Jared Souney: Hands-on Art Director, Photographer, Graphic Designer, Writer. Creative Director, Artist in Portland

Ransom Six is an independent design and photo studio in Portland, Oregon focusing on Brand Building / Design / Photography / Art Direction / Marketing / Digital and Analog Ideas – all things brand, marketing, and content — I lead the charge. Ransom Six is also a small brand of its own — with a line of in-house made, 1940s workwear inspired products including cut and sew bags and jackets — and a publisher, having released the 2020, 404 page hardcover photo book "Things Seen Along the Way: BMX Freestyle 1994-2014," in addition to several smaller publications. A second edition of "Things Seen Along the Way" was published in 2022. Clients include Woodward Camp, Paynter Golf, Killer Burger, Grindz Protective Apparel, My Museum Home, Plant Hugger, Flemington NJ Business District and Greystoke Magazine. You can see some work I've done for our house brand here: jaredsouney.com/ransomsixwork or at ransomsix.com, and thingsseenalongtheway.com.

Creative lead and strategic co-lead, developing marketing initiatives across all channels. Partnering with the Director of Marketing and Killer Burger operations teams, I led all things brand, guiding everything from new store design and experience, to advertising, new product launches, and related multi-platform campaigns. I led creative on the re-launch of killerburger.com, a handful of new store build-outs (helping grow from 14 to more than 20 locations), signage and wayfinding, as well as in-store murals and design. I led ideation, design, and copywriting on multi-channel advertising campaigns including physical billboards, digital assets and in-store collateral. Launched and named new limited-time-offer menu items, and produced related product launch events. Designed, researched, and refined in-store menu systems. Created a line of merch and numerous crew apparel designs. Developed and built email campaigns. Photographed product and lifestyle images for advertising and menus. Guided social media direction. Created design systems and elements to help new franchise stores stay on brand moving forward, and streamline future openings. Led creative on launch of a branded loyalty / rewards app and related campaigns.

Woodward operates the largest and most progressive summer camps and Olympic level training facilities in the world for action sports, gymnastics, and cheerleading, with 12 facilities throughout North America and Mexico. Working closely with the President and Co-founder, as well as the Brand Manager, VP of Marketing, and Camp Directors, I art directed and designed a decade of catalogs, print collateral, apparel, branded merchandise, advertising, logos, and signage, as well as web and social media icons and graphics for the camps, and the internationally recognized Woodward brand. I contributed to the brand as a photographer as well, shooting catalog, web, advertising and social media images, as well as magazine editorials, working with professional athletes from around the world, including numerous X Games and Olympic medalists. Woodward Camp was acquired by Powdr Corp in 2011, and I continued to work on projects for the brand on a contract basis through 2020. You can see more work for Woodward at souneymedia.com

Starting in 2008 I helped take Yobeat.com from a dormant blog to a new media snowboarding leader and apparel brand. Within a few years of relaunch, Yobeat became the largest independent snowboarding content website, with upwards of 350k unique visitors monthly. We produced original content and built a global brand. With a web site, an apparel line sold online and distributed around the globe (from core shops in Japan to Zumiez in US Malls) and a large social media following, Yobeat paved the way for snowboarding in the digital world. We even managed to make a one-off limited edition print magazine in 2014. From creating the Yobeat brand identity, to developing editorial ideas, to creating digital brand integrations with advertisers, I was integral in leading the build of the Yobeat brand from the ground up. As platforms evolved, I handled digital strategy for the site and creative direction, while building the apparel line and managing the social media direction. I organically grew the Instagram to 85k followers, and used that platform along with the website to grow our apparel line globally. It became a self-marketing product line, and a second revenue stream complimenting the old model of advertising sales. Direct to consumer sales with a flow of day to day original editorial became our primary revenue stream. Today Yobeat is a thriving snowboard outerwear and product line in Asia, primarily focusing on the South Korean market. www.yobeat.co.kr You can see some of my work for Yobeat here: Branding, Graphic Design, Product Design: souneymedia.com/152315 Selected Video Content: souneymedia.com/5340358

In 2001 I left my job as an Editor and Photographer at one of the largest action sports publications to start my own studio, Souney Media, a content + design + photography studio in Portland, Oregon (well, California, then Pennsylvania, then finally, Portland in 2007). Rooted in BMX and skateboarding, we produced design, photography, art direction, content, digital strategy, and video production work for clients such as Woodward Camp (more than 10 years of catalogs, advertising, branding etc), Target, Zoo York, Etnies, Hoffman Bikes, Diamond Back, Specialized , DC Shoes, Osiris, Tony Hawk Inc, Vans, Mountain Dew, Adidas, Jeep, Copper Mountain, Boreal, LG, ESPN, AOL, Boost Mobile, MasterCard, Red Bull, FuelTV, Right Guard, Dakine, Levi’s, and many, many more. Over the same period of more than 15 years, I contributed editorial content to publications around the world, including feature stories, and numerous cover photographs for magazines like Dig BMX, BMX Plus, Ride BMX, Faction, and State College Magazine. My photos have appeared in the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, Transworld Motocross, and many others. You can see some work examples at souneymedia.com.

Coinciding with new mainstream action sports event efforts like NBC’s Dew Tour, AOL created lat34.com, an action sports focussed online content startup. I consulted on editorial direction and strategy as well as produced written, photographic and video content for the site which ran under the AOL Sports umbrella.

In 2005 my good friend and Pro BMX rider John Parker had the idea to start a publication directed at older, more "sophisticated" action sports lifers... people like ourselves who had lived, breathed and sometimes been knocked unconscious by bikes, boards, etc. A lot of our friends had grown up, and we wanted to make something geared toward them. Along with Pro Skateboarder and writer Paul Zitzer, we published 7 issues of a free, full color, glossy magazine about our friends, between 2005 and 2007. We didn't follow the traditional formulas and had fun. The magazine included BMX, skateboarding, Freestyle Motocross, Music, Life, and Snowboarding (in the winter months). I designed all seven issues, photographed much of the content, and wrote some of the features.