Jack's Creative Portfolio

© Drawing by Jack VanderMolen

Name: Jack VanderMolen

Age: 23 years old

Origin: Kalamazoo, Michigan

Contact: Jvmolen5@gmail.com

Website: www.jackvandermolen.com

Experience:

2021-Present (Miami, FL)

Client Success Manager

LocaliQ - Gannett Co, Inc.

Build, analyze, and maintain marketing campaigns for LocaliQ clients. Qualitative and quantitative analysis focuses primarily on outcomes of search, social media, and display campaigns. Experience presenting to clients and leadership team. Shadowed marketing leaders and facilitated booth setup at tradeshows.

2019-2022 (Miami, FL)

Chief Design Officer

Cycle Technology, Inc.

Oversaw all design and innovation aspects of award-winning, student run start-up founded at the University of Miami, whose mission is to optimize and incentivize recycling through technology. Conceived product designs and directed design team to launch new and improved products. Coordinated our marketing efforts by managing the marketing budget, planning promotional events, and running social media campaigns.

2020-2021 (Miami, FL)

Director of Photography & Director of Lighting

3 award-winning student short films

Controlled all elements that the camera captured which includes composition, exposure, lighting, filters, and camera movements. Directed the camera and lighting crews on film sets.

2020-2021 (Miami, FL)

Videographer & Designer

Orange Umbrella - Student Run Advertising Agency

Responsible for planning, filming and editing marketing campaigns for Orange Umbrella clients. Assisted with brand, graphic, and web design for Miami-based clients.

Education:

2018-2022 (Miami, FL)

GPA: 3.78

University of Miami - Bachelor of Science

Major in Motion Pictures - Production Track

Major in Advertising - Creative Track

Minor in Architecture

President’s Honor Roll

Received a 4.0 GPA during two semester terms

President’s Scholarship

Prestigious four year merit scholarship

Activities

NSAC

Competed on the University of Miami’s National Student Advertising Competition team

University of Miami Sailing Team

Competed in inter-collegiate sailing regattas

Ronald McDonald House Volunteer

Worked with children through the Art of Healing Program

American Marketing Association

Keynote speaker for AMA Marketing Week at the University of Miami Chapter

Kalamazoo Family & Children Services

Volunteer annually through their Holiday Giving Program

Similarities Between Architects & Film Directors

Year: 2023

Medium: Film

Team: Ben Smith, Chase Johnson, Jack VanderMolen

Role: Co-Producer, Director of Photography

My colleague and architecture graduate student, Ben Smith, and I wanted to create a project that examined the similarities and differences between being a film director and an architect. The film itself was a mechanism to compare and contrast each role. We paired Ben’s architectural knowledge with my film industry experience to decipher how each person thinks while working on a body of work. We recognized similarities in the preproduction stage of the film compared to the schematic, development, and construction documents stages of the architectural design process. The production and postproduction stages of film making were most similar to the construction phase of building.

We strategically used the natural light of sun for the entire film without adding any additional lights

Sun map utilized to track best times to shoot each scene depending on the windows in each room

The film was split into three separate scenes. The first being a discussion between an architect and a client regarding the house he was designing for her. The second being a pre-production session between a film director and a director of photography regarding how the actors should move through the film set relative to a script. The third and final scene was a woman dancing through the house and using the space as if she were living her daily life. We had multiple meetings with the actual architect of the building used in the film to get his opinion on how certain features of the home were supposed to be used. This allowed us to give better direction to the dancer while she was moving through the space.

Recycle Smarter

Year: 2020-2023

Medium: Business Developement, UI & UX Design, Marketing, Entrepreneurship

Team: Anwar Khan, Colin Hively, Connor Pohl, Harrison Mount, Julie Young, Jack VanderMolen

Role: Chief Design Officer

Cycle Technology Inc. was founded in 2018 with the goal of increasing recycling rates by incentivizing sustainability and teaching consumers that empty beverage containers can be seen as a commodity and not trash. As the Chief Design Officer, I was in charge of creating the front-end design of our mobile application and making sure all of our branding and marketing material was working in harmony. From its conception, we knew that Cycle should be be a platform for people to maximize and promote their green impact within their local communities. This was the central idea that drove our decisions while designing the mobile application. In the spring of 2023, Cycle Technology Inc. was acquired by a large waste management company called Recycle Track Systems (RTS). Please find the official press release of the acquisition here: https://www.rts.com/ recycle-track-systems-announces-acquisition-of-cycletechnology/

DEPOSIT COST

DEPOSIT

MOBILE REWARDS

Step 2: Recycle and Earn Rewards

Step 1: Purchase with Deposit

When developing the Cycle mobile app, we created a solution that worked seamlessly with Envipco Reverse Vending Machines (RVM). After depositing a bottle or can into an RVM, a unique QR code populates on the small screen. You then open the Cycle application and scan the QR code to redeem your rewards. We did months of consumer research to analyze what rewards would drive the highest redemption rates and most in-app engagement. We found that the best user engagement came when we partnered with large beverage brands like Red Bull and Anheuser-Busch to host competitions and giveaways through our app. For example, the user who deposited the most Red Bull cans into an RVM over a week’s time would win exclusive prizes provided by the Red Bull team. After proving the recycle rewards concept, we expanded our corporate partnerships and installed rewards programs at Super Bowl LVII (pictured above), Lincoln Financial Field, Nationals Park, and other professional sports stadiums.

Drawings & Paintings

Year: 2021-2023

Medium: Charcoal, Pen, Marker, Oil Paint

Team: Jack VanderMolen

My fascination with light and shadow in film led to further exploration using different mediums. My drawing journey began with sketching cars, mostly vintage muscle cars, and evolved into painting self portraits and still-lifes. Drawing and painting has allowed me to gain a better eye for how light and shadow interacts with a subject and how minor tweaks to the direction, intensity, color, and distance of a light can have a significant impact to the mood and atmosphere of a scene.

Added detail and proportion sketches of front

Initial sketch of 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500

and side of Mustang

When difficult challenges are presented to me, it feels instinctual to pull out a pen and sketch my thoughts. Drawing is a medium I have used since childhood to quickly visualize ideas and document my surroundings. It expands my creative mind while heightening my awareness of the world around me. It allows me to practice gratitude and formulate new ideas.

Azulejos

Year: 2022

Medium: Film

Team: Maria Paula Arboleda, Julie Young, Daniel Souza, Jack VanderMolen

Role: Director of Lighting

Azulejos explores the themes of cultural tension between the LGBTQ+ community and older generations that immigrated from Cuba. Daniela visits her grandmother, Miriam, with the intention of finally coming out to her as lesbian. Our production team was composed of talented and experienced cinematographers. As the Director of Lighting, I was responsible for the creative direction and arrangement of all lights used within the film. We released the film in the Spring of 2022 and have since earned numerous accolades such as Best In Show and Best Cinematography at both the University of Miami Cane’s Film Festival and FilmGate Short Film Festival.

Pre-production lighting diagram for scene on page 26

On-set lighting set-up for scene on page 26

Our vision for this film was to capture Daniella and Miriam’s gentle relationship through cinematography. We achieved a natural and soft look by creating light setups that replicated the feeling of the specific time of day. My mentor, Ali Habashi, once told me, “the best lighting is the type that feels like it's not even there.” We also wanted to play with changing the color temperature throughout to symbolize how the grandma and granddaughters relationship develops. At the beginning, you feel the coldness of the room; but, as they warm up to each other, so does the color temperature of the lights.

© Drawing by Jack VanderMolen