If you’ve been anywhere near this site in the last week or so, then you’ve seen the baselines shifting, the columns moving, and a beautiful mess of things. But here it is, the third redesign of Andymism since I first launched (or relaunched, actually—long story) this site in April 2008.

I’ve been unhappy with the last few designs for various reasons. One of the central problems with my previous designs for this site is that I never defined the purpose of this site in concrete terms. I never thought about what I wanted this site to do and how I wanted to do it. It seemed just like when a company sets out to build a business around a poorly defined problem. The result is a lackluster product.

At least a blog doesn’t require a huge investment.

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Time has been going by unbelievably fast. Just a little over a month ago, I only knew where I wanted to be and hadn’t the slightest idea about where I’ll end up. After six weeks, I’ve got client work scheduled through August. Heading looks good. Course still uncharted, but who cares? Who would have known?

I’m learning new things along the way too. Which is the reason I’m doing this in the first place. They’re little lessons that come from my constant examination of everything I do: interacting with clients, making the pitch, closing the sale, gleaning what’s really needed for a project, and refining process. I don’t have any groundbreaking revelations and, I’m sure, anything I’ve got to learn on that level someone has already written down somewhere as a piece of advice for us all. Continue reading »

As promised, I did a repurposing of the Andymism design. Since all I really did was move around a few elements and add a sidebar, I guess I wouldn’t call what I did a redesign. But, call it what you want.

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It’s funny, as soon as I have this site up and running, I’m itching for a redesign. I’m learning more about what I want out of my blog, what I think it should do, and how I want it to do those things.

So surprise, surprise. A redesign is on the way–although maybe it’s not so much a redesign, but a retooling. Or a re-featuring. Feature is an ugly word.

Anyway, hold on tight.

It’s now been two weeks since I quit my job and started off on my own. Although you might be expecting a list of lessons about self-employment that I’ve learned in two weeks, things just have not been that crazy.

To be perfectly honest, things aren’t really that different—that might be a bit of an understatement. What’s different is that I love what I do, I care about what I do, and I’m excited about what’s to come. Of course, I can’t say that I haven’t learned anything in the last two weeks—I’ve learned a bit about myself and the world around me.

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