
Yesterday on June 28th I turned 28. Of course I always think my birthday is important but this year I was especially excited because 28 has always been a special number... hence being born on the 28th. 27 was a pretty sweet year... I earned my Masters in Graphic Design and got a job teaching at
Shepherd. I got a cute little apartment in the adorable town of Frederick, Maryland and even found a sweet and amazing guy to hang with, AJ.
Turning 28 has got me thinking about where I was 5 years ago when I graduated from college and started my professional career. I bought my first domain
twentyfree.com and had this to say about it...
"on June 28th [2004], I turn 23. Yes, 23. That's freaking old in my opinion. Number wise anyway, cuz honestly I still feel 18 and still look 16. When I was 12 and thought of the age of 23, I thought I'd be married with a kid, a house, and a dog. Boy was I totally wrong huh? But my life is perfect and I'm right on track, so no worries. At 23, I'm still a kid. So I first wanted to name it something like twentythreeforward, meaning this is me at twenty three and on. Then I just came up with twentyfree. Sounds funny when you say it out loud, looks cool typographically (double letters are always rad), and I knew if I just didn't choose something soon, I never would. So, that's that, twentyfree."
Now 5 years later I'm thinking 28 sounds pretty freaking old, but doesn't quite feel that way. There is still so much I want to accomplish and equally as much time to do so! At 23 I had 3 goals in life. One was to design snowboard graphics... ummm
check. I also wanted to eventually go back to school so I could teach graphic design... yeah
check. My last goal, and one I'd still hold on to is to one day have my own all girl skate/snow shop. I don't know if that will happen... but statistically... it will. Maybe once I pay off all my grad school loans. ;)
So that leads me to the thought of now that I'm 28... what should my goals be... professionally of course. It's not an answer that comes as easily as it did 5 years ago. I think I just have too many to be so specific. But the most important thing is that I keep designing from my heart. I was never one to design something to win awards or to have people know my name... I always designed because it was my passion. Being in the competitive environment of grad school I started to lose a little bit of that. I started doubting my talents and questioning my ability. But now that I'm a sophisticated and mature 28 year old woman (haha), there will be no more of that crap. This is also something I hope to pass on to others.
After a few years of twentyfree, I changed my domain to
design equals love. It's not just a group of words I thought looked cool typographically but my motto as a designer. Whether you're working with clients, designing your own line of greeting cards, or at a huge corporate design firm — remember why you started designing. Me? I got in it to inspire others. At first it was to inspire girls of all ages to pick up a snowboard and ride. It was also to get my students excited to find their own passion. I also got into it for a truly selfish reason... because it makes me happy. So my goal for the next 5 years (and more) is to design passionately and from my heart. It's why I started and what keeps me going.
I don't know where I'll be 5 years from now... but I promise to keep my goals close to my heart... as long as you do too!