Look through the projects on artist, Michael Jager's, website and find your 3 favorites. What drew you to them?

Career

Explore an artist's creative work.

Read an article about milestones in snowboarding culture. Is this a sport hobby you would like to start? 

Learn about the history of snowboarding and snowboarding culture.

When life starts getting you down, finding positivity in the things around you is important. Practice using affirmations to drive positive change in your career, school, and life!

Skills

Stay positive. 

Art Directors

Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual communications media, such as print, broadcasting, and advertising. Direct workers engaged in art work or layout design.

Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

Artistic

Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Enterprising

Second Interest High-Point

Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Realistic

Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Conventional

First Interest High-Point

Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Social

Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Investigative

Third Interest High-Point

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Artists and Related Workers

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

Art and Design Workers

Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.

Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.

Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.

Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.

Present final layouts to clients for approval.

Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.

Hire, train, and direct staff members who develop design concepts into art layouts or who prepare layouts for printing.

Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.

Review illustrative material to determine if it conforms to standards and specifications.

Attend photo shoots and printing sessions to ensure that the products needed are obtained.

Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.

Mark up, paste, and complete layouts and write typography instructions to prepare materials for typesetting or printing.

Negotiate with printers and estimators to determine what services will be performed.

Conceptualize and help design interfaces for multimedia games, products, and devices.

Prepare detailed storyboards showing sequence and timing of story development for television production.

Research current trends and new technology, such as printing production techniques, computer software, and design trends.

Desktop computers

Digital still cameras

Digital video cameras

Laptop computers

Personal computers

Sketching pencils

Tablet computers

Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Systems Adobe ActionScript

Adobe Systems Adobe AfterEffects

Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Systems Adobe Director

Adobe Systems Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe Systems Adobe Fireworks

Adobe Systems Adobe Flash

Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Systems Adobe ImageReady

Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign

Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop

AJAX

Apache Software Foundation Flex

Apple Final Cut Pro

Apple iWork Keynote

Atlassian Confluence

Atlassian JIRA

Autodesk 3ds Max Design

Autodesk Maya

Cascading Style Sheets CSS

Drupal

Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML

Extensible HyperText Markup Language XHTML

Hypertext markup language HTML

JavaScript

jQuery

Mag+

MAXON CINEMA 4D

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Word

Mobile application software

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor

Quark

Social media software

Tablet application software

Web broswer software

WoodWing

WordPress

Founder/Creative Director

<p>The Roadtrip Nation team head out to San Francisco, where they interview Chris Fink, product designer of Ideo Design and Tim Brown, CEO, Ideo Design. Next they meet with color consultant Beatrice Santiccioli, virtual CEO author Randy Komisar, Queen Bee of Buzz Marketing Yahoo Luanne Calvert, Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson and visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren.</p>

The Open Road

I think a lot of it is as you guys are trying to prove here is you've really just have to go with what you believe in and what you really wanna do. The thing that saddens me most is when I see a designer come through with, not even necessarily a designer, beyond just when you just see an individual who has gone done a path and burned about 10 years of their life on a channel that they now realize is the wrong one. 

Beliefs & Faith

Go With What You Believe In

Just do it with some frigging balls. That's all I'd say. I just, I don't know, there's so many people that have this sort of milk toast existence and they get frustrated that they sort of get washed around in the flow and it's like, you're doing that to yourself. 

Risk

Milquetoast Existence

>> You can work hard, and you can hopefully be good at what you do. But things like Burton, that's a once in a lifetime deal. But, somehow, I happened to hook up with a guy that invented a culture. I don't know. I realized I sucked at math early on, and I focused on artwork. And also, punk music was going off at that point. It was all Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones was the whole program. My first day with my wife was the Clash in Montreal. So, I kinda went on that path. I didn't have any calculated route I was gonna take cuz my parents didn't have a clue about that stuff. My father worked in a factory making cottage cheese, and my mother was a beautician from Maine. I think a lot of it is, as you guys are trying to prove here, is you really just have to go with what you believe in and what you really wanna do. Simon Woodruff said the world will conspire to support you if you really magnify what it is you believe in. People will rally around you and help. And I think you'll find that from your family, your friends, and everything else. If you decide you're gonna be a sculptor, if you decide you're gonna be an architect or you decide you're gonna be an accountant. If you really believe it and you wear it on your shoulder and you really do it with distinction, the world will conspire to do it. Distinction is everything. You gotta be willing to do that. And if you look at any examples of people that have been successful in what they're doing, and not monetarily successful, successful in their life, they are generally pretty distinctive individuals. And it's because they've got the self-confidence to have a point of view. And I think that can be a farmer in the boonies of Vermont or Montana or something. And it can be the most progressive artist in New York city. But they will both have self-confidence in what they're doing and they'll both have a point of view. They'll have a philosophy that they'll back up. I don't' know. There's so many people that just have this sort of milktoast existence, and they get frustrated that they sort of get washed around in the flow. And it's like you're doing that to yourself. That's kinda where I'm at at this point and what I'm trying to inspire people here to do. 

