A few weeks ago we hosted about 20 students from three different universities here at our office in Plano. It was an exciting day and we had a great time with those folks. Yesterday the postman brought us a nice treat, as the students from Northeastern State University‘s UG2 student organization sent us a very cool thank-you card!
Wow, thanks guys! This one is going on the wall.
Alas, our good friend and team member Nathan Ford will be leaving us next week. He was the first employee of our little agency, hired almost exactly three years ago, and the first to leave the Unit Interactive team. While here, Nathan did some stellar identity, web design, and development work—some already published and some yet forthcoming—as well as conceiving of and building some handy and popular apps.
Nathan’s departure is a bittersweet event for us. We are, of course, sorry to see him go, but we’re happy that he and his wife are getting to realize their long-time desire to spend time living abroad. Nathan and his wife are moving to Wales, so it’s an exciting time for them! Nathan has more to say about these coming changes on his own site.
We have greatly enjoyed Nathan during his time here and wish him the very best of luck with his endeavors in Britain. He’s a smart and highly-skilled guy with a bright future. New challenges await and we know that he’ll continue to be a formidable force there as he has been here.
Photos by Nathan Ford and Ryan Rushing
On Friday, April 1, we were visited by about 20 design and photography students from Louisiana Tech University (Ruston, LA), Northeastern State University (Tahlequah, OK), and Texas State University (San Marcos, TX). They were in Dallas for the DSVC National Student Show and Conference and made arrangements to visit the Unit Interactive office for a tour and some discussion with our staff of design professionals.
We welcomed them en masse and then spent the next half hour chatting informally. Groups spontaneously found their ways into the various offices and each of our staff members was soon conducting an impromptu roundtable discussion around his desk. Some were looking at and asking questions about our past work, some were discussing device-versus-user experience issues, and I was in the hallway chatting with a few of the students about hiring conventions and job-search issues.
It was such a nice day out that we soon decided to have a group Q&A session under the trees in our courtyard. There we spent about half and hour fielding questions and chatting with the students about a wide range of topics. It was a fun and lively discussion, and interesting to us to learn what they were most interested in and concerned about. I found it pleasantly affirming that at one point in the discussion someone remarked that they could tell we were a tight team and seemed close with one another. I hope that fact made some positive impact on them to aspire toward mutually-committed enterprise (and forming like Voltron) in their professional futures.
Back in the Unit office we spent some time chatting with them in smaller groups, getting a bit more granular on the topics covered in our Q&A in the courtyard. Many of these students had never been to a design agency and I believe few had ever had direct conversations with creative professionals, so they seemed to really enjoy the candid discourse. As for us, we enjoyed it immensely. All of us at Unit are passionate about education and professional development issues so the interaction was invigorating and cathartic. We’re all looking forward to doing this again. Fun stuff!
This Wednesday, March 23 we’ll be getting together with our local peers at our now-regularly-held lunchtime get-together we’ve dubbed “Design Pro Lunch.”
Roughly once a month the Unit crew gets together with other design industry pros from around the Dallas – Ft. Worth area to share food and fellowship. As the silly image above indicates, it’s just lunch. We’re not an organization, we don’t have an agenda, and there are no rules. It’s just an chance for us all to interrupt our routine work week with a fun hang-out with friends for an hour or two.
The group generally tends to number around 12 to 14 attendees (though this week it looks like we’ll have 16 or 18!). When we first started most of us knew someone in attendance, but we all met folks we’d never met before. Each month we meet new folks. Now, seven months in, our acquaintances and friendships have expanded greatly and we’re all simply having a great time at these little get-togethers.
If you’re not in the area, but think this is a good idea, start your own Design Pro Lunch! If you’re in the DFW area and would like to join in, hit us up at “hello” [at] unitinteractive [dotcom] and we’ll get you on the contact list for the invites. Hope to see you there! Here’s where we’ve been getting together:
5100 Belt Line, Addison, TX 75254
Map
(972) 934-0165
Ryan walked into the office this morning and nearly scared the daylights outta me with the hideous shocking aspect of his clean-shaven face. NyaAaahgh! The men at Unit wear beards, as a man should. Ryan has willingly complied with this ideal since he started here. I’m not sure what he’s trying to prove, but it’s kind’a freaking me out.
In any event, suffice it to say that he’ll be officing in the utility closet until his face regains its more properly-manly condition.
A few short weeks ago we moved into our new digs and we’re still settling in. Having grown over the past couple of years we were in desperate need of more space. So we doubled it.
The new office is nothing fancy, but we’re enjoying our new space and the additional breathing room that comes with it. We went from two offices and a foyer to four offices, a game room, and a kitchen. Oh, and a work counter…area…thingy. We can now spread out a bit and we have room to grow. And to play ping pong.
We still have furniture and other sundries to get in order to fully settle in. However, most glaringly apparent are the VAST EXPANSES OF BARE WALLS! No kidding, we gotta get something on all of these walls. We’re working on it. In the mean time, here’s a few glimpses of our bare-walled office.
R.A. in a candid moment.
Ryan’s doing some serious work there.
Andy does tape things to his walls (gotta get some artwork!)
Nathan doing something dreadfully important.
Oh Em Gee, bare walls!
Each morning as I drive to work at around 5:40 am there’s a spot on the highway where I go down into a little valley. If I look left, there’s a forest cutting a dark curtain along the highway and above the trees there’s a lone feature; a steeple rising behind the trees. It’s a beautiful and humbling sight and it always makes me smile. I’ve been wanting to capture that image somehow, but taking a photo in the dark (while driving or by pulling off to the side of the highway) would be difficult to get right. So I’ve tried to capture the image in a vector drawing.
Click the image to see the full-size version.
I’m pleased to say that talented designer, developer, and pro advice maven Lea Alcantara is pitching a 2011 SXSW panel on client interactions and has asked me to take part. Along with Rogie King and likely one or two others we’ll be discussing how we maintain professional and successful client relationships.
The SXSW Panel Picker lists the panel thusly:
Getting tired of all the client hate? There are a ton of articles, videos and parodies out there that bemoan the client-vendor relationship. But does it really have to be that bad? A panel of esteemed professionals of all types (freelancers to studio honchos) explain how they get and keep their BEST clients, and how we can turn client meltdowns into client success (which means a happy you).
If you’re going to SXSW and would like to attend this panel, of just think it’s a worthwhile exercise, vote us up and get us on the schedule!
