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!
Congrats on the birthday and thanks for inspiring all of us and staying true to who you are and your passions!!!
Posted by: Jen Lula | June 30, 2009 at 01:02 PM