About
My name is Jeff Yas (say YAZ) and I run a Brooklyn-based graphic design studio specializing in branding, websites and print marketing. As an artist and techie, I can deliver unique designs in the latest media at a low price.
I am also a software instructor, teaching nationwide training seminars in Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Flash and Dreamweaver.
Whether I'm designing, writing code, or teaching, I always strive for clear, uncluttered solutions. Simple designs, as you know, can be surprisingly elusive. My balance of artistic and technical experience allows me to produce and implement bold, yet 'clean' graphics.
Background
After completing my BA in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, it was off to the Middle East to be a field archaeologist, digging out all manner of olive presses, walls and pottery from the hills of Jerusalem. After 3 years and some exciting excavations, I became quick with the trowel and drafting pencil. On the side, I created political cartoons and magazine covers.
Returning to New York, I spent 2 years in a PhD program in Middle Eastern Studies, but alas, my artistic passions had taken hold, and I found myself in an intensive training course in Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop.
I forged my way up Madison Avenue through the production studios of top agencies like KPR, Saatchi & Saatchi and Desgrippe Gobé, training with veteran artists on the job, staking out a reputation of technical prowess and humility. Since those early years, I've worked at NYC agencies as an art director, retoucher and production artist, while maintaining my own client list. In 2000, I became a teacher at the Macintosh Learning Center in Manhattan, where I led classes in Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop and Flash for 2 years. That led to a 2 year position at Pratt, teaching Introduction to Computer Graphics, as well my ongoing instruction work for training companies like Sterling Ledet, Inc.
