New Jersey/New York creative services agency welcomes new hires and announces a promotion

Hillsborough, N.J., April 25, 2013 – JK Design, a leading creative services agency with locations in New Jersey and New York, has expanded its capabilities with the addition of seven new employees in its graphic design, interactive, and video departments. Brian Faust has also been promoted to the position of senior project manager.

Tim Faherty brings more than 13 years of experience in Web design, search engine optimization, email marketing, site analytics, and project management to his new role as interactive project manager. He is passionate about creating customer-focused websites that are easy to find and use.

A seasoned graphic designer, Lois Farrington is responsible for the design and production of a wide variety of marketing and promotional materials. She has more than 15 years of industry experience, including over a decade as creative director of her own design studio.

New Web programmer Brian Glaz has specialized knowledge of advanced programming languages and tools. Before joining JK Design, he worked as a Web developer and software engineer for businesses in central NJ, where he developed numerous projects for the Web and mobile devices.

Matthew Kulcsar has nearly a decade of experience in design and art direction. Prior to joining JK Design as a designer, he held a variety of positions at major marketing and advertising agencies in the New York metropolitan area. He has also shared his technology expertise as an instructor at Union County College.

Exciting visual effects are Judie Luszcz’s specialty. As JK Design’s newest motion graphics and interactive designer, she uses her expertise in a variety of sophisticated software packages to help create animations, videos, websites, and more. Her previous experience includes multimedia work for clients such as Disney Cruise Lines, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Verizon, and others.

Jeff Ondeyka kicked off his career as a graphic designer by winning a logo design competition. His other specialties include illustration, infographics, digital photography, photo editing, exhibition design, and 3-D package design and construction.

New video editor Sean Schools has been involved in creating a wide variety of projects from short films to documentaries to corporate videos. At JK Design he uses his technical and creative skills to edit both live action and motion graphics video productions for clients across a wide range of industries.

Since joining JK Design in 2010, Brian Faust has demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation in planning and managing interactive and mobile projects. In his new role as senior project manager, he will take on additional responsibilities for evaluating and improving the agency’s processes and best practices.

“The fact that JK Design has continued to grow and thrive during a challenging economy is proof of the exceptional quality of our talent and the high caliber of our work,” said Jerry Kaulius, founder and president. “I’m proud to announce Brian’s well-deserved promotion and to welcome Tim, Lois, Brian, Matt, Judie, Jeff, and Sean to our team. We now have the expanded capabilities to take the agency in exciting new directions—with our usual constant focus on client service. ”

JK Design’s headquarters is in the historic Staats House in Hillsborough, NJ. The agency’s NYC office is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of midtown Manhattan.

About JK Design

In business for over 25 years, JK Design is a full-service creative and interactive agency specializing in strategy and branding, print, web, mobile, interactive, and video projects. Recent national and international honors include several Telly Awards and MarCom Awards, a Communicator Award, a Gold Hermes Creative Award, an ACE Award, and two IABC Iris Awards of Excellence. The agency provides a wide range of innovative services, including: website design and development, iPad and mobile device app development, branding, logos, email marketing, video animation and production, marketing strategies, advertising, corporate collateral design and production, exhibit graphics, packaging, and online virtual tradeshows. For more information: 908-428-4700 (NJ), 646-794-4180 (NYC), or www.jkdesign.com.

Contact: Jerry Kaulius, jerry@jkdesign.com

Corporate Headquarters

JK Design

465 Amwell Road

Hillsborough, NJ 08844

908-428-4700

908-428-4701 (fax)

NYC Office

JK Design

44 W 28th Street, 8th Floor

New York, NY 10001

646-794-4180

646-794-4184 (fax)

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An interview with John Geoghegan, Senior Multimedia Developer

At JK Design, we help our clients tell their stories using innovative, customized solutions that often incorporate groundbreaking advances in multimedia technology. Finding the right media mix can be the key to getting the message across persuasively.

We rely on our interactive department to keep us up to date with the latest developments—so we can help our clients stay ahead of the curve and out in front of their competition. That’s a big part of what John Geoghegan, our senior multimedia developer, does every day.

In this installment of our ongoing series of employee interviews, we talked to John about his long history with JK Design and how his position, our agency, and digital technology have evolved over the past 15 years.

Omar Joseph (OJ): Tell me about your background and how you connected with JK Design.

John Geoghegan (JG): I have a degree in digital media, which encompasses a wide variety of skill sets. Coming out of school, I was most interested in 3-D animation and modeling, although I enjoyed just about every aspect of digital media I worked with, from writing HTML to doing live video production.

