Jason Syboun

Nike School: Chicago is a new global arts educational network created to help close an equity gap that exists for young creatives in Chicago. As a part of Nike School: Chicago, Semester 2, each team was required to work closely with a Local Run Crew established in Chicago. The overall Project Capstone would result in an apparel collection for these crews, in time for the Chicago Marathon.

Each team would explore the history, community, and values of each crew in order develop their “brand” and to incorporate these elements into the design of the collection.

The Coffee Roasters Project originally started off as typographical layouts for a variety of coffee blends. Package designs were created based off those layouts, eventually leading to each coffee varietal with their own identity.

“Semiotics and Form” is a booklet that was produced as a final class assignment. It showcases a variety of design elements such as logos, vector illustrations, and concepts that were done throughout the semester. Samples of pages are shown below, as well as a link to the full digital booklet.

Full ‘Semiotics/Form’ Digital Booklet

This project was a re-brand on a brochure/stationery set to be made for any well-known establishment in Chicago such as the Field Museum of Natural History. The brochure design was based on the “Tattoo” Exhibit held at the Field Museum in 2017. Vector illustrations and photography were done as added details for the final product.

‘Bossfight’ Magazine is a fictional multi-format magazine produced and printed for a class project. The assignment called for any sort of publication design, and in this case it was centered around computer and video game culture.

This was a portraiture series with the theme of a fictional film poster for different genres. The same model was shot in studio lighting and edits were then made to each poster in post production, such as compositing and logo design.

“A Field Guide to the Univers” was a unique typographical project. The assignment was to produce some sort of printed work that contains information regarding a certain typeface along with a topic of choice. The font family chosen was “Univers” along with the topic of the actual universe to have a more cohesive theme.

This was overall a creative portraiture series shot to experiment around with studio photography. The concept was to have a series of character posters for a fictional superhero genre film, “Hero For Hire.”

This project was a re-imagining of the already existing Castle Rock Organic Farms brand in Wisconsin. More conceptual than practical, this re-brand gives the identity a look that’s very much vintage. The branding set uses a monochromatic color scheme along with old-timey illustrations as if from an era before technology. A majority of these illustrations are edited, although the logo is original.

This series of images were produced for the House on Fire Exhibition held at the Columbia Columbia Chicago Library in 2018. The collection of work displayed at the exhibition combined digital and analogue processes to capture our culture through the laser cut medium.

Social Media Antiquities shows the comparison between social media culture and how it would have looked during pre-technological eras. Artifacts and antiquities were used as ways of documenting events or people of interest, rather than using social media to do that at anytime.

This is a branding set for a fictional essential oil company that was produced for a class project.

From a conceptual standpoint the company identity and logo design was based off of the Renaissance Period because of the use of aromatic medicines. The color scheme is white monochromatic to show a sense of purity, such as the slogan says.

Album design and single cover artwork commissioned for Tusic, a lyricist based in Chicago. Each artwork was arranged and created per requests of the artist in order to show their visual language of the recording. A logo was also designed specially for the artist.

Unofficial album design and single cover artwork done for From those Ashes, a melodic death metal/metal core band based in the Chicagoland area. The cover artwork are purely done as a tribute and have no relation to the actual band.

Columbia College Chicago Student Communications was asked to re-brand a brochure/stationery set for the Mental Health Services Department of the same school. With the student’s health in mind, this design used somewhat muted blues to not have any triggering effect to the audience. Any lines used throughout have a soft edge, including the font chosen.

The main concept behind the design was the use of “mazes and puzzles” as a pattern because of how that imagery and being lost in mental health can be related. It is also a way of showing a playful look to the audience. Ultimately, the design was not chosen for the final product.

This recipe book concept was designed as a creative way to showcase food photography shot on location at Gaetano’s Italian Restaurant in Forest Park, Illinois. Studio lighting was set up throughout the restaurant, in order to have quality photos of the dishes presented.

The ribbon bookmark and inside covers of the book are orange to associate it more with the restaurant’s original logo.

Jas Hennessy & Co. is a well-known brandy distiller that has collaborated with various artists in order to create new designs for their packaging. This package design was done as a parody of that as a limited edition bottle of Hennessy VS in collaboration with the 2019 Lao New Year.

It is very common to find a bottle of Hennessy at some sort of Lao American function or event and that is why this collaboration is necessary.

These illustrations were done originally for an art show that was never finalized. The central theme behind the exhibit was “Ice cream.”

This is a parody of ice pop illustrations seen on ice cream truck and cart displays. The popsicles are based off of Chicagoan mascots from either sports teams, or from characters seen in the streetwear brand, Fat Tiger Workshop.

“Beginning Type” is a booklet that was produced as a final class assignment for entry level design. It showcases a variety of typographic elements such as type abstraction, type illustrations, and playing around with page layouts that were done throughout the semester.

The SEAD Project (Southeast Asian Diaspora) is a non-profit community organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group’s mission is to serve as a creative hub that provides workshops and tools to engage and share knowledge in Khmer, Hmong, Lao and Viet diaspora communities.

1.5: A Southeast Asian Diaspora Remix is an exhibition set up by SEAD in partnership with Minnesota Museum of American Art (the M). Many stories were gathered by the community and then translated into visual works of art by several Southeast Asian Diaspora artists.

A zine was to be designed and released to visitors as an event for the exhibition’s opening.

Still Undefeated is a solo art exhibition featuring the works of JC Rivera, a well-known street artist from the city of Chicago.

Still Undefeated showcases the life and legacy of JC’s iconic character, The Bear Champ. With the concept of The Bear Champ as being seen as an undefeated boxing champion, who continues to face their own internal struggles.

Highbaseline is a variety streamer primarily on the streaming service, Twitch. Logos were done for profile pictures, as well as overlays and information panels. SUBSCRIBE.

All of these designs were done for a birthday party, and were made as a parody on the packaging and design of Complexcon. Every visual was already based off of an already existing design. The main concept behind the birthday party was focused on “hypebeast culture” as well as some aesthetics such as color scheme for the Lunar New Year.

Again all designs are based off of existing logos or images, and was done entirely as a parody.

The SEAD Project (Southeast Asian Diaspora) is a non-profit community organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group’s mission is to serve as a creative hub that provides workshops and tools to engage and share knowledge in Khmer, Hmong, Lao and Viet diaspora communities.

Riding the Waves of the Sea is zine that was done to showcase the final projects created by the SEA Change Lab cohort of Fall 2020, as well as to promote the cohort members’ artistry.

Samples of pages are shown below.

Shikigai is a Web3 company that focuses on two ambitious goals: becoming a global brand that bridges, educates, and onboards Web2 audiences to the Web3 space through immersive storytelling and culture, and building innovative technologies that push the envelope of hosting, understanding, and nurturing web3-spirited communities.This involves creating stories that are relatable and engaging, as well as showcasing the unique aspects of the Web3 world that make it appealing.

Building the brand required a logo that represented the story that was being told.