This was my last month at coUNDco.
For the past year (and some more before that) I’ve worked with these fine people on all sorts of exciting projects. I’ve learned a ton about myself, the way agencies work, dealing with clients, and developing web experiences in the real world — a world that has timelines and budgets and limited resources and other potential pitfalls. coUNDco offered me the most enjoyable job imaginable right after my studies, and I think joining them was exactly the right move for me one year ago. But now, it’s time to move on.
There were a lot of factors influencing my decision. I enjoyed my role as an Interface Designer at coUNDco, but also wanted to get involved in the strategy and concept process much earlier than I typically did. Having direct contact with a client can be challenging sometimes, but I enjoy bouncing ideas back and forth and developing holistic concepts. Combine this with my untamable ambitions for creating the highest quality of work, mix in two exceptionally smart friends of mine and add a shared business idea and the outcome is Interactive Things — my dream, my motive power and now my workplace starting January 2010. Christian, Jeremy and I conceptualize, design and develop interactive media solutions. With a field of work ranging from Web to Mobile or Installation and everything in between we solve the need for simplicity, usability and rich user-experience. As you’ve probably noticed by now I’m really really excited about it.
coUNDco has gone through some changes over the past few months and will continue to clarify its strategy for the months to come. For the record, my decision was not based on these changes. I believe coUNDco goes absolutely in the right direction as a online advertising full-service agency. Hans-Jürg, Florian and Remo navigate their boat with agility and cleverness and I congratulate them for their calm mindset in rough times. These are the factors that not only make you survive but actually let you grow and flourish! Needless to say that my “Good Bye” was not an easy one. Let me make some quick notes about the characters that make coUNDco so unique:
Thanks to Andrea for her adaptability over such a shot period of time, Léonie for her supportive nature, Jari for his fresh thinking, Philipp for his calmness and inspirational ideas, Stef for being one of THE hardest engineers, Jean-Pierre for his backup, Garry for being a project management samurai, Miri for bringing the office back to life when needed, Mike for kick-starting good mood. Thank you Remo for all the inspiration, fun and appreciation. Thank you Hans-Jürg for the never-ending support and for driving my interest in entrepreneurship that ultimately led me to owning my own business. Thank you Flo for the excellent work relationship early on and your belief in my ideas.
This big change almost concludes the year 2009 for me, but there is still a lot to do for a seamless transition from being an employee to being both — designer and entrepreneur. I promise to take the lessons learned during my exciting year at coUNDco and do my best to push Interactive Things to where we want it to arrive.
So, if you have a project you’d like to work with me on, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, and if it’s a fit, we’ll figure out how to make it happen.