What I hope to achieve in 2013

2013

At the start of the year, I think of what it could possibly bring, and what potential the year could possibly bring to my career, as well as what I want to achieve in that space of time. 2013 is no exception, and there are many things I am hopeful of achieving as well as many things I want to do over the course of the year, so I thought I’d list out some of the things I hope will happen over the course of the year.

Cue the somewhat cheesy remarks, if you will, but I guess we all like to wonder what each other wants to achieve over some time, so I’ll introduce some of mine. 2012 was a very experiencing if somewhat complicated year (becoming a designer full time, learning more about what I do, becoming more confident in certain areas), and with that in mind, I’m hoping 2013 will be no exception and will be full of more experiences and excitement to come. Here’s what I hope will happen over the course of the year, as well as what I want to achieve in 2013.

More Collaborations with professional designers and developers

Being experienced in both the fields of both Web Design and Front End Development, I’m more than happy to work with both sides of the spectrum, as to help them achieve their ideas and potential. I’ve gotten to know some cool designers and developers, and I’m always willing to know more awesome people, particularly people who can pass on their wisdom and learn more ways in this business. I also want to know more designers and developers in the UK, as to get to know them closer to home, or even so much as meet them. Coffee, anyone? ;-)

I also want to stick by closely with professionals, and even so much as work with them; wether it be a freelancer, agency or business, I’m always open to meet new people and would love to collaborate with others so it gives them a chance to know each other, professionally and even personally.

Get really hardcore with design

In 2012, I was doing a lot more development work than design work, and the worst thing to feel when doing that is feeling you’re losing your skills. I always like to revisit the odd design or do something random to assure myself, that I’m still on top of my skills. However, I know there’s a lot more I can achieve, and I’m wanting to push myself to achieve work I can be proud of. I often look back at old stuff I’ve made in the past, and while there’s a lot of my old stuff I consider passé, mostly because I think I could’ve achieved better, but there’s a lot of my old stuff I really miss doing (textures, messy and illustrative styles), that I’d love to indulge back into and possibly contribute to my current works where necessary.

Another horse I’d like to come back onto, is designing Icons for iOS. It’s been a very long while since I’ve done that, and it was a lot of fun making various designs and ideas in that format. Dribbble has a lot of amazing iOS designers, and some of their icons are inspiring as well as stimulating to see.

Do some more travelling

There’s a point when you work that you really need to stop and realise, you need to quit while you’re ahead, otherwise, you could just go insane. As much as you can be an absolute workaholic, there’s a point you need to stop every so often, and have a short break. Travelling is one way to spend it, it can be very inspiring and also illuminating to see more of the world. One thing I’d love to achieve in 2013 is to travel a bit more, and meet different professionals along the way. I’d certainly love to visit different parts of the UK, or the World, and visit new places, as well as meet professionals in this industry. It feels great when you meet, and get to know, a renowned professional in this industry, it’s always exciting!

Contribute more towards the community

As a designer and developer, I think it’s great when you have something to contribute to the community, as well as the community helping you with your contributions, and vice versa. Last November, I released strppd.css, a CSS reset that covers the essentials and strips them bare of their default properties. Feedback on strrpd has been excellent, and I hope to add more contributions in front end code over time. I have a few little ideas in mind, and hopefully people will find them very resourceful, as well as learn more from these contributions.

Become a WordPress Professional

If there’s on thing I’ve come to love over the last few years, it’s WordPress. WordPress is the first CMS I’ve used, and it’s one I’ve held onto hard. In 2012, I began to learn so much more about WordPress than I already knew, and now it’s time to push it to the absolute limit. There’s always something new to learn about WordPress, and as a Theme Developer, I think it’s time to contribute some professional themes, as the while making WordPress my primary form of work, as well as doing front end design. Whether it’s a basic CMS, Protfolio, Blog or even more, I love pushing my boundaries with WordPress.

I know a lot of people have a lot of mixed opinions for WordPress, and while there are things I don’t like about it either (automatic paragraphs, anyone?), it’s still a very popular piece of Software, and I only see myself going further and further with it. I also want to help others with WordPress, advise them and give them confidence in developing for such a great CMS. I’m looking forward to see what 2013 brings for me and WordPress, and hopefully we’ll do great things together.

What do you hope to achieve?

Now you know some of the things I want to achieve in the current year, and hopefully it’ll be an exciting year for everyone in the web design and development industry. It’s also bound to be a fun and jumping year, but it’s also great to know what everyone else hopes to achieve in the new year. So tell me; what do you hope to do in 2013?

Written by Iain MacDonald

Iain MacDonald is a Web Designer and Developer from Glasgow, Scotland. He likes clean code, functionality, and vibrant design. You can find Iain on Twitter, Dribbble or at his Website.

3 Comments

  1. Matt said on January 7, 2013

    Loved this Iain. Sounds like you know exactly what you’d like to accomplish this year and that’s fantastic. Great to have that seed planted in your mind so you can work towards something.

    I look forward to seeing all the new stuff you can come up with. Have a great new year and I’m sure we’ll talk soon.

    PS: Come to the US in your travels!

    Reply
    • Iain said on January 7, 2013

      Thanks Matt! When I was heading into this year, I had a fair idea of what I want to achieve, and hopefully it will prove fruitful. If 2012 was anything to go by, I can expect some great things to happen this year. There’s been some things I’ve been wanting to do for a very long while, and I think this year will be very productive as well as making these plans come true.

      Have a good new year, and I’m sure we’ll speak very soon. :-)

      P.S. Such a trip is on the cards… ;-)

  2. Adam said on May 29, 2013

    This year has been going super fast. I hope you are achieving your goals and getting back into design.

    Reply

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