Jackson Carson

Current

• Senior Art Director at Gaiam, Inc.
• Creative Director, Owner at Wavelength Media (Sole Proprietorship)

Past

• Product Manager at Specular International
• UI Designer, 3D Modeler/Animator, QA Lead at Specular International
• Director - CKC Laboratory at University of Massachusetts at Amherst

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Education

• University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• Mount Wachusett Community College

Recommended

13 people have recommended Jackson

Connections

149 connections

Industry

Design

Websites

• My Company
• My Photographs
• My Jazz Group

Jackson Carson’s Summary

I have two decades of 3D and 2D animation experience and have run my successful new media and traditional creative design business, Wavelength Media, for the last fifteen years.

Prior to Wavelength Media, I taught graduate level 3D and 2D animation at the University of Massachusetts. During that time, I designed the revolutionary event-based Sequencer animation interface used in Specular Infini-D, awarded Best 3D Software for Macintosh in 1992. My timeline interface has become the industry standard and has widely adopted in such popular animation applications as Adobe AfterEffects, Swift 3D, Lightwave 3D, Cinema 4D, Anark Studio, and many others.

In addition to user-centered application UI design, I have designed easy-to-use web interfaces since the dawn of the World Wide Web.

Jackson Carson’s Specialties:

UI design, web design, interactive media design, 3D and 2D graphics and animation, print design, brand development, logo design, computer graphics, music, sound, video, motion graphics, effects, new media

Jackson Carson’s Experience

• Senior Art Director

  Gaiam, Inc.

  (Public Company; Design industry)

  2007 — Present (1 year)

• Creative Director, Owner

  Wavelength Media (Sole Proprietorship)

  (Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Design industry)

  January 1993 — Present (15 years 10 months)

  Designed application user interfaces, interactive media programs, 3D and 2D graphics and animation, user-friendly web interfaces (hand-code XHTML and CSS), creative marcom and print campaigns, visual IDs and brands. Managed design teams, engineers and contractors in development of user-centered web applications and interactive programs. Built virtual 3D architectural and medical models for use in documentary films and instructional videos. Designed GUI elements for cross-platform applications such as CreekPath Suite (storage resource management software), Emperative (network provisioning software) and handicap-accessible interfaces for interactive museum kiosk installations and interactive CD-ROM programs. Notable clients include Activision, The Gillette Company, Penguin-Putnam, USWest, United Way, Salomon.

• Product Manager

  Specular International

  (Computer Software industry)

  1992 — 1993 (1 year)

  Designed the intuitive graphical user interface for award winning 3D animation software, Specular LogoMotion. Managed development of LogoMotion from concept to release. Coordinated usability tests and managed QA and beta teams. Managed schedules for engineering and marketing departments during development. Coordinated marketing and press coverage for product launch. Created StageHands 3D scene components. Wrote user manuals.

• UI Designer, 3D Modeler/Animator, QA Lead

  Specular International

  (Computer Software industry)

  1991 — 1992 (1 year)

  Designed the revolutionary event-based Sequencer animation interface used in Specular Infini-D, awarded Best 3D Software for Macintosh by MacWorld Magazine in 1992. The widely adopted timeline interface can now be found in such popular animation apps as Adobe AfterEffects, Swift 3D, Anark Studio, MindAvenue AXEL, and others. Created design mockups for intuitive user interfaces during early development of Infini-D. Designed and produced Specular Replicas 3D clip art models and animations and wrote manuals. Produced 3D demonstration and promotional animations for the marketing department.

• Director - CKC Laboratory

  University of Massachusetts at Amherst

  (Higher Education industry)

  1988 — 1992 (4 years)

  Administrated the Center for Knowledge Communication Lab and taught graduate level 3D and 2D computer animation for seven semesters. Coordinated teams of animators. Directed, produced, and edited complete animation productions from storyboard to completion. Additional work included design and development of a custom 3D modeling and ray tracing application. Conducted usability tests of Specular Infini-D.

Jackson Carson’s Education

• University of Massachusetts at Amherst

  Bachelor of Arts, Computer Graphics and Multimedia - GPA: 3.75, 1988 — 1992

  Coursework included an aggregate of undergraduate Computer Science, graduate Electrical Engineering, 3D application development, 3D and 2D animation, arts and music. Skills acquired: GUI design and HCI fundamentals, animation and multimedia production, software development, visual and audio design, C, Pascal, LISP, ADA, data structures.
  
  Administrated the Center for Knowledge Communication Lab and taught graduate level 3D and 2D computer animation for seven semesters. Coordinated teams of animators. Directed, produced, and edited complete animation productions from storyboard to completion. Additional work included design and development of a custom 3D modeling and ray tracing application. Conducted usability tests of Specular Infini-D.
  
  Taught beginner fencing through the UMass physical education department.

  Activities and Societies:

  CKC Animation Lab Director, BDIC, UMass Juggling Club, UMass Outing Club, WMUA Volunteer, UMass Fencing Club

• Mount Wachusett Community College

  Assoc., Biology, 1986 — 1988

Additional Information

Jackson Carson’s Websites:

• My Company
• My Photographs
• My Jazz Group

Jackson Carson’s Interests:

GUI design, interactive media design, web design, motion graphics and animation, 3D and 2D graphics, graphic design, new media design, traditional media design, print design, brand development / visual identity design, marketing and communications (marcom), photography, music, humor, hiking, camping, skiing, progressive thinking, spirituality, sustainability, etc.

Jackson Carson’s Contact Settings

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