Alumni Interview: Jason Juan 
Animation Art & Design 

"I got everything I needed from the school."

Jason Juan graduated from The Art Institute of Seattle in 2004. After studying Animation Art & Design at our school, he's now helping to create the next wave of handheld video game fun with his work at Amaze Entertainment.

Jason's story didn't start in Seattle, though. Born Wei-Che Juan in Taiwan, he studied writing and drawing at a young age, but an opportunity to pursue mathematics at Taiwan's National Chengchi University was too important to pass up. Following graduation, Juan fulfilled his mandatory military service as a Radio Systems Operator for his country's military police. His obligations behind him, Juan set out for America and The Art Institute of Seattle, to study animation and begin the next chapter in his unique story.

We spoke to Jason to discover even more about his art and career.

How did The Art Institute help you to grow as an artist? 
At the school, I learned basic design, perspective, color composition, life drawing...just about everything about art. I really enjoyed my school life. I got everything that I needed from the school.

Did your classes prepare you for the real world? 
The portfolio classes helped me a lot. They gave me a clear direction to finish my portfolio. I think that the career advisers helped me a lot, too.

Did your instructors influence you? 
Yes, so many of my instructors did. Even right now, the words that they said are still influencing me. I still remember my first figure drawing class. The instructor told me, "Loosen up your drawing." Originally, my drawing was very tight and precise. I found that when I started to loosen up (my drawing), that I started to learn more and my art began to look even better.

How would you describe the creative environment at the school? 
Everyone is doing many different forms of art all in one place. I was so happy that I could be in such an environment.

What kind of work does Amaze Entertainment do? 
We're based in Kirkland. The company has five studios, and they are each working on different games for different systems, including Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, handheld games for the Nintendo DS, and PC software. In fact, we are doing all kinds of games for all kinds of systems.

What are you currently working on? 
Concept, environment, and character animation for several games. Because they are tie-ins to major movies, we aren't allowed to say what specific titles we are working on until they are released.

How do you come up with your ideas? 
I get inspired by looking at images with the Google photo search, and I take a lot of my own photos so that I can draw from life.

What do you think it really takes to succeed in your field, if you could boil it down to a few essential things? 
I think that life drawing is essential. Enthusiasm is one of my strongest traits, because I love animation. And I feel I can be a success because I know I can do this. I believe in myself.

If someone were choosing a school, why would you recommend The Art Institute of Seattle?
Well, I love the city of Seattle. So there's that. There are well-organized classes and free life drawing sessions three days a week, which really help you in your art. And there are so many excellent instructors.

Where can we see more of your work? 
Visit www.jasonjuan.com to see my online portfolio of photography, illustrations, and animations.

Want to write your own success story? Then read more about our Animation Art & Design and Media Arts & Animation programs.