What 8BIT taught me
A team of four departs. I reflect on what’s next.
It’s been an incredible ride but I’m here to announce that 8BIT is officially closed for business. — John Saddington
From our relationship starting as a happy accident discovery to knowing when refocusing brings closure 8BIT taught me a lot in such a short time. Ultimately, I say thank you. :)
Happy accident discovery
I can’t remember exactly when I heard of 8BIT. I stumbled upon this guy under the handle of @human3rror and then I discovered this design inspirational blog. Turns out I unofficially met two guys from the 8BIT team, John and Jared.
John taught me how to blog better.
Jared taught me that less is more.
Turns out they were part of this team called 8BIT. They were passionate about digital publishing and so was I.
We had a connection that neither of us knew about. It was merely a happy accident that I discovered John and Jared.
Desiring to live your dream
I wanted to build this publication that would be the only source for design news, inspiration, education and features focused on building a better tomorrow whether that be in fashion, cities or the interfaces behind a screen.
Why?
Well as a kid I loved playing with my Legos. Back then (I’m 24 now) sets weren’t the thing. Rather I had these giant buckets full of assorted bricks with a range in plates to place the bricks. I had the inhibited power of creating my own world; my own creations that I could destroy, rebuild and change. It was something I could show off.
Mom and Dad! Look at what I made.
The desire to live in a dream of mine was huge. It was no suprise to dream about having my own company where I had the priveledge of impacting thousands of lives. College helped discover who I was, what I loved and how I wanted to leave my mark.
And 8BIT helped take my desire even further.
Build fast and stop for the sake of starting something better
Summer 2012 is when it all went down. I was in the middle of building something called Resimplify and realized I needed help. I couldn’t do what I wanted to accomplish on my own. I needed support. Support that immediately screamed the 8BIT name.
I sent out an email one night. Yes. Just one email. I proposed a digital magazine that would focus on everything design. I displayed my passion and urge to create the best and only design magazine every new and aspiring designer would want to check.
They responded.
More emails were exchanged and finally a call was setup over Skype with Jared and Chris.
It felt like in some other universe we were all already working together because things just clicked. It was awesome!
In July 2012 Jared, Tom and I started building Resimplify. We set a launch deadline of November where we evaluate whether to continue with Resimplify or kill it around the turn of the new year.
November came, Resimplify launched and this is what it looked like…
The goal was to build fast, launch, create attention for their flagship product, Standard, and know that it may have to be stopped.
During the time of building, launching and running the site so much else was happening.
8BIT launched Analog, a new office, WP Daily, and every teammate was working on something of their own.
I quickly was losing interest in something I thought was my passion. Resimplify was gaining traction, but my interest was rapidly declining.
2013 was a year everything changed. Resimplify was stopped. I still loved the name but knew something better needed to start.
Refocusing brings better closure
The past few months have been crazy. And 8BIT has taught me you never know what could happen next. Just what’s right.
Months past when I told the team I need to depart the idea of Resimplify and think about what I wanted to do again.
No hard feelings and no enemies were created. Only lessons were learned.
Turns out John was creating this photo app for WordPress connoisseurs and Jared was being more involved in his wife’s lifestyle brand company, So Worth Loving.
Knowing what’s important in the short time we have requires constant focus. Turns out I didn’t know what my true passion was. I liked the name Resimplify and wanted to create a company, but the details were very foggy.
I’m still in refocus mode whereas the 8BIT has moved on.
They are always one step ahead of me.
Whether they are under the name of 8BIT or not they will always remain the first four guys who taught me what mattered most to me.
From an immediate passion to a more difficult realization of what needed to be done next John, Jared, Chris, and Tom brought me good closure…
Just so happens that they closed their doors for business.
What’s next
Recently I aimed for a higher position at my current job. I wasn’t able to obtain the position. This and the new of 8BIT mixed what they’ve taught me brings me back to building Resimplify. I’m returning to what originally inspired me and continues to inspire me.
To be continued…
Continuing to do something we all love is inevitable. It’s uncertain what that may be everyday. What’s certain is you learn and form relationship along the way to prepare you for what’s next.
Thanks again guys! :)
