Ann Arbor’s Hook to take 3-D advertising by storm, building staff

The story of Ann Arbor-based Hook is quite typical of new-economy start-ups. College friends talk about starting business before taking jobs in the real world.

 

“We got into companies a couple of years ago and realized working for other people isn’t the thing for us,” says Aaron Schwartz, who co-founded the company with Michael Watts last year. “So we decided to give it a shot and things have turned out well.”

 

The former University of Michigan students have turned Hook into a firm that incorporates 3-D imagery into commercial art, such as animation and illustrations. The firm’s clients include Toyota and its work appeared in this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

 

The company now employees three part-time people on top of its founders and a handful of freelancers. Watts and Schwartz hope sign on for some large-scale projects for bigger advertising agencies and expand their payroll to five or six people by the end of the year. A staff of up to a dozen people could be possible within two years.

 

But for now, its Watts and Schwartz trying to make a go of it on their own and enjoying a bit of success from their hard work.

 

Source: Aaron Schwartz, co-founder of Hook

Writer: Jon Zemke