Seven years ago, yesterday, I packed up everything I owned, left many friends behind in San Diego, and moved to San Francisco, (where I knew absolutely no one) to start my job at HotWired on August 12, 1996. The Creative Director hired me as a junior designer, since I knew very little about design for the Web, despite the fact that I had more print design experience than almost every other designer there at the time.
Three months after starting the low-paying job, I was depressed, out of money, missed my friends in San Diego, and was convinced I had made the wrong move. I gave notice, told my landlord I was moving out, and arranged to go back to my old job at a design agency in San Diego. Two days before I was to leave HotWired, Jonathan Louie (Design Director at the time) convinced me otherwise, offering me a new position and my first promotion of many more to come. I stayed, and lost a girlfriend in San Diego as a result.
Fast-forward to the present…
In two days, it will have been 9 months since I left Wired to go out on my own. Friends who know the journey and my initial intimidation of taking the job at HotWired say to me, “…and look where you are now.”
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Going it alone can be scary stuff too, but I bet you’re glad you did it. I find the only problem is not having idle office banter or other designers to bounce ideas off. It can be kinda quiet, but then ‘the voices start’…
Ah, Jon, I definitely agree. That’s why I share office space with the Adaptive Path folks. They’re not necessarily “designers” in the visual sense, but certainly have a deep understanding of what I do and appreciation for good design. What I do parallels closely with what they do, which is why we work so well together. So it helps to have people like that around on a regular basis. Before I moved in with them, I frequently found myself taking a laptop to local cafes and such, just to be around people.
As a friend who knows your journey, just think of what could happen if you moved again! Back to San Diego perhaps. With your track record, it would probably be the best thing. Just looking out for you. And, who knows, maybe we could even hang out more.
Sounds great - I envy you. I’m currently looking for other folk to share studio space with, but fortunately my wife is also a designer, so she gets bombarded with all the questions and geek talk from me.
If someone had been able to show you what the future held back in 96, would you have believed it?
i did the same thing pretty much, i left a stable job i knew well (network administration) to do design as a junior designer at a large firm. 6 yrs later though, i own a tiny web company and i’m glad i made the move (also moved from toronto to vancouver in there, and didn’t know anyone here at first either…and lost a girlfriend in the process).
so, in closing, stop copying my life! ;)
Your work and accomplishments are outstanding. I’m personally impressed with the community you’ve developed around this site. That’s no small feet…
So what comes next Doug?
I went through a similar experience graduating, finding a job that moved me west, and then gaining responsibility with that job (I filled a void really). I really love design and web technology, but what comes next? Will we all be in senior management positions in 7 years? Will we all start new design companies? Or, could we possibly all get board with the web and become ____?
As a european I often marvel at the movability of americans. I think it takes courage and guts to uproot like that and yet I so often listen to stories about the positive energy whirls it creates. I guess God (whoever he is) likes people to take responsibility for making significant changes in their lifes. Maybe it eases his workload.
I’d have to agree to an extent with Rasmus. It does take guts, guts which I haven’t got.
I think you’ve got to be prepared to try it and risk losing a lot (e.g. girlfriends/ friends - although regardless of where you are friends should never be lost, they wouldn’t be friends otherwise)
I also think that one debates their skills when it comes to breaking out on their own. Look at me I’m a local government worker - who’d want to employ me in a design/development situation? It’s just not creative enough! And since I don’t know all there is to every web language am I marketable?
These thoughts are always going through my head!
Doug, I’d really like to thank you for this post. It’s very well timed for this stage of my career.
This might sound unusual in a forum like this, but I consider you a web designer who’s “made it” to a large extent. Knowing a bit about your fears and apprehensions along the way is oddly reassuring. It’s nice to know that people who ultimately succeed on some level have those feelings and struggles along the way too.
Just like having office mates, it’s a good thing to be able to relate to someone’s experiences. So again, thanks for sharing.
As a designer, starting on my journey through this profession, I would like to thank you for words of wisdom… if they could be called that. Currently in the world of design, there seems to be an overwhelming sense of dis-empowerment. Designers are taking bad jobs that they feel they can’t leave for a paycheck and more often than not they are facing the threat of unemployment daily. Risks are too risky right now.
Your weblog and career is proof that not all stories have to end on a sour note. Creativity can manifest itself in many fascinating ways. Thank you for your weblog.
I’m actually thinking of moving away, from family and friends to help make a better life for myself (possibly to another country).
I think it is the best way for me to do this. I want to change a lot about myself. I want to quit smoking, excessive drinking (when out for the nite), etc. I think making a make would help me do this. Right now I’m unemployed, have very little or no money, I’m not in a relationship and staying put won’t make me get up off my backside and change these things!
It’s always nice to here good stories like this. I hope in a few years time, I can post a similar story :)
Many of life’s greatest accomplishments are from indviduals stepping away from what they consider safe and taking a risk. It’s great to hear a success story, especially during this stagnant tech economy.
I work from home on my own…and I know exactly what John Hicks means about the sound of silence. After six years of working in a office the silence of working on your own becomes deafening.
Congratulations on successful career Doug, and making the right moves at the right time.
I sort of know how you feel… 7 years ago I packed my bags and left for Gods Own Country (TM) - I am from Denmark, so it’s pretty far ;) One year later, I had had enough, and went back. To be honest I missed my friends and family, but it was more a case of me finding out that America (I lived in New York) really didn’t have anything (for me) that Denmark didn’t… 3 years later I fell in love, and wouldn’t you know it - she was moving to London, England, so I packed my bags again and went with her. I had a great job in London, but again, London wasn’t really me, so I went back to Denmark two years later - fortunately she came along :)
Some people might read this and think that I have wasted time or opportunities, but I don’t see it that way - I know that I have learned a lot more about myself and people in general, than I would have by staying in Denmark.. So if I could offer this little bit of advice: Do go if you feel like it, but don’t be afraid to return! Nobody will consider you a failure if you come back, but they will consider you a failure if you don’t have the guts to go! It’s a win-win situation..
It’s great to hear how you moved out of San Diego and joined Wired guys and it proved not to be wrong move in any way. And though it might look odd or new, I have been collecting money from my friends, here in Pakistan, to read and share Wired magazine for the last couple of months. And even we stare at Wired magazine and their site millions time, I couldn’t generate that tech look in Erudition but still it’s making some move after all. And reading how you sacrificed at the start and how it paid you in the longer run, it makes a great story for me to share but thanks to web, I wouldn’t have to worry about passing on physically to other folks. Don’t tell it to wired guys that their magazine circulates few dozen hands until it reaches back to me. I wish they could lower their rates bit further :D
I agree with Ben and thank you and others for your confession. It gives me some strength. In addition, I feel, I am on the similar path with many of you. Therefore, good luck to everybody. And keep on the right path :)
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