Catalyst Studios Interview

How do you pin down and define innovation? Is it possible to look at an idea and measure how creative or how useful it will be in a specific instance? How do you accurately show the tinkering required to fine-tune a finished product? Can it be done so the inevitable setbacks or complications don’t take the focus off the fantastic results? These are all questions that were posed during my interview with Jason Rysavy, founder of Catalyst Studios.

The answer for some of these may seem like a tall order, and with good reason. Creativity is a tricky thing, and if it could be boxed up and sold in bulk, places like Catalyst would be out of work. Luckily this isn’t the case, and businesses with poorly executed websites and mountains of drab content rely on creative minds to reshape, rethink, or re-envision their company’s image in order to create the desired effect for consumers.

Going into the interview, I had practically no idea of what to expect from the head of a content creation and design studio. Once Jason and I got talking though, things began to get exciting. He made it pretty clear that an in-house writer had been on the wish list of the office for a long time, but due to lack of funding wasn’t an option. When asked what my ideal position would be, my first thought was to be that writer—it doesn’t matter what about—just let me flex my creative fingers! After all, that’s what an intern is for, right? The only problem with that is, what would I write about?

This was when our questions came into play. How could I take the daily goings-on of a company like Catalyst Studios and come up with something that accurately portrays the process involved with creating a product? Can such a thing be done in a way that shows potential clients why they should choose one company over another? Certainly each company’s portfolio will display quality work that proved successful for the client, but what happens if depth is added to that portfolio by showing the creative process behind it all?

Do you run the risk of turning clients off with employee’s quirks and downfalls during a project? Maybe. But does that added level of transparency allow clients the chance to see the unique way in which you create? Definitely. While capturing and documenting the creativity and innovation of the guys and gals at Catalyst Studios may be a tall order, it gets my fingers tingling and synapses firing just thinking about it.