few groans from the purists.

Project NAME
ROXY; 1995 VW GTI VR6 TURBO

Project description/GOAL
To build an anti-show car, show car pulling inspiration from 1950’s rat rods and WWII war plane design cues.

Materials Used
Custom “bomber” seats created from stock Jetta seats, stripped and weathered with aluminum sheet riveted to the frame. Hidable linear actuated gauge pod in the dash fabricated from PVC, body filler and fiberglass resin attached to a linear actuator capable of hiding the entire unit within the dash. Hand built, TIG-welded “fuel cell” subwoofer created from aluminum sheet, domestic BBQ gas line and then weathered using patina techniques to house a full, down-firing 10” subwoofer enclosure. Hand built door panels from aluminum sheet with custom racing door pulls created from rock climbing line, rivets and re-plumbed rod pulls. Rallye-style shifter, weathered and sanded to produce an aged effect.

Patina effect used throughout, including the use of rusting, hockey tape and shoe polish to simulate age/wear, sanding/removal of all brand logos and metal surfaces as well as a custom mix of aftermarket automotive paint with a matting agent during application.

RESULT
Full feature in Performance VW (PVW), the worlds premiere aftermarket Volkswagen publication. Numerous car show awards.

Project NAME
VW.COM REBRANDING

Project description/GOAL
To create a leave behind package for Volkswagen of America consisting of a project plan, scope of work and gift for a complete website rebrand/rebuild pitch.

Materials Used
I created the business proposal to mimic that of a Volkswagen service bulletin that mechanics use at dealerships. A highly coveted "rebranding" iron was custom made and packaged to look like a genuine VW part along with custom part # stickers, bags and shipping boxes.

RESULT
A win and opportunity to re-design one of my favorite websites to date.

Project NAME
SUBWOOFERS

Project description/GOAL
To create custom, one-of-a-kind subwoofer enclosures in each of my project cars to display at car shows.

Materials Used
All enclosures started off with 1/2” MDF board and built to fit for each individual project using calculations to best suit bass response in relation to it’s shape and size (EBP = Fs / Qes). Themed outer enclosures were then chosen based on the theme, or look and feel of the car.

Starting with a more simple build, a picnic basket was used in the vintage VW Golf, Betty. Moving on to Roxy, who had an extremely detailed race theme, I created a hand-built fuel-cell to cover the down-firing sub box. Lastly, in our newest diesel wagon, Kaylee, a grocery bag was created to fit the “grocery-getting” theme.

RESULT
A lot of double-takes and disbelief.

This a small collection of my work created from 2000 to 2012.

Newest work is constantly uploaded —> here.

I am currently working as a Creative Director in the Washington, D.C. area. I have worked with clients ranging from Macy's, Volkswagen, Audi, Automobili Lamborghini, Porsche, Cirque du Soleil, Samsung, Tesla, ESPN, Breitling, HBO,The Smithsonian Institution, McDonald's as well as BBC America and The Discovery Channel.

Thank you,
Jason

301.996.5739
hello@jasonkress.com

Coding assistance by Mark Slater and J Rowny. Photography assistance by Kate Kress and Long Nguyen. Second year anniversary gift inspired by Yulia Brodskaya.
Art direction of Choice logo from C. Coughlin. Art direction of 365 from Proxicom. This site runs horribly in IE but I'm ok with that.
Copyright © 2011 Jason Kress/JKREW/jkrate. All rights reserved.