Today we’d like to introduce you to Jan De Guia.
Legal first name is Jan Brian. Family calls me Brian. People close to me or those in the office call me Jan The Man, January, or even Januwine. If you figured out the reference to that last name stated in the previous sentence, we can possibly be friends. Everyone else calls me Jan, simple as that.
I grew up and spent my childhood in sunny San Diego, the most beautiful city in the world. If you don’t agree, then you can say goodbye to that friendship you read about 5 seconds ago. Living underneath the sun ’til I graduated high school, I have now been living in Los Angeles for about a good 3 years now, after graduating college at Cal Poly Pomona in 2017. Ever since the move to the city of angels and dreams, all I have come to know is the heavy hunger and grind for success.
As a little kid, I had always been a creative individual. From drawing, to painting, to scheming how I would plan to ask out my crush on a date, I always found a way to be creative. My initial introduction to art & design started when I began to take drawing, painting, as well as visual communication classes in high school. When it came to college, I was reluctant to majoring in Graphic Design. Side note, my favorite movie at the time (Still Is) was 500 Days of Summer and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character in that movie was someone I could appreciate and resonate with at the time. So, to keep it relevant, his character was an aspiring architect. In turn, I decided to enter Cal Poly Pomona as an Architect major. Yet, here’s the thing. I dropped out of majoring in Architecture within the first week of my freshmen year. Foolish, I know. It was just one of those feelings where I knew that architecture was not the right path that I was destined for. So with that ladies and gentlemen, I switched to an emphasis in Graphic Design, with a minor in the business of Marketing. The rest is history, but feel free to keep on scrolling and reading.
While I was in college staying up past 4AM working on design projects and playing with red solo cups, I always had one goal in the forefront of my mind. That goal was to somehow or someway leave my imprint on the school, before walking on the graduation stage. For 3 out of my 5 years in college, I worked on campus as a graphic designer for the university housing services. I learned a lot of important lessons, but it was ultimately preparing me for my transition to working a full-time design job in the real world. With that said, our team received a contest flyer to design a mural that would go on the outside of the school’s new parking structure. Fast forward a month or so, I happened to win with two other contestant winners and as a result, accomplished my goal that I had told my younger 18 year old-self. To this day, I consider this moment as the jump start to my career as not only as a graphic designer, but as an adult ready to enter the creative industry. Leaving a permanent mark (Literally) on a place you cherished & made everlasting memories as a young, reckless & carefree individual is one thing, but to say you fulfilled your younger self’s mission, is forever a life’s timestamp.
After graduating college, I would jump right into my graphic design career, starting out at a men’s clothing subscription company, known as Five Four (Now MenloClub) for a good 2 solid years and then move on to work at the GUESS Headquarters for a handful of over a year now & counting. Timing & opportunity definitely played a huge role in this.
With a love for fashion, photography & design, it has truly been an overwhelming blessing to make a living off a blend of my true passions. I have been blessed with a plethora opportunities and now to say I am doing this at a steady rate is still mind-boggling to me. It has opened up a deep space and continuum that I will forever be swimming in. Alongside my full-time career, I have continued to channel my love for advertising & storytelling through design. Now, that pursuit has dove head-first with a friend of mine (Winnie), beginning an endeavor through our own digital-marketing service company, Creatist.
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?
It definitely has not been a smooth road to say at the very least. More appropriately, it has been quite the rollercoaster. When life throws you down to the ground, it is a matter of how you respond and get back up. Those are your defining moments.
There was a point at the beginning stages at both jobs (MenloClub & GUESS), to where I did not feel comfortable within my field of craft. To this very day, I still have high praises for my former Art Director and long time massive role model of mine, (Mike Leisure) at MenloClub for taking me under his wing and guiding me along the way, to develop me into the sleepless workaholic I am today. New perspectives were seen, but more so embraced. From coming into the office before the crack of dawn to staying at unforeseen late hours, it is the value of failure that has been so important to me that can drive a person’s determination upwards.
Other than buckling down to hone into my craft and skillset, life comes at you out of nowhere and smacks you across the face. Over the past few years, I’ve dealt with mental health struggles in finding my personal identity and finding the perfect work balance, as well as recently overcoming losing a loved one in a tragic accident, involving myself. I strongly believe things happen for a reason and that you have no control over it. These are the obstacles and significant moments that seem insurmountable. Yet, these are also the turning points in my lifetime that I will never understand the reasoning for, but keeps me inspired to keep creating, moving forward (Queue Kid Cudi – Reborn), and motivated more than ever with a bigger appreciation for life.
