Snapshots of People at Work
re: Jason Clark, creative manager

By Josh Suiter

Monday, September 5, 2005

He specializes in crafting Web sites into an advertising tool for businesses

Name: Jason Clark

Job: Creative director, VIA Internet Studio, 1201 Story Ave.

Age: 33.

Education: Attended Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville; graduate of Doss High School.

Family: Single.

Career development: Clark said he got involved in Internet work in college. "I was a designer at the University of Louisville taking classes (in the early 1990s) and working there and the Web happened. … I was interested enough (in the Internet) to pursue it and learn about it. It was at a time that there was no education about Web design and Web development."

Web-site focus: "VIA is a Web-centric ad agency. What we mean when we say that is that we do what a normal ad agency would do. But our main focus is to create a Web site or Web presence for a company, or accentuate what they already have, and then create the marketing programs that drive people to that site. … We've got enough well-rounded experience in Internet and marketing to drive people to those Web sites and make them useful to their customers or a user of that site."

Meeting expectations: "As creative director, I am in charge of the look and feel of these promotions and Web sites that we create."

Working together: "I am also the intermediary between the client and the programmers. We've got two to three programmers at a time working at various projects. It's kind of my job to be the communication hub between what a client really needs and telling the programmer what to do. Sometimes, technical people and business people don't always speak the same language."

Jason Clark Award winning: "As a company, VIA has won countless International AXIEM (Absolute Excellence in Electronic Media) awards. We win lots of Louie Awards (Louisville Advertising Federation) and some LGDA (Louisville Graphic Design Association) awards. … I won Best in Show at the Louisville Graphic Design Association Awards this year and that was for an animation I did for Breakout Creative."

Previous experience: "Before VIA, I was an interactive designer at Power Creative and I worked there for two or three years. I don't have anything bad to say about Power, I am good friends with people there still. I kind of outgrew the place, I guess. I am entrepreneurial enough to where when I reached a certain point there that I knew it was time to go off on my own. So I partnered up with Kelly McKnight here at VIA."

Event promotion: When he is not working, Clark is an event promoter. "It's a hobby. I am a big fan for music, so when I have free time to get involved with that, I dabble in that. I am helping with a rather big Halloween event at Main Street Lounge (on Oct. 29) this year. It's the big one coming up. In the past, I've done music festivals for as much as 3,000 people."

Enjoyment: Clark said he got involved in event planning because "I don't sleep and I am an overachiever, I guess. … I feel I am successful in my business, and I feel I have a responsibility to give back through music and helping to do events. … I don't do it as much as I used to, but I still dabble from time to time."

Musical talent: Clark also works in other parts of the music industry. "I am a DJ/electronic musician. We (Clark and another guy) just played the live lunch on WFPK for Lebowskifest."

Business ownership: "I am also part-owner of a store called the Why Louisville Store. It's another workaholic project. It doesn't stop. Why Louisville Store is a fan club for the city."

Loves responsibility: "At this point in my career, it's well-rounded enough that I have a hand in everything. It's a lot more responsibility and that is the kind of person I am. I enjoy that responsibility. I can take a project now from an idea in somebody's head to an executed project and make it successful."

Less work: Clark said if there is anything about his job that he does not like, it is that "I work too much. Being successful this past year has been amazing, but that success means either hiring more people or to do it ourselves. The latter is usually more true than the former. But that is OK. It's still worth it."

By the numbers

Service time: Jason Clark said he has been at VIA Internet Studio for three years.

Open for business: VIA Internet Studio has been open since 1996.

Clientele: "We keep about 20 active projects at a time, but we have closer to 50 clients that we do regular work for, probably more than that at this point. Our client list has been growing quite a bit over the past year or so."

Snapshots of People at Workre: Jason Clark, creative manager

He specializes in crafting Web sites into an advertising tool for businesses

By the numbers

Snapshots of People at Work
re: Jason Clark, creative manager