Thank You Foraker Labs

Today is a little bittersweet for me as this will be my last day at Foraker Labs. About a month ago I accepted an offer at Mapleton Hill Media to jump on board as their Senior Designer/Creative Director. A lot of thought and prayer from both my wife and me went into making this decision, as I have absolutely loved working at Foraker Labs with some of the most talented people I have ever met. It was also a tough decision after having received a few offers late last year, including one from Disney Interactive; I turned them down to stay on board with Foraker Labs, as I felt this was where I needed to be.

The new Foraker Labs logo

Since making the decision to stay, I have enjoyed taking on the challenge of helping shift Foraker Labs into their new direction of primarily being a Ruby on Rails shop and no longer focusing on marketing websites. In this process I was able to help them re-brand and create a new image that would help sell their credibility as a creative and very talented development shop to both their clients and industry peers. I have to say, it has gone beautifully. They have received nothing but good remarks on their new image.

While working at Foraker Labs, I have been able to be a part of creating user interfaces for some amazing web apps, and I am very happy to have been a part of each of them.

Front End Team - Love these guys

Since the shift in direction my day to day here at Foraker Labs has changed quite a bit, as Foraker has shifted away from some of my main passions in design, marketing, branding and WordPress development. I felt that it may be time for me to move on something that will continue to give me the opportunity to improve/evolve my skills in other areas than just UI design. That said, I felt that joining the great folks over at Mapleton Hill would be the best move for my career and family. I am excited to jump on board and help build up their design department, as well as work on various design and WordPress projects. I will also have the opportunity to dabble in iPhone/iPad development, which I am very excited about. Plus I get to work with this guy.

Along with working for Mapleton Hill, I will be pushing my freelance work a little more, as it has really begun to take off over the past few years. So I have moved from “Giblette Design” and have founded Fawn Creative LLC, a web & mobile design shop, as a side project with a few developer/designer friends and I am excited about the possibilities it will bring as well.

Foraker Labs, it’s been real. I will miss the nerf wars, hack lunches, my birthday twin, kickball, being the only sober employee at company parties, Fronston (or what’s left of him), random band sessions, office dogs, “if ya know what I mean” jokes… and the list goes on. All in all, I will really miss Foraker Labs and I will always remember the great memories I have made here but I am also ready for the new challenges/memories that await.

Side Note: Foraker Labs is currently looking for a User Interface Designer. If you’re a rock star UI designer/developer and are looking for a fantastic place to work with some amazingly talented people, be sure to apply.