Please tell us about your work.
I am a Graphic Designer. Currently, working at the GUESS Headquarters in Los Angeles, working in the Advertising department. Within my few years of experience, I’ve grown as a designer through all practiced forms of specializing in digital media and print. Throughout the years, I’ve come to appreciate the creative process in both mediums, digital & print, which has catapulted my mind to keep on learning and polishing my skillset as a creative within the fashion industry. I’ve been lucky enough to work on global campaigns and create publicly viewed advertising & marketing assets from doing so. While I take great pride in my abilities to push pixels, I also have a focused love for photography and capturing moments, through my personal documented aesthetic. Photography is another skillset I am constantly focused to get better at and has played a pivotal part in my creative thinking process, as more of creative outlet when I’m not staring at a screen for 60 hours a week. It is with my craft and love for marketing & design that has transitioned to me wanting to start my own digital marketing company, Creatist.
As previously mentioned, Creatist is a new endeavor of mine and more so, a new kind of ballgame. While still in its beginning stages in learning about our identity and how we can further cater to our generation of clients, my good friend (Winnie) and I have created this company to fill in the gap of today’s ever-evolving needs as young entrepreneurs are wanting to change the landscape in the industry. Briefly, we are a digital marketing service, dedicated to elevating brands & businesses alike. Everything from content creation, branding, social media strategy, and media buying – we’ve got you covered.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
If I had to break it down and throw everything under one umbrella, definitely failure would be the number one characteristic important to my success as a creator, as well as allowing me to stay humble. Yes, it is a conflicting term that not everyone loves to hear, but it’s such an essential challenge that everyone needs to go through at some point in their career. It is through these life-defining experiences that will not only help you learn about your craft, but will help you learn about yourself and your mistakes to make it in the industry. And once you start to really process that, you will do yourself a huge favor in growing professionally and mentally and then act to set goals and a leap of faith. It is about the process of constant trial and error that will build up your personal brand and your confidence and position you for success or even set you up for greater achievements in the long-run. Learn from those around you and embrace those interactions. It is ultimately relatable to any sort of hobby that anyone is wanting to get better at. To fail over and over and over again, until you don’t.
As creatives, we are constantly thinking, which can contribute to why we drink so much coffee (I am guilty of that). Constantly thinking, but also constantly staying inspired is crucial to anyone’s journey to success. For me, this is as simple as me grabbing my camera and driving out 300 miles to the coastline. The philosophy to disconnect to connect. Sometimes, we as human beings need to take few steps backward to move ten steps forward. It is important to realize that. Take your foot off the pedal, then come back to it with a clearer vision. Overall, justifying your process and understanding your thoughts to reassess can contribute to new perspectives, but also new landscapes you would not believe you could explore. It is finding inspiration outside of your comfort lane that will do more for you than you might realize.
As a harsh critic of my own work, I suffer from partial success. Which I can say has contributed to my very own success. (Weird flex but okay?) I’ve always kept this chip on my shoulder, which in turn has allowed me to stay in tune with a hungry mindset. When people think I am crazy (I probably am) for getting into the office early or staying late after work hours, I like to think of it as getting a step ahead than the rest of the world and seizing the opportunity. It’s 5 AM somewhere, am I right? Kobe Bryant has always been a source of inspiration to me watching his competitive story on his work ethic, as he would get up at 4AM everyday and put in the work. It’s about perseverance and having the mindset of the mamba mentality to inspire the best you can be. I truly am passionate about what I do and as long as you remain a student of the game and love what you do throughout your career, you can excel and strive to greater heights that you may have originally deemed as just dreams. When you love what you do, it’s not work. You can put in all the work and effort you possibly can, but at the end of the day, it is imperative to take care of yourself and your mental health. You don’t have time to be anyone but yourself. Being a workhorse can only take you so far, but working towards bettering or maintaining your mental stability is a thousand times more valuable that will take you even further. Know your value. Enjoy the process. Trust me. You owe it to yourself.
My job as a graphic designer is to visually communicate ideas. I want to take it on a higher level and aspire to inspire, and communicate emotion to pay it forward. So with that said, I’ll leave it on this note. A quote that my former creative director (Scoobs) of mine when I was an intern in college pulled from Johnny Depp – “At some point someone is going to throw you the ball, you just have to be smart enough to catch it and keep running with it”.
Contact Info:
- Email: jdguia@guess.com & info@creatistla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/januwine_/ | https://www.instagram.com/creatistla/
Image Credit:
GUESS, 2020 ©
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