Identity Crisis

A while back we received a RFP for a project that would have lasted six months to a year if not longer. It was complicated and well beyond my comfort zone. Ultimately we declined to respond but while reviewing the project specs I realized something that I felt had been staring me in the face for some time, something I just hadn't seen until then - Wishingline had a major identity problem.

Although recognized primarily as designers by other designers (and developers), to the outside world, Wishingline (and me by extension) were developers or some sort of hybrid. Not what I had in mind. That project RFP and the resulting conversation with the client confirmed it.

Insert panic attack here.

After walking home that night and mulling over the situation I had a pretty good idea where that perception problem came from. It turned out to be partially, if not entirely my own doing. Looking back through some of the more technically minded entries in the notebook and our previous enterprise application work made it abundantly clear.

I'm a designer first and foremost but I like to tinker. I'm innately curious and have always liked to know how things work but I'm not a developer. Building or fixing things comes naturally and I've always found that characteristic allowed me to be sympathetic to developers, resulting in better decisions and ultimately better sites or applications.

Development experience also meant I could bring more to the table when working with clients. What I didn't realize at the time though was the cost of that knowledge and what it ultimately meant in relation to the type of work that showed up on our doorstep.

My involvement in the development side of the web increased out of interest and necessity but also from the type of work that Wishingline was already involved in - a considerable amount of application design (Rails, Sproutcore, iPhone, embedded web widgets, etc), rarely from the commercial website part of the business.

At this point I have about zero interest in doing any more web app design work. Those are problems I'm just not interested in trying to solve now. It's too easy to get caught up in the minutia and technical details which can quickly suck the life and momentum out a project.

For now I'm only interested in focusing my time and effort into things I can get behind 100%. To some extent that means getting back to my roots and focusing much more on design rather than mucking about in code or someone else's app framework.

The Intangible Web

The intangibleness and the seeming repetitiveness of the web is something I've struggled with for some time, leaving me feeling like the web is just too much of the "same old, same old" to be really interesting. I know that's not really true but constantly being handed the same basic problems to solve over and over or being pigeonholed into one design aesthetic hasn't helped bend my opinion to the other side.

Anna, Ned and I talked about this quite a bit in the office - how we could make the web more interesting (for us at least) by introducing more tangible visual elements and interaction into our work without resorting to Flash. We looked at potentially building actual "set pieces" and working more with real objects that we'd photograph and use as building blocks for site designs. Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to put this into practice, but I'm not done with that idea yet.

I come from a largely traditional design background: paste-up by hand, processing my own film, print (litho, screenprinting, letterpress, flexo) and the like. I've used more than my fair share of Letraset and Rubylith.

I've always been passionate about typography but being as focused on the web for as long as I have left many of my typographic senses dulled. I've been chipping away at that problem for a little while now but I need to step that up, if only for myself. It's not that I'm sick of Lucida Grande, Verdana or Georgia... Ok, maybe a little.

I also miss working with my hands instead of being glued to a desk and computer screen - whether this means sketching or working with real materials (paper, ink, film, traditional photography, etc) instead of doing everything digitally in Photoshop. Analog is where it's at. I made a record for crying out loud.

Personal Projects

Like Jon, internal projects at Wishingline have been constantly sidelined. It's a problem when the client vs internal/personal work division is almost always 100/0, and one which has weighed heavily on my mind for a long, long time.

A perfect example is the main Wishingline site which hasn't been significantly updated in nearly 5 years and in desperate need of attention. There's also a big sketchbook of creative project ideas that's been sitting on my desk untouched for nearly as long. Paying the bills is all well and good but without a striking proper balance between client work and personal projects it can be difficult to stay engaged.

Simply put, a big part of why I started Wishingline in the first place, aside from the flexibility of being choosey about the for-hire projects I would work on, was to be free to work on these "fun" projects; to dedicate a portion of my day to reading, writing and doing whatever would allow me to stay creative, motivated and engaged so that the "work" projects don't somehow become a burden. That hasn't worked out quite the way it should have and in the end I'm the only one who can do something about it - and so I am.

