I’m a multidisciplinary design leader with practical experience creating strategy, concepts and design for some of the most respected brands in the world. I have helped improve user engagement for dozens of Fortune 500 companies as well as startups while mentoring and providing leadership for numerous teams. My career began by helping to build one of Adweek’s Top 100 Interactive agencies. I later went on to found and build Lightning Jar, a digital creative agency. I'm currently designing user experiences at Google.
I believe in bold, mission driven design and the value of blending the occasional smoothie.
In this episode Lightning Jar founder Alan Ruthazer takes a walk down memory lane. We hear the story of how Alan got started in digital design. We also discuss what has changed and what has stayed the same in his over 17+ years leading the company.
After sitting down as a guest on a recent podcast where I discussed how technology has evolved over my lifetime, I realized, in reflecting back, that much of my personal and professional career is marked with notable computer hardware milestones....
Alan's creativity is inspiring and thoughtful. My web team has worked with Alan's design agency for help with creative solutions. Alan and his team were a close partner. With his rigorous approach and process to research and design, he has helped bring our digital storytelling experience to the next level. I highly recommend Alan's creative and managerial talents and look forward to any future opportunities where we can work together again.
Working with Alan is a joy. He’s talented, caring, levelheaded and most of all, has deep experience leading projects of all sizes from inception to completion. He also has a great eye for design aesthetic and a keen ability to hone in on talented individuals.
In my role as VP Sales at a web startup I could always count on Alan to help me find the right solution to my clients' needs. As a leader, Alan inspired a high degree of dedication and loyalty in his people. He has a good soul, is dedicated, hard-working and a pleasure to work with. Alan has the ability to listen. Alan is a true professional who will rise to the top in whatever he sets out to do.
You and your team are expert, responsive, professional, on time and an overall pleasure to work with. We are very happy with the results and grateful that you worked within our very difficult time frame to keep our launch on schedule.
About 15 years ago, I was a "doesn't your nephew build websites?" beginner developer living at my parents' place, wanting to experience the digital/creative agency life and see if it was for me. I was 17 or 18. Alan Ruthazer, founder and creative director at SiiTE Interactive & Partner in Lightning Jar took a shot on me and gave me an opportunity in the form of a paid summer internship. That internship along with Alan's keen eye for design and approach to client-led creative work taught me so much about the right way to do things.
I still to this day utilize concepts that I learned while being an apprentice in his shop. Alan was one of the driving forces which solidified my love for development and helped me decide that software and web development were my calling. He knows the industry. He knows what you want before you tell him and he just "gets it".
Alan is a creative, solutions-oriented professional, with whom I have had the pleasure of working with over the past 15+ years. Among his many assets? Listening. He hears what a client needs and makes thoughtful, smart recommendations, always keeping budget in mind. I know that when I hire him for a project, it will be done exactly in the way I needed it, on time, and without drama. He's a true standout in the digital space.
Alan is an extremely gifted creative director with a vast experience in digital media. To me, some of his innovative work is second to none.
In order to truly tap into the value that design can bring to an organization we need to think of it as greater than just aesthetics. We need to educate our clients so that they welcome design into their core process. We must help them to understand that the designer’s job is to create a competitive advantage by helping to support innovation.
Innovation or operational change occurs when it is:
viable - good for business
feasible - can be executed
desirable - adopted by customers
