Jim Bosiljevac

Hi. My name is Jim. I’m an advertising creative director, copywriter and teacher.

I have over 20 years of experience in the ad industry, where I’ve worked for agencies, on client-side creative teams, and freelance. I’ve produced ad campaigns for global brands, local brands, start-ups and nonprofits. I’ve created work in film, print, digital, out-of-home, digital, social, events and experiential. My work as a creative, the work of my team, my work as a client, and the work of my students has been recognized at industry award shows like Cannes, One Show, D&AD, Clios, NY Festivals, London International Advertising Awards, AICP, Addys, Obies, Effies, Radio Mercury Awards and others.

I have also taught advertising classes for over 20 years, currently at Texas Creative, the portfolio program at the University of Texas. And prior to that at Miami Ad School and the Chicago Portfolio School. I’ve taught classes in portfolio development, scriptwriting, storytelling, creative concepting, branding and creative media —over 30 sections of students in all.

I am currently the Head of Brand Creative at Yahoo, where I lead a team of 60+ creative professionals — designers, writers, art directors, animators, editors, producers, strategists, coders, photographers and more. We produce creative advertising for Yahoo’s various products and brands, like Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, TechCrunch, AOL, Engadget and others. I also manage our partner ad agencies, working closely with their creative teams to produce work on our behalf.

One common misconception about creative people is that they sit in a room, absently staring at the ceiling, until they’re struck by a bolt of lightning. This rarely happens, and never indoors. You have to create the right conditions and have the right mindset. I’ve spent much of my life trying to foster the right environment, culture and process for creative problem solving. I’ve taught hundreds of students how to move from just hoping for inspiration to following a process that leads to ideas. Ideas that are rooted in the problem at hand, strategically sound, feasible, yet also surprising, compelling and captivating.

I believe anyone can harness the power of creativity. You don’t have to be in a creative field or a particularly creative person. Natural talent helps, but creative problem solving is as much about the process, about the right mindset, and about honing the right skills.

I grew up wanting to be a writer. I was a curious kid. I liked to make things, sometimes take them apart to see how they worked. I’ve spent my career putting ideas together and taking them apart again. Then putting them back together in a new way. I hope to teach this to as many people as I can.