Aaron Jenkin
Creative Arts Portfolio
Professional Summary: CEO of a small creative services company in Tokyo, Japan. With 15+ years experience working in indie, startup, and corporate environments, I have collaborated on film, music video, video game, comic, app, and crowdfunding projects. I am highly skilled in concept & project development, writing, video editing, sound design, and directing artists. I have a passion for narrative storytelling and am seeking a creative position with a larger company in the film industry.
Software: Adobe Creative Cloud (Ps, Ai, Lr, Pr, Ae, Au), Final Draft, Fade In, Celtx, Jira, Miro, Trello, Google Workspace, and Slack. This past year I became interested in Linux & Open Source, so I built my first Linux workstation and have been learning Krita, Inkspace, Darktable, and DaVinci Resolve. I am currently enrolled at CG Spectrum, on a path to learn game art and animation leading into real-time 3D virtual production.
Art Direction
I worked as an art director to create numerous assets for fantasy and sci-fi games. I developed characters, wrote stories & briefs, and directed Japanese, Asian, and Eurasian artists to draw and color characters, backgrounds, in-game items, and physical goods.
Film, Video, & Animation
Short film All You’ve Got. An inspirational drama about an eleven year old Chinese American boy struggling to learn Chinese in America. I produced and edited this film. i also did the sound design and directed the score’s composer. We raised the funds on Seed&Spark, a crowdfunding platform for filmmakers and artists. Software: Final Draft & DaVinci Resolve.
Short film Bed Wars: Cheat Code. A family drama about a boy pressured to cheat during a video game, world championship tournament. I co-produced / wrote / directed this film. I also did the editing, sound, and VFX which was the biggest challenge – taking video shot across over a dozen cameras by the actor’s parents and cutting it together seamlessly. Software: Davinci Resolve & Photoshop.
Video game trailer for Pioneer 2140CC. I wrote the script, directed artists to create assets, designed & animated the logo, cast and worked with a voice artist, and did all the editing and sound design. Software: Adobe Premiere Pro & After Effects.
Official music video for Bo-Peep’s “Power.” Bo-Peep is a legendary indie band from Fukuoka, Japan. I wrote the script, built the sets, shot the footage, created the stop motion, and did all the editing. Software: Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, & After Effects.
Official music video for The Watanabes’ “20 Percent Chance“. I wrote, directed, and edited this documentary-style video. The Watanabes are a British indie pop rock band based in Tokyo, Japan, and outstanding guys who were great to work with. Software: Final Cut Pro.
Manipulating Life is a short film that I directed and edited. It tells the story of a distraught scientist who’s lab creation could win him a Nobel Prize… or destroy the world. The film won local media praise at the deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City. Software: Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, & After Effects.
This is a video series I created for Avast Secure Browser. I wrote the scripts, created storyboards, designed the scenes by dual-purposing graphics from another department, directed an animator and voice artists, and did all the editing & sound design. I completed nearly 200 videos, in 3 run-times and 3 aspect ratios, along with voice overs and/or subtitles in over 20 languages, for use across a variety of social media platforms. Software: Miro, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, & After Effects.
Avast had a big-budget commercial stuck in post-production because of problems with the animation portion of the video. I rescued the project from failing by taking the lead and proposing a solution. I won management’s approval, revised the script, drew storyboards, designed fresh scenes, and hired & directed an animator. I also did some of the animation work myself, saving time & money for Avast. Software: Miro, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, & After Effects.
I created these animation composites as part of a brand awareness campaign proposal for Avast Secure Browser. The plan involved working with hand-picked artists to create exclusive “living wallpapers” for our mobile browser. We would partner with Live2D and implement their technology. Later, the feature could be opened up to general users allowing anyone to create and share their own moving art. Software: Adobe Premiere Pro & Photoshop. Character art from Live2D.
These are all original art pieces I directed. I then turned them into animated gifs to promote Pioneer 2140CC’s crowdfunding campaign. The TVs were used across social media to count down the days leading to our project’s launch. The larger images were made for our press kit and used on social media. Software: Adobe Photoshop. Background art by Lim ChinYang. Character art by Jean JS. Ship art by Kevin Koesnodihardjo.
Video Game Demo
Video game demo for Pioneer 2140CC, a sci-fi visual novel based on the 1983 novel Pioneer by book author and space historian Robert Zimmerman. I wrote the script, crafted briefs, and hired artists to create the assets. I also did the programming and sound design. We tried to crowdfund a full game but the attempt failed. We are currently reworking the game idea and creating a pitch deck for investors. Software: Unity, Adobe Photoshop, & Audition.
PLAY DEMO | 
Graphic Design
Company branding for my company, Enterstellar Corporation and its game division. The corporate logo symbolizes a rocket launching into space from Earth. Inspiration came from retro rocket designs and Disney Park’s Tomorrowland. For the studio logo, I imagined gamers, the future, space, and robotics. Software: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. Background art by Lim ChinYang.
I created these graphics for Avast Secure Browser’s YouTube channel. Software: Miro & Adobe Photoshop. Desk by Kirill Martynov.
Logo design for Little Apple Shore, a children’s therapy provider in Indiana, USA. I started with the client’s concept of “an apple on a beach,” and worked with them to flesh out their idea. I created a style board, sourced royalty free fonts, drew sketches, and completed a vector design for print and web use. Software: Inkscape.
The original logo for the Damah International Film Festival was a low-resolution file that looked blurry when printed. I was tasked with recreating it in high-res so it would look great at any size. I used vector shapes and CMKY colors. One problem we faced was that no one knew which fonts were used in the original. I used AI font recognition software to identify the fonts, but ultimately we decided to change them. Software: Adobe Illustrator.
This was a wacky Valentine’s Day social media marketing campaign that I created for Tenta Browser. It’s a parody of the online flower shop ads that saturate the internet during February. The idea popped into my mind while perusing stock images that are often laugh-out-loud cheesy. I lead marketing efforts for Tenta Browser that helped gain over 1 million downloads. Tenta was later sold to Avast. Software: Adobe Photoshop.
Video game logo for Pioneer 2140CC. This game is based on the 1983 novel Pioneer, but takes place in 2183, so I set out to create something that felt both nostalgic and futuristic. Software: Adobe Photoshop & After Effects. Background art by Lim ChinYang.
Physical CD and cassette tape covers. I designed these printable rewards for Pioneer 2140CC’s crowdfunding campaign. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, I loved collecting soundtracks on cassette, so when it came time to make my own, I had to offer analog art! I sourced the cassette cases from a local electronics shop for 50 cents. The box of blank tapes were marked “recordable, but no guarantee.” Software: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. Product photo by me (Fujifilm X-T30). Background art by Lim ChinYang.
This is a military-style challenge coin I designed as a physical reward for Pioneer 2140CC’s crowdfunding campaign. The starting point for inspiration came from my grandfather, who served as a “Seabee” in the U.S. Navy Construction Battalion. You can see their logo in my concept board above—a bumble bee with a grease gun. Software: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. Render by Wendell’s Mint.
Physical artbook reward for Pioneer 2140CC’s crowdfunding campaign. Software: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop. Product photo by me (Fujifilm X-T30), and yes that’s Clue from 1986 and Electronic Battleship from 1989 in the background! Character art by Jean JS.
Graphics for a blockchain-based promotional project where space fans collect custom mining ships. The original name of the project was “Belt Barons” but later changed to “Megaton Mining Co.” Software: Adobe Photoshop. Background art by Lim ChinYang.
Thank you for taking the time to check my work samples. I look forward to hearing from you soon! ~Aaron