Jason Pearson is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, and now runs Pearpod, a boutique agency creating media for nonprofits. The winner of the FluevogCreative Big Presence Desmond brief with his winning submission “The Essentials,” Jason is also a painter, abolitionist, designer, husband and father of 5 kids (including triplets).
I started out in the New York music industry creating album campaigns for David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin, Gil-Scott Heron and a bunch of artists you’ve never heard of. It was because of my love of music, fashion and design that I started Blender Magazine with a couple friends in 1994.
What do I do?
I make stuff everyday, stuff on canvas, stuff on video, stuff on the web, stuff for nonprofits, and even some stuff out of legos and crayons.
Today I live in a small surf community in Southern California. I work on about 12 campaigns and documentaries a year with different nonprofits on the issues of modern slavery, AIDS + orphans, hunger and human rights.
On first encountering John Fluevog Shoes?
A friend of mine was a journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times and did a fascinating interview with John Fluevog about his faith infused design aesthetic. The interview mentioned a line of shoes named after famous peacemakers, including Mother Teresa, Mandela, Pope John Paul, and Martin Luther King. I became an instant fan.
On the inspiration behind his winning ad The Essentials:
My wife and I often talk about the idea of pairing down all of our belongings to a single suitcase, and asking the question…”what would be the essentials?” It has definitely gotten easier with so many of our favorite things now digital like a classic Leonard Cohen album or our favorite Harold & Maude movie. We would not be lying to say that there would be a great pair of Fluevogs in the essentials.
What the does the future hold for Jason?
After lots of years of not making art on canvas, I have started painting again. I have just completed a series titled “The Problem with the World is Me” based on a quote by G.K. Chesteron. These are paintings inspired by the work I’m doing with nonproftts and my own indifference for those in need. I will be having a show with this series in February 2013 at the ArtCube Gallery in Laguna Beach, California.
You can find Jason’s paintings at jasonpearson.com and his nonprofit work at pearpod.com andcrosssection.com.
Keep an eye out in Vice, Applied Arts, and Bust magazines for Jason’s winning design in print.
