Jadasa Jablonowski, known fondly as Dasi (pronounced Dah-zee) is not your typical equine graphic designer. How she got where she is today all started a few years ago with a chance meeting with trainer Michael Colvin.
German-born, Dasi now lives in Italy and is a very accomplished amateur competitor on the European AQHA circuit. She met Colvin when he came to Italy to give a clinic a few years ago. Dasi’s boyfriend and trainer, Matteo Sala, organized some of those clinics.
“One day we were all sitting in our apartment talking about the upcoming clinic,” explains Dasi in perfect English. “We had a drawing on the wall and Michael said he liked it and I thanked him since I had drawn it. That’s how Michael got interested in me as an artist.”
That led to a conversation between the two and “Michael and I started to talk a little bit about design and I showed him some of my other work. Soon after, he asked me if I would be interested in doing a print ad for one of his customers.” At that time Dasi was working for one of the top advertising agencies in the world, Saatchi&Saatchi in Milan, and was interested in breaking into equine advertising.
“I had not done much equine work then but it sounded like a nice challenge that combines my profession with my passion,” Dasi explains.
That first ad for Colvin was Madison Sargent in 2006 and later that year designed the Congress ad for Blair Wood. In 2007 came more of Colvin’s clients. “I guess my big breakthrough were the campaigns for Kelsey Moody and Lauren Massengill. Those were very visible campaigns because they advertised quite a bit.” (See those ads and many others by clicking on the slide show link located under the image).
In 2008, Dasi added more of Michael’s customers, Kara Oldford, Whitney Ward, Ronnie and Vickie Kent, and Brittany Marino to name a few.
“Based on the person’s personality, I try to create a look and advertising strategy that fits the individual. It’s a lot of fun and each of the girls has her own campaign with logo, color branding, and so on. I keep on working until everybody is happy… me, the client and the trainer,” Dasi explains.
“When Dasi first started with my ads, she asked certain questions to get to know me,” says AQHA youth exhibitor, Kara Oldford of Michigan. “I immediately liked the way she wanted to use my initials K.O. because it was elegant, but still fun. After we picked out the final layout, Dasi decided that she wanted my ads to be all about the friendship that I share with my horse (Im Shy But Deluxe), which evolved into the theme ‘creating the bond.’ In our pictures we try to show that there is a connection and friendship that my horse and I share, which makes us a stronger team” adds Oldford.
With the success of the Colvin campaigns, new high-profile customers such as Emily Cramer and Cheyenne Peterson started calling.
“Dasi was very focused on getting a complete picture of me, both inside and outside of horses,” says non-pro rider Emily Cramer of Washington. “Her concern was capturing that unique individuality we all have, and that meant learning about me, my life, passion, values and goals. It was neat to see how she took all the information and then transfered it into a look that I really connected with. She came up with three amazing themes, and I knew right away which I wanted, it just clicked when i saw it!”
“I LOVE the ads Dasi does for me“, says AQHA youth exhibitor, Cheyenne Peterson of California. “I don’t have any idea how she continues to think of new fresh ideas, but they seem to just get better and better.” Peterson adds, “Dasi also does a great job of making sure you stand out with out being loud or overdone in your ad which is a great trait to have as an ad designer.”
Email is Dasi’s best friend and allows her to communicate overseas fairly easily.
“Although Dasi lives in Italy, we constantly email about deadlines and what pictures to use, etc… It is actually very easy and Dasi responds very fast. Also if we really get in a crunch, we usually just pick up the phone!” adds Peterson.
“The great thing about Dasi is that she is well connected and is certainly fast to respond via e-mail! Usually my trainer, Michael Colvin, will be in the closest contact with Dasi and when the time comes to consider options and all of that, she is always easy to work with,” says Oldford.
And for Stanford University Junior, Cramer, email works great as well. “We email back and forth, she’s very thorough and quick over email! I’ll be meeting her at Congress, which I’m really excited about. I’m also going to be studying abroad in Oxford, and she offered to take me shopping in Milan, hopefully I can take her up on that!”
Dasi has travelled to the United States many times, most recently for the 2008 Gold/Gulf Coast in Florida. She will be at the Congress for most of the horse show.
“I have been able to concentrate more on the equine ads because I now work for myself. I really enjoy doing these types of ads and I hope this is just the beginning of a long career working in an industry that I love.”