After I graduated, I spoke with an acquaintance who had freelanced at JK Design. I had been interviewing with video game companies, and he suggested I could freelance here while I interviewed. Long story short, I ended up coming aboard in June 1998 and I’ve been here ever since.

OJ: What was your job when you first started here?

JG: That’s a highly loaded question. We were a much smaller company when I first arrived. My job consisted of creating website designs and cutting them up as HTML. Within a few weeks, my responsibilities had expanded considerably: I started doing a lot of Flash animation, IT support, and anything else I could do to fill in the gaps.

OJ: I remember when I started working at JK Design about six years ago, your job was much different than it is now. Can you talk about how your position has evolved over the years?

JG: It’s really been a lot of fun. I’ve had the privilege of being the initial point person, or ‘test dummy,’ for many of the new and exciting technologies and techniques we’ve implemented here for our clients. PHP, Linux, Flash animation, video production, motion graphics … all of them started here with Jerry [Kaulius, JK Design founder and president] asking, ‘Can we do this?’ and me answering, ‘Sure, I can figure it out.’

As each of those became core skills for us, we would bring in people who were experts in those fields and I’d move on to other things. But I always enjoyed bringing in new technologies to JK and watching as they became a big part of our business.

OJ: What are your titles and responsibilities now?

JG: I still hang on to my old title: senior media developer. It’s something of a catch-all, which fits what I do. Additionally, I am the interactive traffic manager. In that role, I make sure we have all the resources in place to execute each interactive project, from website design and development to creating a motion graphics video.

As senior media developer, I’m really a jack-of-all-trades. I work with just about everyone here to fill in the gaps on projects. Sometimes I do production work, sometimes I do project management, sometimes I do research. At other times I do animation or motion graphics. It’s a fun job because it’s different every day.

OJ: Since becoming the interactive traffic manager, what changes have you put in place for the interactive team?

JG: I try to make sure the designers have time to breathe on their projects. Inspiration isn’t something that always happens instantly, and I respect their process and skills. I want them to have the time and the tools to do their best work.

I also try to make sure that they know as much about the project as possible before starting. I check in with everyone on a daily basis to make sure things are progressing as expected, and to see if they need anything.

OJ: In your job, you serve a variety of internal and external customers: account managers, developers, designers, producers, and our clients. How do you manage the needs of all these different people?

JG: In the end, my customer is the client, regardless of what I’m doing. People tend to look at things from only their perspective; in many cases, it’s part of my job to look at it from everybody’s perspective, and try to find a path to making things work for all.

OJ: I’m fascinated by the 3-D work you do! In particular, the work you did for LG’s video project was amazingly lifelike and I know it won multiple awards. What goes into completing a project like that?

JG: That was a fun job. My favorite projects are those where I’m working with the artists and helping them bring their vision to the screen. It can take a long time, but I feel that the results are definitely worth the effort.

In that particular case, I worked with [interactive creative director] Joe Jordan to create the 3-D graphics he needed for the LG video. In some respects, this one was relatively simple for me because it was more photorealistic and less conceptual. So as long as it looked like it might be real, it would work.

[Note: The video features John's animated 3-D model of LG's Network Attached Storage Device. You can watch it on our website.]

OJ: What inspires your work?

JG: I pull in inspiration from all over the place. I love visual media, and I’m always looking for new ideas in TV, movies, or video games.

The artists here also inspire me. They do great work, and they approach projects from very different perspectives. Working with talented people like the ones here has really helped me develop a lot of my weak spots.

OJ: What types of projects do you like to work on and why?

JG: My favorite types of projects tend to be motion graphics projects, because I get to work with some very skilled people, and ad concepts with Jerry and Chuck [Baum, art director]. Jerry and Chuck have a fun sense of design, and it’s a privilege to be a part of those projects.

OJ: What part of your job do you enjoy most?

JG: The people. I work with some great people, and it makes everything more fun. Projects can be great, projects can be crazy, but when you work with people you like being around—they’re a breeze.

OJ: How has working at JK Design helped develop your career?

JG: Working at JK Design has helped me push my skills in directions I never anticipated. We work with a diverse group of clients and every one of them has their own unique needs and aesthetic. The fast-paced nature of our business also forces you to think on your feet, be adaptable, and stay calm even in stressful situations.

OJ: What’s the most challenging part of your job and how do you handle it?

JG: That’s probably the more technical animation projects. Very often, we’re asked to understand and animate fairly complicated medical, scientific, or industrial procedures. It’s my job to understand them well enough that I can create an animation of them.

