2011: A year in review

One year ago, I launched my 12 fifty two project. The aim of that, as you may know, was to continue the motif of constant creation. 30 days later, I took part in Start Atlanta, a weekend long hackathon and met a slew of incredibly engaged folks. This was the start of my introduction to the start up world. We had 2 days to create a prototype of an idea that was pitched on the first day. I worked with three companies: Cineminder, JayTalker and last but not least TripLingo. 

I feel like the decision to take part in Start Atlanta was spurred by my involvement with Project M, which I had just participated in the year before and led to the establishment of Cardinal & Company. I love working under pressure and rapidly prototyping. I never would have thought that this little weekend dealy would turn in to what it has become. TripLingo won Best in Show and was invited to take part in StartupRiot. On the day in which TripLingo became incorporated, Cardinal had just turned 6 months old. I was in a new city with few friends and two babies. Thankfully, I had coffee. 

As part of the 12 fifty two project, I was doing a lot of research at this time, planting seeds and trying to meet people doing incredible things in their respective fields. I was so in awe of the great coffee shops in Atlanta and in researching them, I stumbled upon a blog by Jason Dominy. I set up a tour of Batdorf & Bronson and towards the end of the meeting, he showed me the Atlanta Disloyalty card. I mentioned that I’d love to help him relaunch the card with a new design. Over the next week or so, I devoted some time (sleep had dwindled at this point to about 5.5 hours per night) to creating a new card. 

One of the people I met at Start Atlanta was Jesse Phillips. Jesse is a honest and kind dude who had an idea for a calendar. He brought me on to do the design. We launched a kickstarter page for it and were able to raise enough money to print our first round! And then we were on FAB! And then FAB again. The response has been incredible and I want to sincerely thank all those that who supported it! (they’re still available, if you want a few for your friends and family)

Meanwhile, over at Cardinal, things were going quite well at the beginning of last year. We had American Spirit Whiskey and a few smaller but significant clients on our side. Things were moving along (especially for being only six months old), but we weren’t brining in loads of money. Because of this, we had to shift the operations around a bit. We went from Cardinal being a partnership, to Cardinal being an umbrella in which we all freelanced under. This meant that whatever freelance work we got was ours to keep (to provide for family, rent, whatever), but we were still all doing it under the Cardinal name which would *hopefully* help in promoting us. Our hopes were to do this umbrella idea temporarily until we had a bit of money saved up personally. 

In July, I went home for a week and a half to celebrate the fourth of July, birthdays and a little break from the chaos that was happening down in Atlanta. A couple of days before I left, my friend Mark Wills mentioned he was going to drive out from Greensboro, AL to San Francisco with his dog Henry at the beginning of the next week. The entire drive down to Atlanta, I was contemplating if it’d be possible to do a trip like this. It would take another week and a half away from both Cardinal & TripLingo and I wanted to make sure it was cool with those dudes before I committed. I asked Jesse (the TripLingo leader of sorts) if it was alright with him and he was. I brought it up to the rest of the team and told them of the trip. The next day, American Spirit Whiskey was having a tasting at their house (or Charleston) and I told the Cardinal guys that I’d be gone another 2 weeks or so. They both were excited about the opportunity. 

And so I told Mark I was in! I flew to Dallas and meet up with him and his pup. And this was our itinerary: Austin, Roswell, Albuquerque, 4 corners, Cortez, Green River, Las Vegas, Half Moon Bay & SF!! Check out our trip. (Mark, thanks so much for inviting me on this expedition, man.. it was a once in a lifetime trip that I’ll never forget)

With all good, there is bad. A few hours after crossing the border in to California, I got a call from Matt informing me that he can no longer be a part of Cardinal & Company. He has to pursue full time work to provide for his family. This was totally acceptable and understandable. The next part wasn’t. He dissolved our company without the three of us discussing it. He ended our lease to our studio (and we had 1 month to get all of our things out). He contacted clients and told them that he’d be taking over. He contacted prospective clients and told them that we (Cardinal) were not interested, but he’d like to still have a shot at the job. He did a lot of things that were inconsiderate to the other two parties involved and in turned ruined a friendship. It could have been handled so much better, but it wasn’t. And maybe that was necessary. 

So, I returned home with one company gone and another thriving. TripLingo became my first priority, but I had to supplement income with freelance. Thankfully, I’ve been able to work with some great people over the past 4 months. Shoutouts to: Prem & John of Cooleaf, Jon, Antonio, Matt, Chris & Sid of OpenStudy, Ben & Kim of Mogley, Diane of Artisan Plastic Surgery, Jim & Charlie of American Spirit Whiskey & Chris of WonderRoot.

The past month has been a whirlwind of excitement, too. A few months ago my friend Kim was having a going away party for her trip to India. There, I met Melonie who started and runs The Feed, an online newsletter and publication that highlights people and organizations doing great things in their city. We’ve remained in contact ever since meeting and have since teamed up to work on Something in Particular along with Cubby West, a remarkable artist and person also living in Atlanta. In just 1 week we’re going to be hosting a dinner with some of Atlanta’s most creative and exciting people. In March, we’re embarking on a tour of the Southeast to discover the creativity of those cities and the people that are assisting in allowing said creativity to exist. I’m so grateful to know these two wonderful women. 

Finally, thank you to all of the creative people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in Atlanta, some of which I’m able to call friends. Y’all are the best. 

___

PS. Every friday, Vince and I celebrate FTF (French Toast Fridays) at 11am at The Highland Bakery (on highland). Join us! 

A look at the shifting role of designers

“We should always remember that no detail is too small, those elements that we obsess over are still important. But we must take on a new strategic role, placing ourselves at the center of business, in a marriage of creativity and rigor, to show the possibilities of business and effect change. It’s our ability to create ideas that will allow us to find new opportunities, and with our design language we can illustrate the possibilities that were never even considered.”

What a wonderful exerpt from Carol Scheffler’s piece about the ever changing definition of what we do and who we are as designers. 

Please have a look: http://www.eastwick.com/blog/2011/10/26/the-future-of-design-a-look-at-the-shifting-role-of-designers/