Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Clark.
Jason, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My interest in drawing started by watching my Mom draw pictures on those dry erase boards that I had as a kid. She would draw pokemon, dragon ball z, or whatever cartoon I was into before I went to bed. I was so amazed that she recreated my favorite shows on television and it made me realize that it’s possible for anyone to create anything they wanted to. In my mind, I made connections that behind all forms of art, there was a creator. However, I never really took my drawing abilities seriously until I got to college. So my design journey really started my sophomore year of college with me trying to make the best fliers for my fraternity. I enjoyed how people reacted to my fliers and IG posts on campus. It was a great environment for me to cultivate my craft around a tight-knit community. I would post illustrations of my favorite rap lyrics, just trying to make something “cool.”. I explored my career interests with a lot of internships. I tried something new every semester. I worked for different organizations like the Federal Reserve OIG, Sirius XM, and National Association for Music Educations. This was valuable because I was able to see that the only thing that I was passionate about was designing.
After graduating, I was able to land a design job at NBC Sports Philadelphia, where I am making illustrations, animations, and social content for the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies and Flyers. Here I started to develop and see myself as more than just a designer, after work I would come home and pursue things such as fashion, writing stories, and creating solutions to everyday problems. I realized I had the skillset to create something that’s bigger than me. So I created Jsntheruler as an outlet for my creative projects to connect with my audience by creating animations, clothes, and innovative products.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My creative journey has been an anime adventure. I face challenges everyday from small technical issues to larger business issues. There’s always something that needs to be done or could be done better, I find this really exciting though. My biggest challenge changes often, during college it was finding what I wanted to do and figuring out how to do it.
I remember my first time living in a new city by myself and having to adjust to the new way of life. Everything is different from Maryland, finding housing was probably the hardest. During my first week in Philly my car was totaled in a hit and run at like 2 am, I looked out the window to see Silvia not where I parked her. I eventually got a new car but it was rough going through that process without a support system and was unexpected. Now I find myself being impatient because I want to be able to support my family and friends, be that person who they can depend on to help with their dreams, career ventures, and anything they are passionate about.
We’d love to hear more about Jsntheruler.
Jsntheruler is for people who view life as episodes in an anime series, people who like to challenge typical ways of doing things. Within the brand there are two divisions; The Workshop which is for physical goods like tshirts, stickers, anything you can touch, Ruler Television (RTV) is for digital goods like animations, gifs, and digital experiences. The Workshop is inspired by a younger me making cardboard swords and robots but also wanting to make things easier to use. Ruler Television is inspired by comparing myself to my favorite cartoon characters on WB kids and Toonami. I remember being so excited to watch Saturday Morning cartoons because it was all action shows that I loved, I want people to get that feeling while watching Ruler Television. I want to show my little brothers and they can do whatever they want, they just have to work for it. I like to make the mysticism of being a creative disappear and show people its just trying things and research.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory was visiting my little brother in Texas after not being able to see him for a while. My mom moved to Texas when I was in 3rd Grade, I didn’t see her or my little brother again until the 6th grade. That summer I was able to visit them for a month, I was so hype. Because I was like 12 my aunt and favorite cousin rode on the plane with me. Once we got there I was welcomed by the dry heat of Dallas and my mom exstatic to see me, it was one of those movie hugs. The drive to the house was cool too because I go Sonic for the first time, and to an excited kid it was AMAZING I got the breakfast toaster. At the house I got to see my brother, I cried we are mad close. He also had ALL the PS2 games so we had the best time staying up til 3 am trying to beat Naruto Ultimate ninja, Need for speed Most wanted and I think Budaki Tenchaichi (DBZ game). As an older brother you must gracefully whoop your sibling in every game just to assert your dominance. I let him win a few games but all in all I was able to secure a missing piece of my heart that day.
Contact Info:
- Website: Jsntheruler.com
- Instagram: @jsntheruler
- Twitter: @jsntheruler
Image Credit:
@offbeat @Mac_marccc
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