December 30, 2008

Two-Thousand-Eight

Last year came and went without a parting word. I suppose mainly because there wasn't much to say, but I couldn't let this year end without some sort of summation. So, without further ado, I give you Design Intellection's first annual end of year wrap-up. In short, I'll cover:

My job interview with Facebook,
a small list of sites I designed while working at a web agency,
a special giveaway,
and the continuing mission of this site
(not necessarily in that order).

The Year of the Professional Web

A brief history of my professional career thus far.

I received a BS in Civil Engineering in 2006, and worked for a Civil Engineering firm as an Urban Planner for a little over a year. In October of 2007, I received my first full-time job as a web designer at a local web agency, DBS>Interactive.

All that to say 2008 was the first full year that I worked solely as a professional web designer. I count it quite a blessing to be able to go to a job and do something that I would do on my own anyways. Of course no job is perfect but working at something you enjoy for a living is a great way to spend the day.

I've learned much in 2008 about designing websites, and I'll always be grateful to DBS for giving me a shot at designing for the web and paying me for it. Some of the websites I'm more proud of that I designed while there are:

Unfortunately one of my favorite designs never saw the light of day; and there are also two others in the process of being completed that would be on that list.

Facebook

So back in September of this month I received an email with the title, Hello from Facebook. I nearly deleted it having glanced at it and just thought it to be another reminder that one of my friends did something. Two things were out of the ordinary though: 1. It was in my inbox for emails from this site, not my personal email, and 2. it said 'from Facebook.' Sure enough, it was from a real person at Facebook.

Thus, I opened it.

The email basically asked if I was interested in working at Facebook; and I, basically, was. I emailed back and just like that I began conversing with a couple people at Facebook. In the interview process I had the opportunity to be questioned by and ask questions of one of the smartest designers I've ever talked to. They have some exceptional talent there.

So do I now work at Facebook? No, I don't.

What happened?

In the most general sense, it simply wasn't the right time. San Francisco is 2,300 miles away from where I currently live, my wife and I had just purchased a home a couple months prior and I was also looking at starting another job right around the same time as this interview. Though as you can imagine it was a great experience.

For those curious, I was never offered a job, nor was I turned down, we cut it off in the middle of things (on very friendly terms, of course).

Now Employed

However, I'm not jobless, a few months ago I accepted a job as Lead Designer for the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. My main task at the moment is the complete redesign of the main website, which will be coming in February.

Being an in-house designer is a great job, and I get the opportunity to dabble in print design as well (advertising, brochures, journals, etc.) which was one of the allures. What makes the job outstanding though is the fact that both my boss and boss's boss are of the creative type and understand the creative process, allow for it and provide the atmosphere for it.

Giveaway

Win a free book!

So as the last act of 2008, I thought it would be fun to give away a book. I have three books below from which to choose, to enter all you have to do is send me a message by January 7, 2009, (11:59pm EST) telling me which book you would like.

Thinking with Typeby Ellen LuptonIncludes one of my all time favorite design quotes: "Think more, design less."
Designing Books: Practice and Theoryby Josh Hochuli and Robin KinrossI haven't got into this one much, but it got a great review from I Love Typography.
The Brand Gapby Marty NeumeierFrom the book: "A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service, or company. It's a gut feeling because we're all emotional, intuitive beings, despite our best efforts to be rational."

The entries will be numbered sequentially based on their arrival date in my inbox and the winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will be announced the following day. Good luck!

Click Here

The long-standing goal of this site, or brand, is to make the web a better place; and that's to what I'll continue to aspire in 2009.

Happy New Year!