The Humans of Hancock and Rowe: Jase
Here at Hancock and Rowe we have a refreshingly human approach to digital design, fit for the future. We want to create a sense of relief, that feeling of freedom the moment a weight has been lifted. Our clients have absolute faith we will catch them on their journey to delivering a new digital product. And for our people and partners, it means they can bring their true selves to work. Every. Single. Day.
Introducing Jase, our UX Director who grew up in Cornwall.
Where do you come from?
Raised in Cornwall, I grew up very much with the beach on my doorstep which was amazing. Growing up with the option of spending the day with friends by the sea, or in it, was something I definitely took for granted. Only when you move away do you realise how special it is to have that option, even in the winter.
Leaving Cornwall was never on the cards. Why would you leave? I never had any ambition to go to university, I just didn’t think that was something for me. But as I got older and travelled to different parts of the country to see friends I had made on holidays or through friends that had moved down from further afield, I found there to be so much more happening. This made me excited to go and try something different to what most of my family have done. Fortunately most of my friends felt the same way, and also upped and left.
Things that stand out to me about my time in Cornwall include me being a bronze medalist in the Taekwondo British Championships, flying an aeroplane including aerobatics, flying a glider over the cliffs near Culdrose and accidentally popping a wheelie on my new Aprilia RS50 in front of my parents while riding it home for the first time.
Where are you now?
Right now, we are living the family life in Kent, not too far from London where a lot of our social life is still based after living there for 5 years after uni and starting our careers. Obviously it is a good location to take advantage of anything coming to the UK, eat some of the best food and be able to quickly leave when we need something different abroad.
I feel fortunate that the life we lead gave me the opportunity to start a business that I can run from home. Something I don’t take for granted as I am able to produce the best quality products for our clients, (a standard that clients would normally tie to big agencies in offices in major cities) while being a present dad watching my son (who is only 2) grow up. I have been able to be around those ‘firsts’ where in a different world I would probably be watching them via video or hearing about it when I get home at 7-8pm.
A big interest of mine is motorsport and I never thought I would be living next door to a race circuit or ever find myself racing a car. In the last 5 years, both of those things have happened. We live a stone's throw from Brands Hatch race circuit and we founded Rowe Rage Motorsport in 2021 to race Ford KAs in the EnduroKa challenge. My Father in law has been around motorsport most his life in one way or another which gave a few of us the opportunity to take part in grassroots motorsport. So for a couple weekends a year, I get to go away to race circuits across the country and race a car against 47 other KAs in endurance races lasting from 5 - 24 hours in length.
How did you travel between the two?
After school I was kind of over the whole academic thing and dropped out of college where I was studying IT, Maths, Art & Design, DT Graphics & Design. After a couple of years working in retail in an independent surf/ sports shop, I realised that there wasn’t a path I wanted to follow. This turn of events had me consider joining the RAF, where I got as far as the second interview in the process until I was hit with glandular fever that paused things for 12 months. I ended up having an amazing summer with friends and realised that leaving to pursue RAF life was not for me. My focus returned to academics (kind of) and I went back to college to do a foundation course in Art so I could get into university and study Graphic Design.
I managed to blag my way into Visual Communication at Arts University Bournemouth where I graduated in 2011 and was employed by that same university to work as part of their marketing team to support the new website design project. This allowed me to work on a number of marketing projects which was a great learning curve but also allowed me to build a relationship with their agency Bond & Coyne which gave me my first opportunity to join an agency and move to London.
I remained at Bond & Coyne for 7 years working from junior to digital director working with some great brands like BT, Pearson and Topshop while continuing to work with Arts University Bournemouth. It was an education as much as a job because the owners Mike and Martin were both lecturers at the time I started, and so as a junior and further, it was a very supportive environment which allowed you to push things as well as encouraged you to do so.
After 7 years I decided a change was needed and went freelance to properly invest my time into my passion and interest of UX/ UI as a hands on designer. It allowed me to meet many different people, doing different roles, living different lives and working in different ways depending on which agency or start-up I was working with that month. I have been fortunate enough to work with AKQA, Eight Inc., Momentum Worldwide, McCann and Trouva.
What are your hopes for the future and the digital world?
I hope that digital starts being more helpful than distracting. Especially when it comes to the social networking side of things. I have never been a fan and I do struggle mentally with it which is why I personally choose not to actively use it.
My worry is about the effect it has on younger minds which live day to day with their emotions and are unable to really understand the bigger picture of life. Especially the access it gives to one another when it comes to bullying. It used to be bad enough in the playground but at least they could find a respite when they went home but now, it doesn’t feel like that is possible.
I really hope that the future brings a healthier relationship with technology. That it becomes an accompaniment to life rather than a focus. These kinds of solutions are the ones that I hope we can work towards and support.