Taking Back The Reins

Time is one of the few (only?) finite variables in life and the reality for me was that I didn't want to look back and feel like I wasted an opportunity by trying to "tough it out" in a situation that wasn't working. I have a wife and a young daughter and need to consider how what I do for a living affects those relationships too.

I've had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects with some smart people - many I've enjoyed for one reason or another, but there's also been some real duds. There's been times where I found myself severely overbooked and overwhelmed too. Sometimes it was my fault but other times it was entirely out of my control. Stress is ok in small doses but long-term, relentless stress is really, really bad even if you're getting paid for the overtime. Trust me.

Perhaps naively, I almost always put client work first. That proved to be wrong. It's important but only if it's the right work or if it doesn't occupy every waking moment of your life, in the office or out. Maybe that sounds selfish but personally I don't think so. I'm honestly too close to really be objective anyway.

Let's be totally clear - I'm not saying I'm done with the web or design in general. Far from it, but I need to redefine my place in it by better understanding what I want from it and by hopefully contributing something back to it that I (and others) think is truly interesting, engaging and worthwhile.

More on exactly what that means soon.

The exact wording I used in trying to explain this to the few people who were told prior to now was "closed", but more and more in mulling that over I thought "hiatus" would ultimately to be a better choice. "Crazy talk" some have told me so I'll give you a moment...

Uh, what?

Let's not have any illusions, it's hard work running a business and Wishingline for the last 4+ years has been exactly that. It's hard doing it by yourself as a freelancer and just as hard if not more when employees and other management responsibilities are thrown into the mix. The provincial and national government bodies here in Canada don't make that any easier either. These things can constantly weigh on your shoulders (they certainly have mine) and deserve as much attention as the clients paying the bills.

Owning and managing a small but successful design agency (I can't stand that term but it'll do) can mean wearing a lot of different hats and juggling conflicting responsibilities. That balancing act can be exhausting, especially if many of those frequently conflict with your individual needs.

When it comes to "work", I'm a designer first and foremost but also happen to have some background in a lot of other areas thanks to a solid and varied university education, previous jobs and generally being exposed to nearly every possible side of "the biz" at one time or another.

Even though I've had the opportunity to work on some interesting projects, particularly some of the more recent projects, I haven't been feeling particularly creatively satisfied or engaged. Unfocused. Remember all those hats I mentioned a moment ago? Yeah, exactly.

Ultimately I think there's little point in doing something where your passion is wavering, doesn't provide sufficient purpose or from which you're not deriving the right level of personal satisfaction. Some people might be able to get away with that but I'm not one of them. It's not in my DNA.

For the last few months I've hummed and hawed over what to do, in part because of the implications to the business, clients, family, and the two talented and exceptionally smart people working with me in the office, but the reality was that, for beter or worse, change was inevitable. Thankfully there's been no crying and no staplers, chairs or computers thrown in my general direction. At least not yet.

...Next

What that change ends up being is entirely up in the air right now. It might be a small change or it might be something more significant. For now it means that Wishingline is back to being just me while I tie up loose ends on a few projects and sort out what to do with the office, furniture, computers and such. Beyond that I have a few ideas and opportunities to explore though I'm in no hurry to rush into anything. I need to regroup and recalibrate first.

The one thing that's for sure is that SXSW officially starts tomorrow and I'll be down in Austin, TX for the next week, celebrating my birthday (today), shaking hands and kissing babies, uh, I mean hanging out with friends and undoubtedly letting off steam. I'll have some nifty hotdog squiggle buttons with me along with a handful of copies of the new release from George, so please do say "hello".

Shout outs

Wishingline's clients deserve a very special thank you for their extreme patience and understanding through the current transition period. Ensuring they are taken care of and projects either wrapped up or in a state where they can be passed on has been, understandably, a huge concern. Thank you also to friends, dotcomrades and family for their unconditional support and encouragement.

Scott took the leap from freelance designer to small business owner, a decision that I'm sure has had it's nerve-wracking moments along the way. I was thrilled for the chance to join him in March leaving my cushy, but increasingly uninspiring marketing job for the opportunity to learn about a side of the design industry I barely understood (...and learn I have). In the summer, developer extraordinaire Ned Schwartz joined us, bringing his wealth of knowledge in Javascript, AJAX and a ton more acronyms into the fold.

