#project 34

Project 34: It’s Been Real

|  A reflection of the last three years

Having been a part of the Letter Society since post one, almost three years ago, it’s very bittersweet to close the door on the blog in it’s current form. At the beginning, I was in my final year of college and not feeling challenged properly by the curriculum. Erik approached me and asked if I’d be interested in starting a design equivalent of our friend’s illustration focused blog, Square Carousel, and I was immediately in! 

In the beginning we had a few projects (Currency Redesign & Google Redesign) that got us some press and it was awesome! Those weeks were full of everyone sharing the latest sites that were writing about our posts, friends texting us saying they saw us on the homepage of Tumblr, and having it sink in that the average designer wasn’t undertaking a commitment like we were outside of our 9-5 or as Erik often refers to it, during the 5-9. That last point is what really sunk in over the months of doing this, we’d volunteered to stick with deadlines and get it done on top of our already busy schedules for the sake of bettering ourselves. 

On the Letter Society projects, I was able to explore concepts and ideas I’d had during school or that a client didn’t go for. Looking back, a lot of my projects didn’t turn out how I’d hoped but that’s part of it. The blog helped me learn that not all of my ideas will pan out, that I have to accept it, learn from it, and move onto the next method/medium/idea. This exploration is all over the work I’ve done. I tried to do illustrations that’ve not succeeded but I had a lot of fun making. UX experiments that I wasn’t skilled enough to pull off yet. It was nice to fail and is something I don’t have the luxury of as much anymore. Doing posts almost nonstop in my free time for three years became a constant for me and was something I could always plan around and know was coming. Other than growing as a creative, it provided a network of peers and exposure to friends of friends in the industry. We could serve as springboards for ideas, enablers for dreams we have, and a council for advice on how to handle situations at work that we difficult. 

This isn’t the end of the Letter Society, but a chance for us to figure out how we can help each other continue to grow. That being said, it’s been real!

The Letter Society, as it’s been for the past three years, has been an invaluable tool and lesson for me as a designer and as a friend. It has helped me to execute work with more skill and thought, to evolve my career, and to have fun with my friends along the way.

The Letter Society has allowed some of us to move to new places, accept new jobs, and even put some of us on the front pages of awesome design publications.

If you would have told me three years ago that I would be living and working in Los Angeles, I would’ve laughed out loud. But, through a series of Letter Society-inspired events, here I am. And with that in mind, it’s going to be tough to predict where I am going to be in another three years… All I can say is that I want to continue to make beautiful, thoughtful, and communicative work.

I would have to say that my favorite project has been Project 15: Forever Stamp Series. That single project showcased the breadth of our prompts as well as highlighted our diverse skill sets and styles. Another project that I enjoyed working on was Project 25: City Flags. That project was enlightening in the sense that it made me realize just how much I enjoy working on civic-centric design projects.

Hopefully, LSo. will still be around for years to come, in some capacity. Whether that means we post periodical thoughts, one-off projects, or personal updates.

It’s been quite the ride, and I am thankful that I was able to experience it with everyone.