Jason Bouwman
Jason Bouwman is a Sheridan Grad from the
Illustration program in 1994. He owns and operates a small design
Where Jason Started out
-He was an illustration student at Sheridan. He started out taking the technical illustration class, and this was something very different from the rest of his blue-collar family. For him to go into the arts was something quite unique.
- He knew he had a talent and a passion for the arts.
- He had always had a business mentality, a pragmatism, and at a young age was concerned with the idea of making a living. When he looked at his career, at the back of his mind there was a responsibility to turn this into a business.
- At first he went into industrial design, simply because he though there was a market for that.
- After a year of Industrial design he was unhappy and failed. He planned to go into business, but his friends encouraged him to go into illustration.
- At the time he was making these decisions to try and balance what he wanted to do with being ucccessful.
During School
- He didn't get as caught up with passing classes as with building a strong portfolio
- He looked for opportunities with classes to build his portfolio and in second year he began calling up companies promoting himself. This is how he landed his first job.
- He studied technical illustration in the hopes of the job market being strong there.
- At this point computers were not being used. When he started looking for work it became apparent computer skills would be apparent.
His First Job
- Howard Marketing and Communications was his first job
- "it was simply a job"
- He said he could do some things he had no idea how to use. He had to learn very rapidly and stressful, but sometimes in business you have to fake it till you make it.
- he was straight with his employer that he didn't want to stay there.
The Origins of His ambition for his own Company
- It comes from his family background, his brother and father both own their own businesses.
- Their family were immigrants, very responsible, very self-sufficient. Had to be strong enough to make a new life here.
- In his family there is this built in "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality.
- he had always had it in his head that he could do his own thing.
- Jason was stuck with a talent that he thought he had to use. But he didn't want to have to live in the big city in order to do what he loved. He was a small-town guy, and he wasn't a "schmoozer". It just wasn't him. He is a hopeless introvert.
- He brought in a consultant to ask what he was doing wrong, and the consultant told him he was very introverted.
- He can't be outgoing all day and every day, it will just tap his energy.
- Starting his own business was what he envisioned for his own future.
- "do an honest day's work, get a good job, get through life".
Leaving Howard
- "I've done a lot of things very intuitively"
- He made a lot of decisions rather intuitively.
- when he walked into Howard he Knew he was going to leave there one day.
- He told them that his goal was to be there for two or three years and move on. He was taken on as a freelancer. He worked long hours to accumulate funds for his planned future.
- He was so respected at his work that his employer gave him the keys to Howard in order to do his own freelance work there.
- He ended up staying there longer than two years and all the while he was doing things at nights.
- He cold-called companies that might need an illustrator. He still fancied the idea that he could become an illustrator.
- He thought maybe he could set up in Burlington and find a number of agencies to work for.
- There was a point in his life that he knew if he was going to jump, he had to jump then.
- one day he left Howard and started on his own.
Starting up his own business
- He converted the basement of his house into his own studio.
- He often had days he wasn't working, and would call up his brothers to do some construction work.
- A few years passed. He was working as an illustrator.
- But he wondered: after 20 years and I still going to be sitting down here? Twenty years by myself in a basement...I don't think that's going to do...
- When he looked at his business - there's only so many hours in a day. What he was selling was time. He realized he had to charge more per hour, it was his only way to get more money. and The only way to charge more per hour...
Discovering strengths to grow his Company
- What he decided to do: He decided to grow, hire somebody. He was going to try it. He knew he didn't want to stay in his basement too much longer and maybe now it was the time to grow.
- He went out and rented a space, and hired someone.
- Before he hired someone he asked why his clients hired him: they said he really listens, he's very concise and he creates solutions that a right for them.
- It wasn't about him, it was about his clients. He was almost like a translator for the story they needed to tell.
- It wasn't about him, and he needed to learn how they were so he started asking lots of questions.
- ever since then his company has been pushing that value in their work. Insight before website.
- People don't want websites. What they want is dollars. Sales.
- we tell our clients: they don't owe you money. You need to give them a story. and to know the story you need to know your market. and Prior to that you have to have a mission, and know why you exist in the first place. You need to delve into why they exist and what they are trying to do.
- figure out how you're going to change the world, then brand.
- visual elements all just individual pieces that need to support a core idea.
Compass Creative today
- works for a large number of small to intermediate sized companies
- we build websites based on insight and market reality. We reflect who they are and not who we are.
- a website on it's own doesn't help, it's about creating the right experience.
- His company has experience organic growth by word of mouth, and growing with their clients.
- They narrow down what they do now. They have figured out what they do and what they are good at. They need to keep finding new clients who are at that place.
How does Compass Creative Hire and what is the structure?
- In a typical firm there's probably about 30 different roles you can put a title to, and there are only 6 people in the team.
- He kept hiring designers, but then he has no visionaries and managers.
- They worked with a consultant, and just like a coach to a sports team they could see the big picture.
- It's about delegating the right share of responsibilities.
- Jason works on finances, sales, networking, marketing. He is also the chief creative director, responsible for the quality of work going out.
- his decision to embrace the web with his business was a struggle, but he did some hiring to develop that aspect of his business
- team also includes designer/photographer, web programmers, web designer, administrative assistant.
- One of his goals in life is to create a great place of Employment. He cares about the people he hires, because we spend the bulk of our life at work. We need to spend most of our life with people we don't care about to support the people we do care about. Make the place you work comfortable. Make it sociable, make it attractive. If people enjoy their work, they do better work and they tend not to leave.
-They pay a little bit more. They ask what they are looking for, judge their skills and make sure they have a good fit with the culture.
The Design Process at Compass Creative
- initial group brainstorming
- then separation into groups and individuals based on responsibility
- they push to put out the best product they can, but value is defined by the constraints you are under
- you create the best value you can working with the time and money you have
Working in a Creative field
- He started his business for very selfish reasons
- There was nothing in there about the customer, it was all about him, and he had to learn that it wasn't about him.
- What need am I fulfilling, how do I differentiate myself? This is ongoing. This is something you have to continually re-invent over and over again.
- creative people love what they do and are passionate about what they do, but they make a lot of poor choices to protect their ability to do that. You are going to have a wildly imbalanced life if you are going to protect your ability to do what you love to do.
- You get abused, you work 18 hours a day for nothing but you continue to do it because you are doing what you love.
- hard work is only hard when you aren't appreciated and it doesn't feel meaningful
References
(how to break your life and your work into priorities)
- this book is about identifying the important things in your life, and how to live your life by as compass as opposed to a clock.
Words of Wisdom
- figure out what's really important and live your life with those things in priority.
- what are the most important things to you? live your life by a compass and not a clock.
- We need to spend most of our life with people we don't care about to support the people we do care about. Make the place you work comfortable.
- hard work is only hard when you aren't appreciated and it doesn't feel meaningful