We've also been lucky to have had opportunities throughout the year to work with our good friends Brian Warren, Luke Dorny, Neil Lee, James McNally, John Martz and Theresa Neil.

The year brought new friends, awesome clients (both long-standing and new), and while we're not able to talk about most of the projects currently in development (pesky NDAs), we'd like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who's helped make this year so special. We'll tell you about the ones we can shortly.

We've got big plans for 2009 which we can't wait to share including a new wishingline.com (finally!). So until then, on behalf of Scott, Ned, Shawn and myself -- we hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Kickass Kwanzaa, Splendid Solstice and very happy New Year.

The problem, after a few hours of debugging was found to be a broken version of ImageMagick installed on the slice which resulted in memory usage going through the roof, excess swapping and services crashing. All in all - very bad things.

On Friday night though, after a few additional minor changes and tweaks to the site, we finally flipped the switch and everything is now (we think) running smoothly at Slicehost. Most things should be a bit snappier too as a result of some simple under the hood server optimizations performed in the process.

Here We Grow Again

It's been a crazy year all around, and although we weren't planning on expanding Wishingline beyond myself and Anna this year, particularly during the summer, the absolute necessity to do just that made itself abundantly clear. We were slammed, as Greg would say.

Hello!? Recession? What [kitten parade] recession?

And so enter _the new kid: developer, code wiz, dude with the 'stache, and all around man of the intertubes - theinterned himself - Ned Schwartz!

We first met Ned interned back in June during our Lunch 2.0 event where he obviously made a good impression on us. As it turned out, Ned was the first, and only person we got in touch with when we realized we needed to bring in the big guns.

As the song goes (don't sue us Huey Lewis) - "Who ya gonna call...?"

Aside from his keen wit and wacky sense of humour, Ned brings truckloads of experience and a sharp, thoughtful mind. Even though he's only been with us a week so far, he's been kicking ass and taking names. Frankly, we don't know what we did without him!

Just about everything should already be in place, so we're hoping that the transition will be more or less seamless and hiccup-free. The big unknown is always "how long will the DNS take to propagate" once we flip the switch...

Come out and meet like-minded people from Toronto's design and tech communities and help us inaugurate our new studio space, rock out on the finger drums, and check out the comings and goings of our strange neighbours across the street all while enjoying yummy pizza and fizzy or otherwise bubbly beverages.

The event is totally free, but space is extremely limited and once the tickets are gone, they're gone. Full details including location, time, tickets and anything else you might need to know are available at Eventbrite.

For the scoop on what Lunch 2.0 is all about and who's behind it in Canada, check the official Lunch 2.0 website. Hope to see you on the 30th!

What's that - madness, you say?

Not in the least. Just the start of something great and now that the cat's out of the bag, I can say a little more about these new peeps.

So Who's Are These People?

First - Anna McLuhan. Anna, an unbelievable score for Wishingline will be instrumental in helping manage projects along with playing a key role in developing the company beyond my original vision. Aside from being amazing at what she does, Anna brings a fresh perspective, a brilliant mind and great ideas, infectious enthusiasm, and a well-rounded set of skills that will help improve internal processes and enable us to take bigger strides (not just because she's 6ft 3 either).

I'd continue to extole her virtues but I don't want to give her too big an ego :)

Next up - Dale Harrison, with whom I'm still finalizing a few details, but who will be coming on board in April as a design intern. Currently finishing up his final year in Durham College's multimedia design program, Dale has the right level of technical and design skills and a great thirst for knowledge that will let him flourish especially in a small team environment where everyone can really have an impact on the larger whole.

Internships can be hit or miss, particularly depending on the size of the company and the amount of attention given to interns. For students, it's a great chance to experience the real world; the often challenging reality of creative work. Hopefully it allows them to use skills they've been learning and pick up new ones which let them to evolve as designers - not scare them away. An internship is a great way to experiment, learn what you're good at, what you like to and don't like to do; to find the things that will make you happy in your working life.

For Wishingline, internships are an opporunity to learn more about what's being taught to design students in Canadian post-secondary schools such as Durham College, Humber College or OCAD and hopefully have a positive impact on the career of a young, bright designer.

