Dean Lee

Dean started out his career at the tender age of 16, pin-stripping cars at a Hyundai car dealership. After developing an eye for detailing, he moved on to become an art director in the advertising industry. Dean honed his skills at JWT for seven years before joining Palmer Jarvis in 1995. Over the years, Dean has been consistently ranked as one of Canada's best creative thinkers according to strategy magazine including top honours in 2003 for art direction. His work has been recognized by many national and international advertising shows including Cannes, The One Show, Communication Arts, The Clios, and D&AD. Not only have recent campaigns been singled out for art direction craft awards in both the Bessies and the Marketing Awards, his work has also been showcased in Archive magazine more than any other Canadian art director in the past decade. In his current role, Dean helps guide the creative product of several creative teams. Beyond his day job, Dean helped to develop and co-chairs The James Lee Foundation to help aspiring creative talent break into the business. He is also a regular guest at Portfolio Night in Vancouver, providing constructive feedback and advice on the portfolios of the people who will one day steal his job.