Jason Tako brings over 15 years of experience in graphic design to the OPEN MINDS team. His areas of expertise include designing print media, advertising, web media, creating marketing strategies, branding, and logo development. He currently supports the OPEN MINDS team as a graphic design and layout subject matter expert, designing collateral for client engagements and OPEN MINDS communications.

Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Mr. Tako worked in the insurance industry serving as a Licensed Insurance Benefit Enroller with BenefitVision, and previously a Field Insurance Agent with Knights of Columbus. In both roles, he applies his passion for explaining and teaching people how insurance policies work and assisting them to make informed decisions that will be to their benefit.

Before working in insurance, Mr. Tako was the Director of Advertising for Prudential Homesale Services, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In this role, he identified areas across a number of departments where a more efficient means of project creation and production could be utilized, significantly reducing production time and improved output quality. He also oversaw the creation and publication of all print advertising, real estate data flow management, and maintained all web marketing and advertisement.

Previously, he was a Designer for York Wallcoverings in York, Pennsylvania. In this role, Mr. Tako developed design ideas and strategies for new bathroom and kitchen accessory lines including creation of patterns, borders, and blueprints. He also created hand-drawn and hand-painted concept art and developed manufacturing templates for partner organizations.

Before joining York Wallcoverings, Mr. Tako served as the Art Director for Black Forest LTD, in Owatonna, MN. He was responsible for coordinating day to day operations of the art department to produce computer and hand drawn illustrations of jewelry and recognition products, along with presentation layouts for clients including Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Nissan, Harley Davidson, Jaguar, Reliant, Purina, and Penske Racing. In this role, he created major improvements to the method of artwork development by streamlining all hand drawn artwork into Adobe Illustrator full color templates to significantly improve aesthetic quality and reduce production time by over fifty percent. Mr. Tako was given a Special Performance Award in this role for outstanding company contribution.

In addition, Mr. Tako has served as a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, and fine artist for over 6 years. In this role, he has developed illustrations and design projects for clients as well as designing websites and producing digital web advertisements. His fine art work has won numerous national awards and has been published in Western Art Collector Magazine and Plein Air Magazine.

Mr. Tako has extensive knowledge of graphic design software including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, AdWriter, and template creation, as well as HTML and CSS.

Mr. Tako graduated at the top of his class at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota, earning his Associate’s degree in Applied Science, Applied Visual Arts & Graphic Design.