Takeaways from Janice Ferrante, owner of Oblique

Janice Ferrante grew up in New Jersey and knew from a young age that she wanted a career in the creative industry. She experimented with different degrees but ultimately realized graphic design was her passion. After graduating, she took on a position at an agency in New York City whose clients included Nintendo and the film industry. She felt liberated by this job, but the main issues were the 3-hour commute and being in a city environment. Ferrante knew she was a mountain girl at heart. She was torn between starting fresh or settling in New Jersey, and it ended up taking a toll on her mental health. So she took a break from working for agencies and decided to freelance in order to give her more time to figure out the path ahead of her. Freelancing gave her the flexibility to work during times when she wasn’t dealing with the effects that come with mental illnesses. (She has now allotted that same grace with her employees). In the time she was working on herself, she finally grew confident in her decision to move to Boulder, Colorado.

By the time she moved, she had built up 10 years of solid experience which helped her understand the ins and outs of starting her own agency, Oblique. Ferrante had acquired a client from her previous job, BMW, who made up most of Oblique’s income. However, while the money was good, she wanted to broaden her clientele and work with people who had meaningful missions to share with the world. One client she came across had been trying to find a CBD product that would relieve some pain his grandma was experiencing but to no avail. After tirelessly trying out a multitude of products, he decided to make his own and it worked. He wanted to be able to share his concoction with others who might be enduring the same stress. Ferrante brought him on as a client and ended up creating a beautiful brand identity for him. They named it Cause+Medic. She has since grown a soft spot for the CBD industry and is looking to start her own products with some of her colleagues.

She has tirelessly worked to gain more clients and her work has paid off. Ferrante is a self-claimed extrovert who has spent her 20+ years in the field attending networking events and even making connections with people through random encounters while out and about in Boulder. In addition to BMW, her clients include Lexus, Mini Cooper, CU, and other miscellaneous companies. She is an inspiration to other women designers whose goal is to start an agency of their own. She expressed feeling nervous during her first meeting with the supervisors at BMW. They were all men in nice suits, but she worked past those nerves and walked in with confidence. It ended up getting her a freelance position. She presents as a level-headed, optimistic professional. You can tell by the way she speaks about design that she truly loves her work.