I do a lot of supplemental research in addition to what our clients explain to me. I’ve always found that a good approach to learning something thoroughly is to learn it from multiple sources and then to do my best to explain it back to the client in my own words.

OJ: You’ve been here for nearly 15 years. What about this place intrigues you?

JG: There’s a lot here that intrigues me, but I’m a person who’s prone to being fascinated by everything. One thing is definitely how much of the feel of the small company I joined 14 years ago still remains, even though we’re much bigger today. I think a lot of that is due to Jerry’s personality. We follow his lead.

OJ: When you’re not at JK Design, what do you enjoy doing?
JG: I’m something of a homebody; I try to spend as much time with my family as I can. I’m an avid reader of just about anything I can get my hands on. I love movies, though I don’t have the opportunity to see many that don’t have cartoon characters in them anymore, since I have a seven-year-old son.

I really enjoy going to my son’s hockey games, and spending that much time at ice rinks has gotten me off the couch and playing hockey as well. When I can, I still try to learn and practice my skills at home. I enjoy creating media, and sometimes it’s just fun to work on things without a client, without any direction, and just see what comes out of it.

Check out some of JK Design’s exciting multimedia work here.

An interview with Martha Marchesi, VP, Director of Creative and Marketing Services

For nearly 30 years JK Design has helped companies connect with their customers by producing award-winning creative work spanning the print, web, mobile, interactive, and video categories.

Recently, we took a leap forward – creating a new department devoted to marketing strategy and branding. It’s the latest step in our evolution as a full-service creative and interactive agency with the capabilities to help our clients achieve success at every stage of their journey.

In this installment of our ongoing series of employee interviews, we sat down with department director Martha Marchesi to get her take on how this new department is transforming our agency and helping our clients build their brands.

Omar Joseph (OJ): Tell me a little about your business background.

Martha Marchesi (MM): I’ve been in advertising for almost 30 years! I was fortunate to land a job right out of college working at a Madison Avenue advertising agency as a junior copywriter. I’ve worked at a lot of NYC shops – Saatchi and Saatchi, Young & Rubicam, Grey, McCaffrey & McCall, to name a few. I came up through the creative ranks as a writer, then became creative director. I finally decided to trade in the commute and built a successful freelance business, creating strategic and creative solutions for clients across a wide range of industries and product categories.

OJ: You began working with us as a freelancer. What intrigued you about taking a full-time position here?

MM: I really admire Jerry [Kaulius] and the company he’s built. I felt that working at JK Design would be a good ‘fit’ for me. Over the years, I’d become more involved in projects at the strategic level and really loved it.

The idea of being able to utilize both my creative and marketing skills was incredibly appealing. I knew that my role would help the agency realize its goal of being a full-service advertising agency so I joined the team.

OJ: You’re the VP, Director of Creative and Marketing Services. What exactly is that?

MM: I help clients with strategic issues, challenges, and opportunities – anything from launching a new product to repositioning a mature brand to assessing the current competitive landscape.

I also leverage my creative skills to ensure that any creative elements and messaging are aligned with the strategic goals. I’m able to help designers and writers translate and execute off the brand platform – so that every communication fully reflects the brand’s intended message.

OJ: When you first accepted the position, what was your vision for the department?

MM: My vision was a big one: Help clients think about their brands in ways that they never had before. I think real opportunities present themselves when you’re willing to ‘think outside the box.’

OJ: When you arrived you were, in essence, creating a new department by yourself. How have you handled that challenge?

MM: I’ve had wonderful support here at JK. Our lead writer Chris Milan, who also has a branding background, is a great strategic thinker, and Ashley Summerer is both an outstanding account manager and a terrific member of the JK branding/marketing team!

OJ: How do you interact with and help our clients?

MM: I think one of the most important things I do is to help clients reach consensus on challenges or issues. The only way to move forward is to have everyone on the same page. My job is to facilitate that discussion and help bring disparate opinions and perspectives together.

OJ: Tell me about the marketing and branding sessions you facilitate.

MM: In a marketing session, we take an in-depth look at the target audience, strategic goals, challenges, and opportunities, and we also assess the current competitive landscape. From there, we create a ‘strategic blueprint’ – a plan for reaching the desired outcomes in the best way possible.

A branding session is designed to create a ‘brand blueprint’ that aligns with strategic objectives. We work together to determine a brand’s personality, its most motivating and differentiating aspects, and build a strong brand platform that becomes the foundation for all communications.

OJ: Most companies don’t rebrand and completely change their marketing strategies often. How often do you think companies should participate in the type of sessions you lead?

