Ending up in web design to make my living was something that happened almost by accident. I’ve been doing design for years now, since ’97 (which, I think, makes me ancient in Internet years — perhaps even dead and awaiting burial), but more as a hobby / experiment in vanity. I knew that I wanted to work in new media, but that was more because it’s the perfect playground for someone with such a mixed interest in both the creative side of life and computers (from a purely technical hardware and programming standpoint).

And so I made my way from waiting tables to writing for Hecklers Media and each of their various websites, back to waiting tables and bartending, and finally into the university world, doing (ostensibly) web design and programming and whatever else they ask me to do (the joys of being a jack-of-all-trades).

Unfortunately, as much as I love the mixing of technical and creative, of problem-solving and algorithms and visual design… Look, the long and short of it is to tell you this: NEVER get involved in a situation where you will be designing for a committee. Especially not one where the hands don’t necessarily talk to each other.

I love designing sites for clients. You have them state the goal of their site, whether it’s advertising or e-commerce or dynamic content. You present a solution. You hammer it down until your happy and they are. And most of the time, since I’ve learned to listen to the client, I get it 95% right the first time.

I hate designing sites for groups, no matter how large or small. The minute you hit two people having equal input into anything creative, you’re in a danger zone — because opinions clash. Especially on a level of university or corporate or government work, because every needs something different from the site, and everyone is convinced that their department’s needs are priority (when, in fact, none of them really matter).

The other bitch is that you can find yourself stuck in the middle of places you have no purpose being in in the first place. People will see that you’ve only been on payroll for a year (not realizing that I spent plenty of time here, albeit quietly, for three years before that), and try to pull rank or throw their perceived weight around. What they apparently fail to realize is that, at the end of the day (and even just before lunch), I REALLY DON’T CARE.

I don’t play politics, and the people that have known me for any real amount of time (which is to say, anyone who pays any attention at all to me) know that. So the fact that you’ve got pull or seniority or the President’s ear? Meaningless. What matters to me is a) the quality of my work, which will not get compromised because someone who doesn’t grasp the technology wants something different but outside-of-best-practices-and-standards; and b) what my boss wants, and his boss, too. Guess what? You don’t make sure I get paid, nor get me raises and promotions, nor reward extra effort — they do.

The bigger the corporation or government or educational entity, the bigger the committee — and the bigger the committee, the bigger the pain in the ass. Double up the number of people that want something different, double the screaming and the threats of horrible things and whispered promises.

Honestly, it all just makes me tired, and wanting to go back to running my freelance business.