Modest Musings 

It is an odd phenomenon. More or less every business needs the services we provide, to some degree. I think that is why I became interested in web development. We almost take the web for granted. Until you really sit down and think about it, you miss how many areas of our lives it reaches.

Never-the-less, looking for a new job can be exceptionally frustrating, as I assume everyone is aware. It seems especially hard to find the “right fit” in a field as saturated as web and graphic design. Rene found the following on Craigslist recently and it so eloquently resembles all of my job hunting frustrations:

Wanted: Expert Designer to work for Peanuts

Date: 2007-09-22, 1:53PM EDT

You should have expert working knowledge of all design software, like to work long hours, work well under pressure… be an animator, web designer, project manager, technical illustrator, flash guru, cartoonist, police sketch artist, marketing genius … and have a master’s degree from a top design school.

Pay is $6.25 an hour. This is just a contract job with the possibility of full time employment if you do good work. But really we just want to use you to get some design done cheap, until we hire the next sucker.

No Phone Calls!!! Spend an hour drafting a professional cover letter and email it, so we can delete it from our inbox without the courtesy of a response.

Serious inquiries only.

• Location: Craigslist
• Compensation: 6.25/hr. plus a ham sandwich for free lunch Wednesdays!
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Rene and I had a good laugh when we read this posting. It said exactly what we have both been feeling in our recent job search. To be honest, it felt good to know we were not alone in this. I like to believe that I am a well rounded and capable web and graphic designer, but I am also well aware that I am not Superman. I know my strengths as well as my opportunities and this helps me improve in what I do.

Unfortunately, the bar seems to be set quite high and companies are expecting to fill every position with a Superman. Now, maybe it’s just me but in general this is not realistic. Most people are either right brained (i.e. strong with math and programming) or left brained (i.e. strong with artistic visual design). Many are quite capable with both but, in my experience, very few are experts when it comes to both sides because the human brain rarely works that way.

“Kudos to you Mr. Craigslist Poster Person.” Thanks for the laugh and here’s to squeezing my big feet into Superman’s boots. Wish me luck!

Mr. Vazquez and I are happy to announce the “soft” launch of our new web site, FisticuffDesign.com. For those individuals not familiar with it, Fisticuff Design is our web and graphic design company here in Orlando. You may be asking yourself, “how does a web design company go this long without having a web site of its own?” That is a fantastic question. We realize it is a crazy notion, and to be sure, this project has been in the works for quite some time. Unfortunately, we had to place ourselves on hold to make time for some of our recent freelance endeavors. You know how it is, when it rains, it pours.

Needless to say, we are quite pleased with this preliminary installment and, while we do have other features in the works (particularly in the portfolio section), we would be grateful to receive any feedback you have to offer.

So, without further ado, please check it out and send us your thoughts. Contact us through the web site’s contact form or directly via e-mail at email@fisticuffdesign.com.

While working on the new Fisticuff Design web site, Rene and I were debating on what projects to include in our portfolio. We were debating one recently completed project that we rather like the functionality of, but we did not design ourselves. We attempted to suggest fixes for some elements of the design that we saw as challenges, many of which were ignored.

That said, why include something in our portfolio that we are not entirely happy with? That is when Rene reminded me of the words of a quirky, web developer from the U.K. we met at the Refresh ‘06 Conference here in Orlando. I asked Andy Budd for his thoughts regarding a “web designer”, like myself, who might be in a sort of limbo. By this I mean someone who has good knowledge of both the design and programming aspects of web development, but may not excel in either. His response was, “always be proud of your work”.

Of course, he had much more to say on the matter, but that was the core.