MM: A company needs to make sure that its branding and marketing strategies are line with its business plan, which typically is a three- or five-year plan. There can also be quite a bit of change within that timeframe, from the competitive landscape to customer needs or behaviors. Any company needs to make sure that its brand stays current – or risk falling behind the competition.

OJ: You have an obvious passion for what you do.  What is it about your job that makes you want to get out of bed every day?

MM: I love wearing two hats! I have a passion for the strategic side and the creative side. This job allows me to leverage both. There is nothing more satisfying than watching a client find that fruitful new space, that powerful new voice, for their brand.

OJ: You’ve been deep in the trenches recently managing a number of marketing and branding sessions. Once the smoke clears, what’s on the horizon for your department?

MM: JK Design is known for being an innovator, and I’d like to bring some of our cutting-edge technology to the branding/marketing department! For starters, I would like to utilize our proprietary collaborative iPad application for group feedback.

OJ: Much of your job involves being creative or helping people think creatively about their brand. What inspires you to be creative?

MM: I am always looking for the ‘road less traveled,’ taking a different, unexpected approach. Today’s marketplace is tougher than ever – but there are a lot of awe-inspiring brands out there, and it’s important to learn from them.

OJ: You keep a frantic pace at work. How do you unwind when you’re not here?

MM: I run lots of miles, and I ride my mountain bike! I’m also a voracious reader.

To find out more about how you can launch, build, or revitalize your brand, touch base with Martha here.

This month we’re introducing a new feature on the blog: “Quick tips” for creating better,
bigger, more exciting creative projects – from the people at JK Design who know how to make it happen.

These tips were provided by Katherine Armstrong, VP of video production. She spends every day making compelling videos for clients across the country and around the world. Here she tells us a little about how she does it.

1: Creative collaboration is key. Brainstorming with the writer, designer, director, and other visually creative thinkers is KEY to developing great concepts – and KEY to establishing the outline for a great project!

2: Pre-production planning. Check, check, and triple-check all the line items – from casting and hiring the crew to scouting locations…even determining the times of sunrise and sunset for exterior shots. Details make the difference!

3: Improvise. Once you’ve planned for everything and anything, LET IT GO. Some of the best, most creative outcomes arise from allowing creativity to flow while shooting.

4:  Have fun! The best videos come from passion and the love of the medium – so don’t be afraid to enjoy what you do!

New Jersey/New York creative services agency welcomes new marketing and branding director, interactive project manager, account manager, and production artist

Hillsborough, N.J., January 11, 2012 – JK Design, a leading creative services agency with offices in central New Jersey and New York City, has significantly expanded its staff and capabilities with four new hires.

Martha Marchesi brings nearly 30 years of advertising and marketing experience to her position as director of creative and marketing services. A veteran of Madison Avenue, Martha has worked at nationally known agencies developing strategic solutions and crafting award-winning creative campaigns for clients such as Chevrolet, AT&T, Xerox, and Revlon. In addition to her creative duties, Martha specializes in branding and marketing workshops that help clients define and execute powerful, persuasive messaging. Martha earned a BS in communications from Boston University and is currently pursuing an MBA.

As JK Design’s newest interactive project manager, Paul Lahaski guides clients through the design and development process for websites, iPhone and iPad apps, email campaigns, and other projects. Paul has an extensive technical background and holds computing and Web design certifications from CompTIA and CIW. His business, finance, and media relations expertise was honed during his recent tenure as development manager for Embrace Kids Foundation. Paul earned a BS in business economics from Rutgers University and is completing a BA in information technology from Western Governor’s University.

Ashley Summerer brings a diverse range of experience – and razor-sharp organizational skills – to her role as account manager. In this fast-paced position, she works closely with clients, staff, and vendors to manage the daily project workflow, monitor production deadlines, and coordinate quality control and review procedures. Prior to joining JK Design, she worked as a project manager and conducted market research for several major brands. Ashley holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in marketing from Pace University.

Production artist Nick Guido is responsible for the design and production of a wide variety of marketing and promotional materials. A graduate of Montclair State University with a degree in fine arts and a trained eye for great design, Nick worked as a Web designer and freelance graphic designer at several New Jersey agencies before joining JK Design.

“2011 was a banner year for JK Design,” said Jerry Kaulius, founder and president. “With the addition of these four talented professionals to our staff, we are now ideally positioned to provide the highest quality creative work and the widest range of print, interactive, and video services in our 25-year history. Our entire company welcomes Martha, Paul, Ashley, and Nick, and we all look forward to working with them to help our clients achieve success.”

