A year of our weekly consciousness

2015 has been the year of coworking. In early January, Jake Welchert and myself began operating full-time out of a small space in midtown Omaha we branded Round and Round. Last month, Adam Casey joined the fold. It was initially conceived as a space where independent creatives could come together to work, learn, and enjoy their careers. To think and make, to share and collaborate. On those accounts, it’s been a wildly successful year.

I’ve come to think of the space as a consistent source of inspiration and momentum. Where to go to make things happen, to create impactful work, and to enjoy these days of working on projects with some really amazing people in our city. Part of the R+R mission is to make great design available to organizations and causes we believe in, whether in the arts, the environment, or equitable community development. I’m really excited for what the new year is looking to bring on that front. 

High level, looking back on what went down at 5013(?), I can say with some certainty that the Boss was the most played artist, the Bulldog the most preferred for lunch, and people looking for the tailor our favorite guests. We now all get professional haircuts next door, most of us honed the skill of yelling loudly, and one of us can speak with a pretty good accent. And I think it’s a toss-up between what we’ve made fun of more, either the shitshow that is the Republican field for President or LinkedIn. 

If you’re curious, you can view the type posters I typically made every Saturday morning to recap the previous week. Starting with #1, you can scroll through a year of weekly consciousness of the independent designer mind. That was life this year, documented and retold with emphasis in our favorite typefaces. 

Where to next? We have a fairly good idea, at least for Q1. If you’re in the neighborhood, definitely swing by. We can talk 2016, top 10 albums of this year, and try to determine what to destroy next. If we don’t see you, in the twilight of 2015, keep on keepin’ on. 

Round and Round 2015 »

Punk Rock, Political Science, and Nebraska

My foundation for what it is that I do. The how, the why, and the where it comes from. This is how I frame all my presentations and was the basis for my 5-year self-evaluation. Read that marvelous piece of work on Medium. And after five-and-a-half years of independence, these 3 philosophical framings still hold. All intermingled yet profoundly important enough to stand on their own. So punk, so political, so just another guy from the good life, land of the flat water.

Oh what to do...

... when you find yourself locked in a meeting with a blowhard. In my experience, the blowhard is the least effective member of any team. They talk and talk, and talk and talk. And seek to fulfill no other purpose other than to firmly assert themselves in the middle of something. A lot of times this thing they feel compelled to insert themselves into is moving along just fine without them. But of course, they couldn’t give less of a shit about this fact. Instead, they must pontificate, insult, assert, and simply assume to be the end all be all of anything and everything. It’s what they do. 

If you are unlucky enough to find yourself in such a situation, I suggest this approach; listen, play nice, seek clarity, and reiterate the fact that you are going to keep things moving. If you’re feeling bold, you can, of course, thank him or her for wasting everyone’s time.

How do you plan to evolve?

How do you plan to keep at it? How will you stay nimble? How will you change, adapt, and stay relevant? How will you get new skills or new solutions or new ideas? How will you get better? How will you maintain? How will you not get mediocre? How will you continue or grow or pivot or scale or rotate? How will you stay interested? How will you stay hungry? How will stay above the fray? How will you stay in the thick? How will you work? How will you make it? How will you be constant? How will you be different? How will you be the same? How will you come to understand all of it?

Honest Social

What’s your favorite social media network? Mine’s Twitter. My reasoning is because it’s the place where I’m the most me. On all the other networks of my digital self, I heavily curate. Facebook I’m super selective about what I post. Instagram I art direct and post sparingly. Dribbble I put up only my best designs, Medium only my best writing. Twitter is where I talk like me, make inside jokes, take jabs at Republicans, and share anything I come across on the Internet that I’m even the slightest bit interested in. Which is why I consider Twitter to be an incredibly valuable tool. If you want a primer for an in-person meeting, to see if we’d be a good fit working together, or just want to follow along, go there.

Are you terrified yet?

Last week, for the first time in a long time, I found myself in a classroom setting giving out my opinions on student graphic design projects. Oh class critique, how I’ve missed you. I used to do critiques a lot in Lincoln. While now, I certainly enjoy pontificating about ideas and design, I remember a time when I was on the other side. Terrified of being torn apart. Scared of what smart people would think of my student work. Shaking while presenting, voice timid and trembling.

All of those situations, however uncomfortable, were so very important. To be a solid designer and a valuable member of any team, I believe you must start at the bottom. You must be called out for lazy thinking. You must be pushed to a place you hadn’t wanted to go. You must be exposed and you must be vulnerable. 

Gliding through a career with exceptional work and being able to make any idea seem magical certainly happens for some people. But I’m not interested in those people. I’m more interested in those of us who have had to go through the shit. Of being terrible to be being okay to being solid and putting in the time at each phase to advance simply by the sheer will of your determination. Yes! Those are the people for me. 

So fear not terrified student. If you’re up for the task, to be a solid designer who makes beautiful work and makes any team better, you must go through the bottom rungs. Get exposed, get torn apart, get vulnerable. If you want it bad enough, the early phases will only make you better. You just have to hold on for the ride.

Who are you and why are you here?

I really like this question. I was part of a design roundtable recently led by this guy and these folks where this question kicked things off. Both parts, taken together, for maximum impact. But I like this so much I think I’m going to start asking it to myself in everything that I show up to. Simply showing up being a good portion of any work you do, knowing who you are and why you’re there, that’s the rest of the equation.