Where I’m at with my 2023 GOALS

Does anyone else feel tired all of the time? It’s only February and that warm, exciting glow of the new year has all but dimmed into the realities of a busy life. I thought I would take some time to post my 2023 plans somewhere public, reflect on them now since we’re a month and a half in, and then reflect on them again a few months down the road to see what I’ve accomplished.

My 2023 GOALS and a quick update on each:

1. Take my own, new headshots
   • Haven’t done this yet, but to be fair, have had both covid (AGAIN😭) and the flu since the new year began… so I’ll take it easy on myself.
   • GOAL: do this
     


2. Start posting a blog each week called (Design or Otherwise)
   • This will only be my second blog, but it’s a start!
   • My idea is to categorize this blog by Graphic Design, Interior Design, Personal manifestos, Short stories, and other? Maybe. I think this one could be considered a personal manifesto.
     


3. Update my personal brand/Re-do my website/portfolio
   • Holy sh** I actually did this already! Well, I haven’t updated my portfolio, but that’s to come. A few weeks back I took the one and a half days that it takes a graphic designer to update their graphically designed website and update it with new graphic design and I did it. I’m extremely happy with my updated site, with a new color palette and fitting type choices. I’ve kept the same wordmark/logo that I’ve used for about 2 years now, but completely revamped the content of my site, including adding this blog! My last site no longer felt like me, and it’s so important for designers to be proud of their work, and really own it in a space they’re proud of. I might write a blog about that in the future…stayed tuned.
     


4. Do a data vis project for fun
   • The last data visualization project I did was for a job application over two years ago…Since then I’ve designed a few pie charts and bar graphs here and there, but I haven’t messed with any really interesting or difficult data in some time. You ever feel like you’re losing your edge? Use it, or lose it, and I don’t want to lose my skills in this arena, especially when I love it so much. A few ideas for data vis projects I could do include: 2023 Oscar data: Where did the nominated films premiere? Streaming vs. box office? Does this affect likeability/reviews? Or maybe something around the most important work benefits in each generation? That could be interesting.
     


5. Sell some t-shirt designs and merchandise
   • I’ve dabbled in linocut t-shirt printing and creating fun stickers here and there, but I think it’s time to really find something I enjoy making, with my hands, and putting it out there for others to enjoy as well. I designed and crafted (with the help of my family) my little sister’s wedding invitations back in September. I had so much fun doing this, and think it would be a great service offering to put out on Etsy, or simply advertise through word-of-mouth. Here’s a photo of what the invites looked like, complete with a vellum overlay, and silver foiling (which is hard to appreciate in this photo):
     
     


6. Learn how to do a shopify or woocommerce integration
   • As with the last goal, I think it would be extremely fun to create and then sell on my own platform. I would also love to help clients out with building e-commerce sites. For me, this biggest hurdle is finding the best option to build with. If you have any suggestions, let me know!
     


7. Prototype Brianna’s and my business idea in Figma
   • Brianna came to me with an extremely interesting business idea a year or two back, and I haven’t shaken it since. I’ve come up with a mission and vision, and the next logical thing for me to do is create a whole brand for it… right? I don’t know anything about attaining start-up funding, or much about conducting market research to even see if this idea is good or not, but if anything, it would make for a great experiment in creating a brand and designing a website that could possibly become a reality one day. More on this late.

This exercise in visiting my goals was actually quite liberating. If you’re feeling stuck, or unsatisfied with your progress the past few weeks, reflect on the little things you have done. Maybe they weren’t so little!

So long, fellow designer. Until next time.

Emma