Students in High School are usually searching for a direction. Dean was focused on two priorities: art and skate boards. As different as they seem both are free flowing art forms. Dean used them as outlets for his unlimited creativity. His skate boarding was funded by a Gordon & Smith (G&S) sponsorship in the semi-pro ranks. Art took different paths in vocational school and competitions. Dean’s art in this period was recognized with local, state and national awards. Dean’s high school years laid the foundation for The Art of Design (TAOD). Working with different media from charcoal to automotive paints he started to blend them into complex art forms.
The transition from High School to Professional Artist was seamless for Dean. He had worked as a free-lance artist during high school with local advertising agencies and van-conversion companies. Growth in his art was continuous, but Dean also prospered in management at Markley Enterprises.
Six years out of school, Dean made a move that would influence his art and life. Following that old axiom “Go West young man and seek your fortune”. In California, Dean focused on air brushing and skate boarding. Dean’s work was in high demand especially at car shows for custom shirts and jackets. This soon led to work with major firms: Hannah Barbara, Disney, Universal Studios and Marvel Comics. Dean’s passion for his art and perfection was his trademark and his key to success.
To pursue his art at a new level Dean returned to Indiana. His vision was to be able to scale the detail and form of standard size art to large scale murals. Not the crude art seen on billboard, but rather fine art done on a grand scale like the old masters. This was to be accomplished through the use of computers. Working a day job to support his development of the technology it took Dean four years to reach a point where the technology actually became usable in the real word and Dean quite his job to pursue his dreams.
The technology allowed Dean to create fantastic graphics for trade shows and radio station. It didn’t take long for Dean to acquire more equipment and hire staff. The machines were dedicated to design, printing and cutting. With the same equipment and technology Dean was soon painting large offshore performance boats, over the road tractor trailers and motor homes with a quality of execution and detail never before available. His work was recognized by many different industry and specialty publications as being among the best in the world. It may have been the best in the world but it wasn’t good enough for Dean.
TAOD acquired their dream facility in Elkhart, Indiana in 2001. Dean now had a state-of-the-art facility to match their state-of-the-art-technology. Projects that were just dreams soon became reality. The TAOD Viper was an early entry into the soon to be booming personalized vehicle craze. Creating graphics for the Viper in a photo-realistic form allowed TAOD to “see” the finished product on a computer terminal. That image is translated by computer to cut the required vinyl masks and graphics to make the real car a replica of the image. TAOD designs have earned recognition at custom cars shows around the country and exhibited from Florida to SEMA in Las Vegas.
Dean has become a consumer of fine vehicles as TAOD has grown. Having these famous marques at their disposal has allowed the people at TAOD the freedom to personalize them at their whim -- paints, wheels, wings, interiors and mechanicals. This hands-on unrestricted creativity results in first hand knowledge and experience when working with guests. As Dealers for HRE, TUBI, Corsa and Tire Rack combined with the vision of TAOD your car becomes art on wheels.
Dean’s art is available on the web at www.TAOD.org. The pictures just can’t capture the detail and impact of the work. They don’t paint cars, boats, planes and trains (Yes, trains for BASF!) TAOD creates moving larger than life works of art. The nuances of color changing paints, pearls, dyes and candies take years to learn and hours to explain to our guests. Dean is committed to making the TAOD Guest Experience personal and unique every time. No two works from TAOD are the same and no two people are the same. The art should match the individual. TAOD is in the unique position of having the artist, computer equipment, facility and vision to bring to life your vision.
The art of caring for our guests.
The art of creating something new.
The art of perfection.
The art of Dean Loucks.
The Art of Design.
TAOD
