Mixed emotions
21st July 2021
I’ve said it before, but when I started my freelance journey on 22nd July 2010 I had no great expectations in terms of longevity – what would life be like in 11 years, for example.
And if I had dared to imagine, even dared to push the boundaries of creativity and imagination, there’s no way I could have foreseen how things would turn out – particularly the events of 2020-21.
To grow or not to grow
If there is one thing I can remember thinking about it was the idea of being an employer or a ‘proper business’. I had no intention of ever employing anyone. That’s just not me.
As time’s gone by, that attitude has changed, by necessity in a way, but also by opportunity. I’ve been lucky to have employed four people over the last four years, all of whom have absolutely changed the business and helped me do things I couldn’t have done on my own.
This week we say goodbye to the first.
Our first employee
Adam was a student at Plymouth University when I met him at my first talk for the Design Society. He critiqued the kerning on my keynote. It felt like we clicked.
Over the following months he came into my home studio and helped out on a few occasions, as an intern. I admired his passion for type, and knowledge of all things layout. He worked with a logic that I felt complimented my own skills and after he graduated and moved back to Kent it wasn’t too long before I needed him back again for a client project.
The client was Macmillan, and Adam quickly grew to know their brand identity inside out. So Adam kind of just stuck around after that – I mean that nicely. He’d settled in and become an important part of the business and I had no reason not to extend his freelance agreement, and eventually offer him a full time job.
Saying goodbye
Fast forward four years and that first employee is now leaving to pursue pastures new – and we’re all going to miss him. It’s been great to see him develop his skills and confidence in key areas of the business over his tenure. We’ll miss his eye for detail, his insistence on using very particular terminology, his dry sense of humour, his expensive taste, his love of grid layouts and stylesheets, his willingness to learn new skills and, his Star Wars gif collection, among other things…
So whilst we’re celebrating 11 years of business, we’re also sad to see one of the gang fly the nest. But we’re really excited to see his skills continue to grow and wish him all the very best.
Thanks dude, you’ve been an important part of everything we’ve achieved in the past four years!
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Written by Owen