I’ve worked as a freelance designer for most of my career. Which, for most cases, implies that I’ve worked with many different people operating under very different structures and with even more diverse visions.

Failed successfully my plan of freelancing for 2 years. It lasted for 8 years And I’m glad I did it for so long. You can’t miss what you don’t know, right?

Beyond the benefit of a widening my network, my core belief was that being exposed to ways of working I’m unfamiliar with, would help me grow. This gave me the advantage of being less strict about my own process while gaining perspective to what really matters.
I felt like I could anticipate what was a consequence of something unresolved, more often due to lack of prioritisation. We’re all too familiar with the notion that it’s easier to justify working against a hard deadline for something that pays the bills, then a self-paced project with soft deadlines. Where everything is on you.

This doesn’t mean that work—and life at large—is just a sandbox. Instead, it gives me the chance to constantly evaluate if what I’m doing is ultimately what I should be doing. I’ve crystalised this thought a while ago through the idea of let the idea define the output.
That said, in my whole career, I never had such an incredible opportunity to learn as I’m currently having at Automattic. It’s embedded in their DNA. It’s culture. And that makes a diference in how and who you choose to hire. And for that I feel lucky to be part of the team.

When asked what I care about, I often say curiosity. Which is a word that can conveniently branch out to many other things such as growth, empathy, enlightment, confusion and the list goes on. That common denominator is that curiosity demands some form of activity and discovery.

There is as much beauty in understanding as there is in confusion or ambiguity. And if you’re reading this, you likely share an interest in tech, design or some sort of interest where AI is getting tangled with what once was familiar and mostly predictable.
And, at times, the 20 watts our brain works with struggle to keep up with the giga—wasteful—watts of energy that AI demands. Reflect on that next time you’re discussing efficiency with your team.

And if you disagree with this. That’s cool too. I’m curious and I’m here to learn.

At times it’s exhausting but that’s what my subconscious committed to.

The typographic effect on this page was made with telex.automattic.ai