life
We've become so loose in the tongue that even the smallest of achievements have become epic. But what is epic? Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are epic. Beowulf is epic. The design you saw last night on Dribbble is not epic. The new hot design conference you attended last month is not epic. But this is just the way I see it. Language has always adapted to each generation. But how long will the value of our words last when we start calling mediocrity epic?
Life is too short to carry unwanted baggage. So while my last design was well received, I feel this new look is more fitting to my life right now. The actual design process was pretty straight forward. Show as little as possible while still remaining informative and beautiful. I was inspired by the simplicity of reading a book and the old saying that "content is king". And credit must be given to this site for an enormous amount of inspiration.
I always like to clean the kitchen before I start cooking. I enjoy picking up and organizing the house before company arrives. And I love the crisp first page of a new journal. I think cleanliness has been ingrained in me from day one. So the more I grow as a designer the more I find an attraction to the simple things in life. And the best part about designing for the web is you get to start over as often as you want. You aren't stuck with a thousand copies of your identity in a box that will just go to waste.
Now that I've stripped down to the bare essentials I am able to focus on what's important, the content. I was never fully satisfied with how my content was presented before. The multi-column approach on the web I think is good for companies and magazines that have a need for it. But for a personal site, I don't see the purpose. That's why I rid myself of all link lists, social links and any other silly sidebar meta data. I don't feel the need to tell people I'm on twitter, dribbble or [insert new social hotness here] anymore. If someone is really interested in finding out more about me there's something called google that handles that.
Also, you won't find any tags or categories listed anymore. I tried really hard to harness their power in my last design, even to the point of splitting up my site for each category. But I wasn't ever fully satisfied with that approach, whether it worked or not. Again, I think it comes down to knowing what's appropriate for your site and what isn't. And I see now that having all my content split up was a waste of space. Even if I try and write about three different topics (ie. life, design and faith) it all comes from me. And now I don't mind letting it all flow together in harmony.
As I continue to learn and grow as a person, husband, designer my palette will change along with it. This is just a temporary look at my life right now. I believe that in all we do we reflect our personalities. Whether it's in art, music, writing or designing. We all have our own little quirks that reflect who we are inside. So while I'd like to say this is the final revison of my site, I know that isn't true. Like the saying goes:
You are your own worst client.
Humbleness Humility is the key. Please hear me on that. But false humility is just pride in disguise. If you do something that you're proud of you need to take ownership of that thing and accept the praise you receive. There's nothing worse then when you compliment someone and their response goes something like this: "Oh me? No I'm not that good. I just got lucky." The results of hard work and dedication don't result in dumb luck. God did not give us our talents to simply disregard them as something that happened by accident. So the next time someone compliments you on what a good job you've done, look them straight in the eyes and say: "I know. Thank you."
This year has been one full of perseverance and new challenges. I set the bar extremely high for myself in hopes that I would prove to myself that I can do so much more than I thought possible. But in past endeavors, I have found myself being one with a louder bark than bite. Meaning that when the going gets tough, I stop pushing. But I'm trying.
I'm not giving up!
I still have six more months to go on my Daily 365 photo project. I still have twenty-six more weeks of my 52 Profiles project. I don't want to reach the end of this year with an apology and a poor excuse on why I didn't finish what I started. I want to reach the end with my arms raised in victory and a smile on my face. I want to prove to myself that I am capable of more than my past mistakes.
You guys rock. That's the first thing I want to say. After my last post about leaving my current job in a step of faith I have received nothing but encouragement. So now that I have a clear plan of what I'm going to be doing next on my professional journey I thought the least I could do would be to fill you in.
I will be taking two weeks off after my last day at my current job to catch up on some freelance work as well as spend some time resting with my wife. But starting June 01 I will become the 4th member on the UX team at Fellowship Technologies. After much prayer and consideration I see this opportunity as the right move for me and my family right now. But that's not to say I didn't struggle with feeling like I was selling out to "the man" or anything. The notion of freelancing full-time still intrigues me and is something I want to pursue someday, but right now we need something stable while my wife finishes her degree.
The UX Team that has already been assembled at Fellowship is something I am looking forward to. For the past 2 1/2 years I have been a lone ranger figuring things out for myself. Not to say that it hasn't had its perks, but one can only go so far on his own. So this transition into a team environment is something I'm really looking forward to. Plus, I will be working with people my own age that I will actually have something in common with. My fellow team members include: Matt Vasquez, Nathan Smith and David Brooks.
I am continually blown away by the grace and favor that God has given me. By continuing to seek His will, I made a decision of faith last week without any secure plans ahead of me to quit my job. I knew that a position with Fellowship was in the cards, but they still hadn't given me a firm decision. So my plan was to work freelance full-time. To which I received an immense amount of support and encouragement in. But in following my heart I found something better than I expected. Sorry, I don't mean to keep repeating myself here, but I just hope to encourage you to stop being afraid, trust God, and let go of all that's holding you back. I don't mean quit today, not by any means, but start praying and see where God might lead you. I know I've waited for over a year now before making this move.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7
I still plan to do side work, but more than likely I will be very picky about what projects I work on. (If you have already contacted me about freelance work or would like to you can email me at: hello[at]kylesteed[dot]com.) I think that's one of the greatest advantages to working full-time, you can pick and choose very carefully about what other projects you want to work on. Also, I have no immediate plans of returning to school. This last semester really proved to me that school is a waste of time. Being in my current situation I can see how school is only slowing me down from what I really want to be doing, and what I'm already doing. It's sad to me that we put so much pressure on kids to go to college and get a degree. I don't want to go off on a huge tangent, I will write a post on this topic, but I know people who have their degrees and either (A) aren't using them or (B) still don't have a job.
I know this much. I am blessed to have a vision for my life, a wife that supports me and the skills that pay that bills. Or something like that. ;)
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17
After 2 1/2 years at my employer I am taking a step of faith out on my own. Yep, in just 2 weeks I will no longer be working in a cubicle. This definitely hasn't been an easy decision to come to, but I feel like this is where God is calling me. I have spent an enormous amount of time praying and patiently waiting for the right time. Am I nervous? I don't think I would be human if I wasn't. Am I scared? No. God has always provided for me and my family and I trust that He will continue to do so.
Right now I have a month's worth of freelance ahead of me, and after that I'm not sure. I do have a couple of leads right now with some other companies but nothing set in stone. I hold fast to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-27,34 -
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Of course I wouldn't be where I am today without the great community I'm connected to. You know who you are. And a few of you I've already reached out to asking if you have any upcoming design work. I feel like this is a big part of not only my future, but all of ours. As one has a need another can help out. Sometimes that will be in the form of a job and sometimes not. I'm not interested in meeting people just to have a connection, but to build a relationship. And I don't expect anyone to give me hand-outs, please hear me on this. When I say community, I'm talking about a group of people who have the same vision, goals and aspirations as their peers and can depend on each other.
You can pray. If you don't pray you can start. ;) Just kidding. But seriously, I would love your prayers. Thank you.
I tend to write mostly about myself. So I want to turn the tables a bit and focus on you. More importantly on what a good job you're doing. Seriously. This isn't some after school special about "the more you know" the more successful you'll be. But right now, wherever you are, is wonderful. It sure as hell might not feel like it, but trust me, when you look back in another year or so you'll see how much you've learned and how much easier things were now. Keep up the good work. Don't let other's voices, even the one inside your head, tell you to stop pursuing your passion.
Your work is amazing. Let's not judge ourselves amongst ourselves. Take time to reflect on who you are, what makes you unique and then do what comes naturally to you.
