Recap

A boring story of how the last year passed

I actually planned not to recap the old year, but accountability is something I plan to do more in the new year, so here goes.

2013 was awesome. I learned to work, I learned to read. I learned to love, and then let go. People and jobs, our relationship with these elements are not as different as we might think.

I created a heap of websites this year, coming straight out of a fast learning period 2012 December. I learned to work with people and money, and I got owed a lot. I quit two jobs this year, one for no passion for the job and a heap of debt; the other because I wasn’t learning anymore.

Interestingly I quit two women this year too, one because she was a lot more than I could handle and the other cos she needed to move on from me. I’m not exactly one to plan a marriage with.

I learnt the most in the last month of the year, learning new stuff like Github, Cake PHP and Angular JS. The previous months were spent shedding light to the rowdy learning process of December 2012, understanding things a little better and working more effectively. I was yearning to have product sometime in the middle of the year, as I wanted to phase out of being a petty designer.

The products I designed that managed to push include grumi.ng and extensive work on cart.com.ng

I did way more websites than applications, and the latter–which I term as product–is a direction I really want to focus on this year. Some of my favorite jobs in the year include:

Grumi, Retold, Ndani Resolutions, Purpl Signatures, Cart, ElizabethR and MIAbaga.

These are the ones that have managed not to look like shit to me weeks and months after I pushed them live.

I put more purpose into my work, more essence. I explored thoughtful design, UX, and talked so much about product I have decided on getting a masters in product design after uni. Oh, about uni, I can’t wait to finish sometime in the middle of this year.

I tweeted a lot too; as a major distraction, as a drunkard in a bar of silly people and as a preacher of design. Mostly as a drunkard anyway. There’s so much useful structured information and brilliant people I follow too. Yes, I do think the information on twitter, in the bits and pieces it comes in, is perfectly structured for me.

I read much more than the last year. Roughly ten books and a zillion articles on design and general stuff. Say I used Pocket half as much as my Twitter favorites, I’d have a little more data on just how much reading I did last year.

I saved much money than all my other years on Earth combined, and I spent three times as much. If I didn’t spend any money this year, and lived off the little money my parents doled out every month, I would be looking at about 2 million naira saved now. I know that doesn’t move you, but that’s a huge deal for me.

I traveled out of Africa for the first time. London, and then Dubai, with my brother. It was an amazing experience and I’ve decided to travel a lot more this year. I probably won’t be traveling out of the country every month–if I do at all–but I plan to explore, and document Nigeria. I hope discovery apps launch in good time.

Happy 2013. Yas, yas, bring it on 2014.