Ch-ch-ch Changes
Mar 08, 2011 by Derek Balmer
2010 was a really great year for our small design company. We landed several large projects, grew the business in both staff, resources and revenue; and had a great time doing what we love: making website and apps. I’m proud of what we accomplished last year and will always think of 2010 as a milestone year, both personally and professionally.
With only a few months down, 2011 is shaping up to be another significant year with some hefty changes already underway. A few weeks ago my partner and close friend, Brett Duncavage, decided he had grown tired of being independent and wanted to pursue a more stable position as an in-house developer somewhere. Obviously, I was bummed to hear this news. I’ve worked with Brett for years. We’re close friends, our families get together on the weekends every so often for trips and vacations, etc. When it comes down to it, if you aren’t happy with something you should change it. Plain and simple. That’s exactly what Brett has decided to do.
There are no hard feelings between us and I certainly understand where he’s coming from. Running your own business isn’t for everyone. It’s hard work and the ebb and flow of client services can really take a toll on you. Especially when you have an entire family to support. I know I’ve certainly had my fair share of sleepless nights over the years. As of this moment Brett is currently on the prowl for a new job and I wish him the best of luck. I know he will do great things wherever he ends up deciding to go.
With one friend out the door, serendipitously, another close friend has stepped in. Over the past several months my buddy, Dan Weaver, had been planning to leave a full-time position to start his own independent development business. I reached out to Dan shortly after Brett decided to leave and we got together for lunch. We had a couple pints and talked about our experiences and personal goals for our respective businesses and realized we shared many similar ambitions. By the end of our lunch we had reached a mutual conclusion: we needed to join forces and become partners!
I’m happy to report that as of March 1, Dan Weaver has officially joined me as a partner at Hold Fast Creative. Dan is a mean hand at Ruby on Rails and loves getting dirty with front-end development. He’s passionate about client services and he is completely dedicated to his craft. Dan and I share the same goals for this business and I’m really excited to see what we can do together in 2011.
What’s that you say? It’s not really the cover, it’s only a square inch in the top left corner? It takes talent, determination and a laundry list of professional accolades to be taken seriously? Well I got news for you, Jack! You obviously have never attempted to drink beer whilst wearing a tri-colored Hulkamaniac ’stache at MXoN.
We totally made the cover.
Quinn Acoustics, as a brand, represents quality, innovation and value. This was something we kept a close eye on when designing the logo and user interface of the website. Designing the Quinn Acoustics logo required some special considerations: not only did the final logo design have to work well online and on various printed collateral; their logo also needed to stand its ground when applied to the physical product by method of sublimation, adhesion or, occasionally, when stamped into rubber moldings.