CV
JASON LARA
CREATIVE DIRECTOR | BRAND & DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
Creative leader with 25+ years of experience directing brand, UX/UI, and digital initiatives for agencies, startups, and Fortune 500 organizations. Experience includes work for Home Depot, Walt Disney World, ABC, Bazaarvoice, Kasasa, and AMD.
— Professional Experience —
JLI Creative Services
Austin, Texas
Creative Consultant
March 2025 - Present
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Serve as an on-demand creative leader, guiding branding, UX/UI, web strategy, and marketing initiatives for growing organizations.
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Design and build websites, digital experiences, and brand systems that strengthen client storytelling and customer engagement.
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Partner with business owners and executive leaders to develop marketing strategies, visual identities, and digital communications.
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Developed the brand identity for Texas/Atlanta Smoke, one of the nation's premier professional women's softball organizations.
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Support nonprofits with website strategy, design, and ongoing digital communications.
Proof Advertising & Marketing
Austin, Texas
Associate Creative Director
July 2023 - March 2025
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Directed all creative output for Kasasa, partnering closely with executive marketing leadership on campaign strategy and execution.
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Improved creative workflows and review processes that doubled production speed while maintaining quality standards.
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Streamlined creative workflow through Jira, Wrike, and SharePoint, improving cross-team collaboration and efficiency.
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Partnered with executive marketing leaders to translate business objectives into integrated creative campaigns.
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Contributed creative support for additional agency clients including Subway, Subway Cares Foundation, and Grease Monkey.
SwagHub
Austin, Texas
Design Director
December 2020 - July 2023
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Established the company's first design department and creative standards.
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Led UX/UI design for the company's proprietary three-application SaaS platform from concept through launch.
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Collaborated with engineering and product teams throughout Agile development.
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Managed U.S. and overseas creative teams delivering high-volume client work.
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Designed and launched dozens of branded online storefronts on accelerated timelines.
Continion
Austin, Texas
Co-founder & VP Client Experience
June 2010 - December 2020
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Led creative strategy and UX initiatives for enterprise clients.
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Co-led creative development of Home Depot's Seeds Program, exceeding engagement goals ahead of schedule.
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Led design for Bazaarvoice's Sampling Program, scaling it into a multimillion-dollar recurring revenue platform.
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Designed Walt Disney World's ratings and reviews experience while meeting rigorous brand, accessibility, and technical standards.
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Delivered branding, UX, and website initiatives for organizations including Millstone Medical, St. Edward’s University, ImplantBase, and CIS Group.
— Additional Work Highlights —
M Group Agency
Austin, Texas
Strategic Partner - Marketing Technology and Digital Creative
January 2011 - November 2019
In partnership with M Group, I helped improve the digital products of clients such as Global Access, St. Edward's University, Texas Methodist Foundation and Texas Advocacy Project.
Kolar Advertising and Marketing
Austin, Texas
Senior Interactive Art Director
June 2004 - June 2010
I was a key creative leader in the development of websites, interactive presentations, banners, and rich media campaigns for clients such as Dell, 3M, United States Army, SUBWAY, Cargill, and Baylor University.
True North Inc.
New York, New York
Art Director
October 2003 - May 2005
I worked on digital creative for Walt Disney/Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Maxim Magazine.
— Capabilities —
Skills
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Strategic Planning
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Brand Strategy
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Team Lead
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Presentations
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Information Architecture
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UX
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UI
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Logo Design
Software
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Adobe Creative Suite
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Microsoft Office Suite
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Figma
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Apple Productivity Suite (Keynote, Pages, Numbers)
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Managing content in Wordpress, Wix, ExpressionEngine, Squarespace, HubSpot etc.
Languages
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English (native speaker)
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Brazilian Portuguese (fluent: communication;
working proficiency: reading/writing) -
Spanish (intermediate working proficiency)
— Education —