For the last 6 months or so, I’ve had the privilege of completing an internship working as a developer for Happy Cog. Throughout my time working here, I learned about the strategy, artifacts, and processes of building a beautiful, user-focused, responsive website. I attended both internal and client project meetings, worked directly with the designers and developers, and built an understanding of design systems and the best practices for coding.
At Happy Cog, we frequently check in with each other about our respective projects and how things are going. In both post-mortems meetings and weekly check-ins we evaluate not only on the time, budget, and resourcing health of a project, but on how the client is doing – on the experience of working with each client.
These are the markers for how we evaluate design candidates. I should point out that these rules, with the exception of #3, apply across the board, regardless of the role you’re applying for: development, project management, operations, etc. Admittedly, they’re not so unique to us. You’ll find with other studios’ or agencies’ hiring managers that processes will vary — what’s your experience? Tell us in the comments — but if you keep these rules in mind you’ll have a good shot with any people-first, quality-minded organization.
There is no Angie’s List for creative service companies. No IMDb for project credits. No peer review requirements for blog posts. Our industry is out here on its own, and left to act on our collective best behavior.
Like many agencies, Happy Cog works with strategic partners and freelance professionals to supplement resources or to utilize their unique skills for internal or external project work. Finding people you can trust is not always easy.
As I sit in my living room, laptop open and a Cognition column awaiting my two cent contribution, I listen to the sound of my three children shrieking upstairs. It’s bath time and they’ve been freed from the prisons of their clothing. They may or may not be careening into one another in a darkened second-floor hallway, laughing like maniacs. Parenting, like client services, is the management of the wackiest of variables, people.
I first learned of Wharton Esherick when I took an impromptu trip to his studio outside of Philadelphia. Though he has long since passed, his live-in workspace has been preserved and was well worth the 45 minute drive. Esherick is known for many things, as a sculptor and woodworker he was acknowledged as the “dean of American craftsmen” by his peers and pushed the Arts and Crafts movement forward toward organicism and cubism.
You’ve heard the assertion before: Designers should learn how to code. Reading through the many articles and comments on the topic, this discussion has focused predominantly on front-end development. Yes, comps fail to capture behavior and the in-betweens that bring your responsive designs to life, but crucially, front-end code isn’t the only step to actualizing your designs. Even if your coded styles remain faithful to your design intent, it’s your content that will put that design to test. If you care about the way content should look in your designs, you should also care about the logic that powers it.
Client service is hard, frustrating, emotional, rewarding (sometimes), and challenging. When agency folk get together client stories are shared like a cathartic verbal exchange meant to keep us from attending the next client services anonymous meeting. I’m not condemning the practice, venting is good and there are some absurd stories worth sharing. But venting is a slippery slope. If the only thing coming out of your mouth is negative it may be time to consider an attitude adjustment – don’t condemn the process, celebrate it!
I truly believe in the power of this simple idea: a decentralized network can exist free from the power of governments and corporations to corrupt. The web is that network and its health is immensely important to me not only as a professional but as a member of society. It is an innovation that has spurred on communication, economic and creative revolutions. Most of our modern HTTP-driven world would not exist had Tim Berners-Lee not issued his proposal for linking documents to one another within a network. That small step has evolved into a cultural powerhouse. It has torn down and rebuilt entire industries and given many of us something to do to make ends meet. It’s in our collective interest that this continue.
Until recently, I haven’t had much experience writing. In my distant past there were English classes and essays to keep me in practice, but professionally I knew something was lacking. I was supposed to write more often. I was told it would help me establish perspective as a designer, and help organize my thoughts (which to me sounded like a chicken-or-egg situation). I was reluctant because the idea of publishing a full-length piece in my own words seemed impossible. Determined, I approached writing the same way I approach my graphic design, and slowly it has come more naturally. As I began writing more frequently in blogs, emails, and even annotations, I’ve discovered a few tips that have helped me write better.
Happy Cog is a content company. It’s the thread through all of our projects, regardless of industry, and always has been. We connect people and ideas. It’s in our DNA. When TEDxPhiladelphia reached out to us, we knew this was an opportunity we wanted to explore.