◆ THE LIVING ARCHIVE
David Zak makes things.
This is the record.
I'm David Zak — Canadian artist, motion designer, and the founder of ArtResin (exited 2024). This site is my archive: the stories, lessons and strange detours from four decades of making things. For my current motion design and creative direction work, head to davidzak.com.
I take on a limited number of motion design, brand identity, and explainer-video projects each quarter — for agencies and direct brand clients. See services & availability →
◆ ARTICLES — NEW STORIES ADDED REGULARLY
- ◆ MARKETING Make the Content Anyway (Even When You Think It's Bad) David Zak makes the case for publishing creative and marketing content before it feels ready. Perfectionism kills output. Consistency, volume, and visibility win.
- ◆ ENTREPRENEURSHIP Why Entering an Industry With No Experience Can Be an Advantage David Zak on why entering an industry without experience can be your biggest edge, drawn from founding ArtResin as an artist with zero chemistry background.
- ◆ THE NEW CHAPTER Going Back to School Later in Life: Learning to Learn Again David Zak on the surprising value of becoming a beginner again mid-career, from art school to founding ArtResin to coding a browser game with his son.
- ◆ MARKETING How YouTube Tutorials Built ArtResin's Customer Base David Zak explains how ArtResin grew its customer base through YouTube tutorials, turning resin education into a marketing engine that built trust, reduced failures, and drove sales.
- ◆ THE NEW CHAPTER What Jiu Jitsu Taught Me About Building a Business David Zak draws honest parallels between Jiu Jitsu and entrepreneurship, from founding ArtResin in 2008 to his 2024 exit and return to creative craft.
- ◆ MOTION DESIGN Hand-Drawn Animation in a Template World David Zak on keeping hand-drawn animation alive in a template-driven motion design industry, why brands pay a premium for imperfection, and what hand skills mean in the AI era.
- ◆ E-COMMERCE Scaling a Product to 20+ Countries: Compliance, Trademarks and 3PL Warehouses David Zak shares the unglamorous realities of scaling ArtResin to 20+ countries: compliance, trademarks, 3PL logistics, and shelf life lessons for founders going global.
- ◆ MAKING THINGS Building a Browser Game with My Son David Zak built STONK!, a browser game with his son Xavier — here's what shipping real software together taught them both about creativity, courage, and craft.
- ◆ E-COMMERCE Launching a 2-Part Silicone Product from Scratch David Zak walks through launching a 2-part silicone mold-making product at ArtResin - from R&D and branding to packaging, video, and marketplace rollout - and what it taught him about building a platform.
- ◆ THE NEW CHAPTER Why I Went Back to Client Work After Selling My Company After exiting ArtResin in 2024, David Zak returned to motion design and creative direction. Here's why a founder goes back to client work — and what changes when he does.
- ◆ STRANGE NICHES LiDAR Scanning Fast Food Restaurants: My Strangest Freelance Niche David Zak on his unexpected freelance specialty — 3D LiDAR spatial scanning of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes, Taco Bell and Peet's Coffee locations.
- ◆ E-COMMERCE How We Private-Labeled Butane Torches (and Why Accessories Win in E-Commerce) David Zak on ArtResin's private-label butane torch line — sourcing, packaging, and the accessory strategy that grows an e-commerce brand beyond its hero product.
- ◆ ENTREPRENEURSHIP Exiting the Company I Founded: What the 2024 ArtResin Buyout Taught Me David Zak reflects on exiting ArtResin in 2024 via partner buyout — what it feels like to leave a company you founded, and what comes after the exit.
- ◆ MOTION DESIGN Motion Design for the World's Biggest Brands David Zak on 17+ years of motion design and animation for Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Samsung, BlackBerry, NASCAR, FedEx and major banks — and what working through top agencies really teaches you.
- ◆ E-COMMERCE How I Built ArtResin: From Headaches in My Studio to a Global Brand David Zak tells the founding story of ArtResin — how frustration with toxic, yellowing epoxy led him to partner with chemists and build an artist-safe resin brand sold in over 20 countries.
◆ GO DEEPER
- ◆ WHOThe full biography of David Zak Artist, motion designer, founder — the long version, from York University to a global exit.
- ◆ WHENThe 40-year timeline Every era of a making life, laid out keyframe by keyframe.