J.O.B.

Ahhh… the dreaded idea of getting a job. After several years of being tied to a desk, wearing a uniform and doing everything someone else’s way, I’m definitely enjoying this newfound sense of freedom that comes along with not having a job. Of course not everyone is as lucky to be able to not work, and eventually the day will come when I either have to or want to get back to the grind, but for now I’m just taking it day by day.

Of course any passionate designer would go stir crazy not working on something for this long, so in the meantime I have been filling my schedule with various student and other personal projects. Just enough to tide me over and keep me busy (when I want to be).

Since money isn’t really a driving factor for me, I do plan to do some “pro-bono” websites this summer and fall for friends and family. Once those are under my belt, along with the lessons learned from their construction, the most logical direction to go in would be to roll into freelance -- where I will most likely end up. My own hours, my own concepts, my own glory (or failure). Sounds like my kind of deal.

Pay for a freelance designer is completely based on their own drive. It’s how well they market themselves (something I will need to brush up on…) and how well they can manage their time. No more getting paid for watching YouTube videos at work…

Another advantage – you can do it from anywhere. Want to spend summers at your lake house in Wisconsin? Sure, pack up the computer and go. And there’s also the joy of avoiding the morning commute. No more rush hour traffic.

Someday I’ll get serious about working this all out, but right now just isn’t that time. It all sounds great, and it’s the direction I’m sure I’ll be going – I’m just in no rush to get there.

Firefox crowned victor in this battle.

I will admit, before I started getting too design savvy, I was one of the many people who was reluctant to try out Firefox despite the urgings of all my tech-y friends. In my mind, IE worked just fine so what was the deal? I don’t really remember what initially caused me to cross over – whether it was sheer peer pressure or IE displaying something (now not-surprisingly) wonky – but after some research I am left kinda wondering what IE is still doing out in the marketplace. According to browser usage statistics, not a whole lot anymore.

IE’s rates have dropped significantly over the past couple of years. Due to what? Probably the fact that their software is severely behind the times with current web technologies. If web designers need to code separately for their pages to display correctly within IE, that’s a sign that they either need to get with it or step out. Well, in my opinion at least.

I will say that I do still have IE installed on my laptop. Primarily to check for these discrepancies when I’m coding, but (very occasionally) I’ll sometimes pop it open if I’m in a hurry and just looking to grab something real quick. I’ll give them a small hand for their quick startup time. But that’s where it ends. Firefox has the market nailed. Not only are they current with the changing technologies, but all of their add-ons really allow users to customize their browsing experience.

Next browser trial will be Google Chrome, which is creeping up there in statistics also. While they appear to be just as good with displaying webpages (and quickly), I’m not sure on their customization – one of my favorite features of Firefox.