Articles

Where the hell have you been?!?!

Yup, believe it or not, this blog has laid fallow for more than a year. But for some important reasons:

• Work has been brutal, in terms of intensity, fun, and challenges.
• I've left my position as Director of Creative Services at Fluid, Inc.
• I am now an independent digital experience designer.

Why the big changes?

Fluid, Inc. has been like a school, and every employee has been my faculty. I leave an amazingly talented group of folks with no small amount of sadness. I was at Fluid for seven years, and rose through the ranks to ultimately run the whole Creative Department and even win some awards while we were at it. They're all a great group of friends I'm on great terms with and will miss a great deal. Heck, I'll even miss all my clients, and that's a high-class problem.

But, I'm a career generalist. Specializing in any one thing is anathema to how I was "raised" in this industry. The way I look at digital media and interactive experiences, it all boils down to the business, the brand, the audience, and the technology. It's all pixels, sometimes compressed, sometimes in still images or narrative sequences of images. Like the best abstract art, interactive digital experiences should only go halfway; the audience and the individual user/viewer must complete the piece with their own ideas, goals, and needs.

What are you up to now?

For the rest of the summer I'm doing a stint with my pals over at l.inc design doing broadcast design for TV spots. It's super fun and a challenging break from interactive work; you have 30 seconds to project an impression upon your audience, and to still entertain them (or at least tickle their eyeballs) even if they're not interested. And I can bike to work!

Beyond that lies...well, I can't say. Well, I can, but I really shouldn't. Suffice it to say that it's all incredibly exciting, innovative, and involves working with some damn smart people on some cutting-edge stuff. Watch this space during Fall 2007 for all the gory details. (Yes, being freelance means I can post more frequently!)

You can also expect an upcoming article on the pitfalls and benefits of being a digital generalist. I'm getting better about explaining what I am capable of in less than 2,000 words! :-)