Character

Confidence

Conflict

Dedication

Determination

Experience

Family

Fear

Fulfillment

Goals

Honesty

Individualism

Instincts

Passion

Struggle

Interview

Simon Woodroffe said the world will conspire to support you if you really magnify what it is you believe in. People will rally around you and help and I think you'll find that from your family and your friends and everything else. If you decide you're gonna be a sculptor, if you decide you're gonna be an architect or you decide you're gonna be a kick-ass accountant. And it's like, if you really believe it and you wear it on your shoulder and you really do it with distinction, the world will conspire to do it. 

Support & Encouragement

The World Will Conspire

And if you look at any examples of people that have been successful in what they're doing, and not monetarily successful, successful in their life. They are generally pretty distinctive individuals. And it's because they've got the self confidence to have a point of view. And I think that can be a farmer in the boonies of Vermont or Montana or something, and it can be the most progressive artist in New York City. But they will both have self confidence in what they're doing and they'll both have a point of view. They'll have a philosophy that they'll back up. 

Success

Distinctive Individuals

I focused on artwork, bein' also punk music was going off at that point. You know, it was all Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, it was the whole program. So I kinda went on that path. I didn't have any calculated route I was gonna take 'cause my parents didn't have a clue about that stuff. My father worked in a factory making cottage cheese, and my mother was a beautician from Maine. Distinction is everything. You know, you gotta be willing to do that, and if you look at any examples of people that have been successful in what they're doing--and not monetarily successful-- successful in their life, they are generally pretty distinctive individuals. And it's because they've got the self-confidence to have a point of view. 

Michael Jager Highlight

The future of design and communications was about multi-discipline interaction. I wasn't really interested in just doing graphics for somebody. It was to be able to, for one thing to be able to make the ideas happen that were unique that I was interested in trying. To sort of scare myself and do things that I didn't know would work was to be able to understand business well enough that you could convince people. I know what you're trying to do well enough that even though this idea may feel uncomfortable, I could articulate well enough that I can convince people to do it. &gt;&gt; Mm-hm. &gt;&gt; That's where design really intrigued me because it is strategic. It is something that takes a lot of thought, as well as emotion. And it's that perfect balance, I think, of rational and emotional. That you've gotta think the stuff out really clearly, but you also gotta be visceral in what you're trying to do and what you're trying to get as a reaction. So, that's why I'm really intrigued by design. 

Why Design Is Intriguing

Where does your drive come from? &gt;&gt; I don't know, I just don't like to fail. I'm not bloody competitive or anything, I mean, I did team sports. I don't know, if you do something, I feel like you better do it 110% and push yourself, and scare yourself, or don't bother. 

Challenge Yourself

The future of design, to me, is cross-fertilization of multi disciplines. You need to, the people that are gonna do really powerful stuff have to understand design on multiple levels. You've gotta be able to at any moment be able to be working on an advertising communication or some graphic element, but you've got to be able to sit down across the table from an engineer that's working on a product like with Burton. You got to be able to sit down with the board engineer, a binding engineer, or an industrial designer and you've got to be able to communicate to them about the brand and a feeling and an idea, and have enough knowledge and respect for what they're doing. That it's gonna be meaningful, that the dialogue is gonna be meaningful and transcend everything to another level. And they need to see from you, that they should respect you as well. And there's always been battles of industrial designers feeling like they've got more credibility than a graphic designer. And architects feeling more elite than others, and I certainly respect people that can do amazing buildings, but at the same time the power of someone being inspired by a building, or really taken by that, I think the equivalent exists in visual cues that have affected and embedded themselves in people's minds, that have changed their lives. Even a snowboard graphic. You get very intimate relationships with it. It burns into your memory, as well as, I still, I listen to early Bob Dylan songs, and it blows my mind. The level of what he's doing conceptually and emotionally is unreal. If I could do graphic design just one time that was as potent as a song Dylan did in the 60s, that would make my life. It's that, and it's cross-fertilization of ideas. He was totally aware of what was happening in art and culture and design. And that was reflected in what he said and what he wrote. 

Michael Jager

Founder/Creative Director

Videos

Michael Jager

Milestones

Education

Career

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Design

Entrepreneurship

Being Creative

Interviewed By

The Open Road