In Focus: Interview with Chad Arentz, Owner & Creative Director at Jump Motion Design

I sell and promote our services, of course, but I also act as the designer, developer, and content writer for most of our website design projects. I also design or art direct all our creative service initiatives. For example, we are the lead design team for a chain of brewhouse restaurants, as well as several other clients who need our services for their marketing efforts.

It lends validation to our company most during sales pitches. Like when your prospect asks “what sets you apart…”. I get to say “in addition to our Emmys, Tellys, and Addys – we’ve now won five international website design awards, including two Muse Creative Awards”.

So much of everything is being automated, including the design business. I hope that the really good designers remain relevant as cultural trend-setters. There is too much art on the internet today that can be created easily by an app, without an artist. This is why so many websites look exactly the same. It’s like when one hipster grows a long beard and wears a beanie… now every hipster looks exactly the same. Boring.

I love using my weird brain to make magnificent things. I love seeing a client’s success grow from my creations. You can’t do what we do by reading a book. You are born with it, and if you are smart, you have procured it. Most important… no one but you will ever own it.

My mother. She was a housewife who one day found herself single with 3 kids. She worked hard doing things she hated, and sacrificed all for us. My high school ethics teacher, Ruth Elder, who made me feel relevant and special. My high school art teacher, Jack Hill, who heard about this freshman who could really draw, so he yanked me out of a wood shop, planted me in the art room, and set me on my path. I owe so much to all three.

We have full creative freedom in the U.S. It is great to be an American, and I don’t take it for granted. I can’t imagine a life in a country with a totalitarian government, where freedom of expression doesn’t exist.

GO ALL IN… dive in and work hard at it. Be inspired by other artists, and make great things.

Well, you have to be a “people person” in many respects. Be a team player. Don’t hide from social situations. Speak up and be heard in meetings.

I wish I wasn’t afraid to start my own business as a younger man. Besides family, it’s the most rewarding and wonderfully frightening thing I’ve ever done.

I am extremely confident when it comes to my craft. That has made all the difference.