JK Design’s headquarters is located in the historic Staats House in Hillsborough, NJ. The agency also has an office in the Chelsea neighborhood of midtown Manhattan, just minutes from New York Penn Station.

About JK Design

In business for over 25 years, JK Design is a creative services agency specializing in strategy and branding, print, web, mobile, interactive, and video projects. Recent honors include two Telly awards, a Communicator award, a MarCom Platinum award, and a Gold Hermes Creative Award. The agency provides a wide range of innovative design, advertising, and marketing services, including: web design and development, iPad and mobile app development, branding, logos, email marketing, multimedia and video animation and production, marketing strategies, advertising, corporate collateral design and production, exhibit graphics, packaging and Internet-based virtual tradeshows. For more information: 908-428-4700 (NJ), 646-794-4180 (NYC), or http://www.jkdesign.com.

Things are pretty busy around here at JK Design (to put it mildly). Every day, our team of 40+ staffers is creating new proposals for clients; designing and creating print, Web and video projects; and putting the finishing touches on brochures, websites, videos, iPhone apps and just about every other kind of marketing tool you can think of.

Needless to say, I’m not involved in all of these projects – after all, I am only one person. That means that when I see something great that we’ve created for a client, I often have no idea exactly how we did it beginning to end.

And so I wonder… where did the original concept come from? What was the process? How long did it take? And – most importantly – how did we make it so gosh-darn cool?

These questions all came to mind when I saw one of our coolest recent projects, a video we created for Avaya to promote their innovative new communications software product. Out of all the imaginative videos we create on a regular basis, this one really stood out for me. To satisfy my curiosity about the creative process behind it, I cornered the lead designer for the project, Joe Jordan, for a “behind the scenes” look at the making of this video.

Omar Joseph (OJ): I recently saw this video you put together for Avaya, and I’m really loving it. I generally think your work is excellent, but there was something different about this video that made it stand out. Can you talk about how it came about and how you were inspired to create it?

Joe Jordan (JJ): Well, Andrea Wolkofsky (the account manager) came to me and said we had three weeks to put together something cool for Avaya’s new software, Avaya ACE. Their vision was to create a video that was easy for their customers to understand and would really grab their attention in a unique way. Because they were rolling out this new software package for the first time, it was very important that their audience immediately grasp why and how it would work for them. After thinking about it for a while, we came up with a concept where the background design of the video would mimic a traditional blackboard. This is a tool used in seminars and other learning environments, so it would be familiar to viewers and give the video an educational tone. It also would require us to keep the animations simple.

OJ: After you picked that concept, what happened next?

JJ: In my mind this video just wouldn’t work unless we brought together our resources quickly. First, we pulled in Chris Milan, our in-house copywriter. We knew that we had to create a strong script that was descriptive, yet succinct – and this was right up her alley. Once she pulled together a script and it was approved by the client, we started to produce the video. As the process continued, the client had the great idea of using two voice actors instead of a single narrator. The addition of an extra voice gave us the feel of a conversation as opposed to a lecture, and this really gave the video a better flow.

OJ: How did you come up with the look and feel of the video?

JJ: During the process of making the video I had a change of heart about the direction of the color scheme. In the end, I decided on a predominately black and white look. I think that helped to support the blackboard concept, achieve our goal of keeping the message simple and easy to understand, and make sure the content was “king.” However, I ended up adding a few touches of color to give the video a unique style.

OJ: Tell me a little about the finer details of the video. I noticed some cool things that I haven’t seen from you before. Can you give us some insight on that?

JJ: I generally spend my free time tracking new trends in animation and video and working on new concepts. The “handwriting” look that you see in the video is something new for us. I used it here because it helped add a bit of human element to the video and that was important to me. I wanted the viewers to feel a connection with the video and I think this helped achieve that.

But the piece that really pulled this video together for me was the music. I love that track! It has the perfect feel for the video. The flow is amazing. And even though that music track sounds great, it also blends with and supports the graphics and voiceover instead of dominating them. People often don’t realize how important the music is to a video, but it often makes or breaks the piece. I’m glad we were able to find this amazing instrumental track.

OJ: Thanks for the insight, Joe. The information you provided is great. Is there anything else you want to share before I let you get back to creating more incredible animations?

JJ: Yes! I want to thank the entire team that worked on the project: Andrea W., Chris M. and Lance M.

JK Design produced this video, “A Place to Call Home,” for Rutgers University. JK Design created the concept, the copy, managed the video shoot, and even wrote the original soundtrack!