It’s officially been a year since I put “pen to paper” ( can we even use that phrase in this technology world) and started this blog. As I described in my first entry (The Reason) I had the idea for this blog for quite awhile before I actually decided to start writing it. What was the hang up? I could see a lot of potential problems with the blog. Some of which were:

In design and construction  we generally go through phases or scopes of work; programming, schematic design (SD), design development (DD), construction documentation (CD), construction administration (CA), to name the general descriptions. As a designer, I am general working through that process from start to finish.  What if someone wanted to learn more about the SD phase, when I am writing about phases beyond that – like I have been doing over the last year?

Another potential problem: How I could possibly write to people that are visual learners and not always be able to show them visual things; whether their are no images to share because of the phase we are working on or because the client didn’t want something shown.

This leads me to the biggest concern I had.  I spend a lot of my days working with clients that use us because we are good with our confidentially agreements; we don’t share information on projects that the client isn’t ready to share.

Though I resolved some of my scenarios before starting the blog, this last year was an exploration on these and other potential problems. I learned along time ago – though I am not always good at it – if we didn’t move until everything has been worked out or planned perfectly, very few things would be accomplished. Often successes (and failures) are found as we take a step into the dark. Sometimes each step allows you to see a little more into the dark, leading you on. But sometimes we don’t see that next candle of light, causing us to back track a little until we get our bearings again.

Some of the exploration is finding topics that interest you and hit the mark on what you don’t know designers do everyday but that you want to know that we do. Some of the most popular blogs were Redlining, Fire Ratings for Doors, and Custom Chair Carving Review. One that I enjoyed posting was Furniture Design Competition, because it allowed me to show personal designs and give some perspective on inner office interactions with the people you spend so much time with.

From where I stand I still see a little light leading me ahead and believe even more in the need and purpose of this blog than I did a year ago.   So, with that I push on. Even though there are many days I wonder what to write about – whether for lack of interesting content or because content just can’t be shared. I push on making this a priority with everything else in my priority bucket.  So as we continue this ride, let me know what specifics you would like to know more about. As I have said from the beginning, this format is about you. I don’t do this for me, I do it for you and to help people know more about design and how design contributes to the world around us.