To both Anna and Dale - welcome aboard!

One More Thing

I'll be in Vancouver next week for Web Directions North between Jan 29 to Feb 1. While I'm not speaking at the conference exactly, I will be introducing my friend Jon Snook who'll be giving a short talk on Ajax frameworks along with Andre Charland and Walter Smith who will be talking about Adobe AIR and Microsoft's Silverlight respectively. Expect awful jokes and good-natured ribbing.

I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends and will hopefully arrive home having made some new ones. If you're going to be there, please do say "hello".

The first item being that, yesterday, I picked up the keys to a new studio space on Queen Street East at Vancouver Street. There's a bit of minor renovation work, painting, packing and unpacking to do, but the plan is to be in the new space full-time beginning in March. Just in time to disappear briefly for SXSW in Austin, Texas.

And if that weren't enough, earlier this week I hired a fantastic new account manager who'll be coming on board sometime in mid-to-late March. A more official announcement with actual details will come later.

The search for designers is still on and I haven't forgotten about those who have sent in their resumés and portfolio links. The call-back list has been whittled down from the 100+ submissions I've received so far and I expect to begin to respond to those selected in the next few days. Thanks for your patience!

There wasn't an option to indicate a locality for the job on Authentic Jobs which is why it says "Anywhere" and which is why, if you read the description all the way to the end it says:

Candidates are expected to work from our office in Toronto, Canada.

I appreciate everyone who's sent in their CV from around the world, but the position is only open for local residents. I'll be contacting those who've make the first cut by the end of next week and periodically from then on if anyone else happens to pass muster. A final decision, if there is one will be made in early February.

Good talent is hard to find as Greg so eloquently pointed out which is why our ideal candidate is perhaps a bit younger and looking to gain real, practical experience in both design and across a number of interesting technologies. In finding the right person, my hope is to do a little bit to help pick up the slack where our educational institutions may be going wrong in instructing students, particularly in how to design for the web. And for that design to be inclusive of all people.

You can read the condensed version of the job description and perks at Authentic Jobs.

This doesn't mean we're going anywhere though - oh no!, quite the opposite. In its place is the newly formed Wishingline Design Studio, Incorporated - now with all new super-seriousness, renewed vigor and more paperwork than you can shake a stick at.

For our clients, this doesn't mean much aside from us having to make a few minor wording changes to our general business terms and conditions, and updating our stationery, estimates and invoices to reflect the name change. Everything else is business as usual. Same design insight and problem solving. Same creative drive. Same bad jokes. More paperwork.

Taking the leap to go from a sole proprietorship to incorporating the company (still operating as a private enterprise) was a big step and one which will be bringing other changes later this year including bringing on employee no. 2, a clearer, more focused direction and tuning the design services we offer to better differentiate Wishingline among the highly competitive design marketplace.

Incorporating is perhaps just the preface to chapter two of our story.

At the moment, there's still a few tickets left, so if you're looking to attend what will surely be a great two day conference, you had better hurry as they undoubtedly won't last long.

And anyone who's headed out for the @media conference in San Francisco, CA should take some time out on Friday night, May 25th to take part in the inaugural Avalonstar Grand Prix, a sure-fire fun event that we just happen to be sponsoring and have donated the grand prize for - namely a full license of Adobe Fireworks CS3 (for the Mac, though Adobe will let you easily switch platforms if necessary).

So, go out. Have fun. Race your asses off and make sure to take lots of pictures since we can't be there for the event ourselves!

72 were made. We know at least 2 have been damaged during shipping over the last year or so, leaving 70 or less in existence, so if you want one, you'll need to act fast. Visit the store now!

We're planning a few new surprises to be added on a later date. Once we have some time to actually do something about those things, that is...

I'm amazed that it's been two years already consider how much has changed during the last year alone. I've got a few more announcements coming that will help push the business forward and hopefully open up new possibilities. But I'm saving those until all the details have been worked out.

My sincerest thanks to clients (past and current), friends, family and interweb peeps who've all been a great support mechanism. A tip of the frosty glass and coffee mug to you all!