2022 has been a full year. This is the second year of giving myself a dedicated 20% time, it continues to be one of the best changes I could have made. I have explored new areas and given my brain space to think over them. I have been able to support my family better and be more present in their lives.
I have continued my work with Uniform. Uniform is working hard to make it easy for developers and editors to build websites from many different sources. This is being referred to as Composable or more precisely Digital Experience Composition š§ - it can be a bit of a mouthful but making this simple is the dream, and if it can be simple then there are lots of exciting possibilities.
What have I learnt from last year. 2016 held so much, it had many highs and lows from seeing the teams mature and grow at Arrow and the fun of the Jaguar app build to the long period of uncertainty during April as to where to go next after deciding to move on from GigStamp.
Don’t give up
If there’s been a theme through much of this year it has been “don’t give up”. Finding the strength inside to persevere when it’s not clear what the right direction is has been hard. You’ve got to keep going, hold on to whatever is strong inside because you make it out in the end.
Build Stuff and have fun doing it ā¦ that pretty much sums up much of my childhood. Looking back, it is the times when I have been creating that have made me the most empowered and motivated. A life of simply being a consumer fills me with dread. It is what we add to this world which gives us our achievements and much fulfilment.
Having fun is in your control
I was born and grew up in (and near) a simple fishing town called Tabaco on the south of the main island (Luzon) in the Philippines. We didnāt have a lot, what we did have was significantly more than most of the people around us but what we all had was imagination.
Iāve found myself asking a question regularly during projects, from the very early days when I didnāt know what I wanted with my work till these days when I often mentor and lead other developers.
āDo you trust me?ā
Itās funny how itās meaning can be so different depending on the situation we find ourselves in, and yet the impact of itās answer consistently empowering ā¦ or productively destroying.
OK, so new year as kinda gone but so much happened last year I guess it has spilled over in to 2014.
The Big Move
The start of the was dominated by my family’s preparations for moving over to Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire.
This picture was taken one morning on my regular walk down to my office in the town centre. Slightly nicer commute than Streatham to London commuter train :o)
We were very excited about the move with only one main worry in my mind and that was that it would be a bit sleepy for us. On the contrary it seems it’s quite a happening place. I’ve met some really great people and been involved in some fun creative and techy meet-ups.
NB. This is an article I wrote a while back for .net magazine which seems to have disappeared when they transitioned to Creative Bloq
Every creative discipline has their own set of good practices and principles. They have evolved over time and are generally born out of common challenges that people in each industry face. I think there are many things we can learn from each other across the disciplines.
I have recently moved house and family away from London. It’s been a mixed experience leaving behind the on-the-doorstep opportunities of London and searching for new ways to be part of the web community. I’ve had a few big decisions to make, and in the process have met some really great people.
Pogo Kid
I decided that I couldn’t just let Pogo Kid go for the safety of a permanent role. I was sad to have to turn down a couple of really great opportunities but am excited about what I might be able to build. So I am now based just outside of Bath, England and working from a shared creative space in town.
It was a close call because 2 weeks before our flight, after a long search and two false starts we hadn’t found someone to live with us in Toronto and watch the kids while we were in lessons. Of course we only wanted the best, our amazing kiddies are very much our priority and if we couldn’t find someone who would love them as well as look after them then it would be better to call the whole thing off. But we trusted that this was the right thing to do and sure enough in a few days we were introduced to the lovely Brittany who had been hoping for an opportunity like this. It was amazing how it all worked out.
I have been away from permanent developer work on a 5 month course focusing on character, leadership and identity and have been impacted so much by the experience.
I’ve really missed the people I used to work with over at Aqueduct, they’re flippin amazing. It has me thinking: I want to always surround myself with passionate people. Our personal lives affect the standard of work we produce and the level of creativity we put in to our daily routines. Here are a few things I am learning.
I’ve been taking a look over all that has happened this year as it seems to have disappeared in a bit of a haze and there have been a few great things that I would like to remember 2011 for.
Projects and Work
At the beginning of the year I was running the front-end work on my own at Aqueduct. It was great to get Steve on board on the 17th of Jan (one of the best decisions of the year).
Dave Taylor - Software Engineer
