I'm also now back in the States, working for Teague in Seattle once more as an interactive designer, the work is great and it gives me a chance to work with big clients. I can't really say much about the actual work as I'm nda'd up to my eyeballs, but there's some very cool and stunning work coming out of there. I'm almost settled into my new apartment, but being that I'm only here for 3/4 of the year I can't really buy some of the things that make a place really feel like home. Once again I'm a wanderer stuck in one place just a touch to long it seems.

Turning away, or failing to initiate these briefs bothers me alot, I know that there are many designers out there that would kill for such an opportunity to hand itself to them and I always regret the projects that get away. Having said all of that, I am already more loaded with work than is remotely sensible and have no choice but to pull out all of the stops. It occurs to me, from many experiences and conversations with other designers, that we designers in general are a greatly under appreciated commodity.

No other profession springs to mind where the employee will pour their heart and soul into something, forgoing the correct hours of sleep and rest, simply to complete a project to their own ridiculously high standards, just to be told by a client who obviously doesn't understand, that they would like to merge all of the concepts into one "uber" concept that quite obviously (atleast to any designer) is no longer a coherent response but instead a mass of attractive(ish) but meaningless drivel. I believe that we as designers can never be satisfied however unless we do attempt to do this time after time and hopefully guide the client away from the looming attempt and merging.

The problem however is that because we work in a world where you're lucky to get four weeks holiday a year it is impossible for a designer to recuperate after what is often a soul draining experience. The completion of a project often leaves me (and others) in the mood to sleep for atleast a week and to engage once again with the numerous books and general cultural experiences we switch off the need to devour during a project.

This very topic cropped up in a meeting earlier this week and it was suggested by our CEO (Of my seattle placement, there is no CEO of rayform design) that if we felt the need to take a day off then we should do so without hesitation and it is a credit to all those present that they all looked mortified at the suggestion. I sincerely hope that clients learn just how dedicated good designers are and appreciate the hours of effort they put in.

P.S. This post isn't aimed at any of my clients, I always strive to have a good relationship with the clients I work for.

I'm also working on a couple of very cool projects for some interesting and well respected clients (that obviously I can't divulge) as a freelancer and these are proving to be very fulfilling indeed. It seems that I will not actually be having a holiday this summer, but I was always aware that this was a strong possibility. I happen to be in the very fortunate situation of my career taking off several years before it is necessary for it to do so and I'm very grateful for it. I have thanked alot of people in the last month for giving me help and support throughout the years and I look set to continue to do so.

I'm hoping to have a few updates for you all relatively soon, but my schedule is very packed, so we shall have to see how that turns out, I can guarantee that it's worth waiting for.