Janis Ceresi

I started typesetting when I was 17 years old, in 1981, when I was a Senior in high school. One week before I graduated, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack, he was 48, and so I was thrust into the working world -- I couldn't wait to start working and making money and support myself, so my hobby was reading all the job postings in the newspaper - - and I'd sit and think about each job, and what it would be like to do each job and try it on for size to see if it was something I'd like to do. I'd think about what kind of experience was required to get the job, and then I'd ask myself how a young person might be able to get that experience. One day I surprisingly found an ad for a local book publisher that was offering on-the-job training to a high-school student with good typing skills, and the opportunity to become a professional typographer with their company for the summer. I applied and I showed them how eager I was to start learning about typography and start working full-time, and I got the job because I typed 60 wpm. and I convinced them I was a hard worker and wanted to learn a valuable trade. I started working there in May of my Senior year in high school (1981) and I soon discovered that one of the benefits the company offered for full-time employment was paid tuition for career-related training! I saw other people there who were graphic artists who designed the books and the book covers, and they worked with markers and knives, and that was what I wanted to do! So at 17, I began working full-time during the days in the summertime as a typesetter trainee, and in the fall I started taking night classes at Parsons School of Design in NYC (paid for by my company!) to learn to become a graphic artist, courtesy of my employer. As I learned my craft quickly on the job, I volunteered for any type of small design job that the more senior artists were happy to let me take off their plates. I learned three different typesetting machine systems (this was before PCs were available to the public). Eventually, I got a job at another company as a paste-up artist, and as I worked, I challenged myself to take on more and more varied types of projects, and along the way computers were born. In 1984 I laid my hands on my (the) first Apple Macintosh computer, self-teaching myself as I went, because there were no people available to teach the computer to us. As I learned, I taught those around me, my peers and coworkers, everything I was discovering. We all shared our knowledge freely, as we all learned the new technology from square one, right out of the gate. I continued to work and grow my skills to become a full-fledged Graphic Designer, then an Art Director, and then years later, I moved into managing the artists, in the role of Creative Studio Manager, organizing the work of my fellow artists, and teaching and mentoring the younger, new talent, as I matured into a thriving Creative Studio Director, and Senior Vice President of one of San Francisco's largest Advertising Agencies where I directly hired, mentored, managed, and built a studio of 20 Production Artists, Designers, Photo Retouchers, Marketing Interns, Copywriters, and Proofreaders. I have since been a Creative Studio Manager in several other Fortune 500 internal marketing agencies, and today I oversee the work of 50 artists and creatives for Zillow's internal Creative Marketing Team, Studio Z. I have long enjoyed my creative career, and although there were some jobs I loved more than others along the way, I've always loved the work I do with my mind and my hands, and every day I feel blessed to love every moment of my life's work. It's my hope that I can inspire some young hearts and minds to go out, take chances, forge ahead, and dive into the work of their heart's desire.