Today is nine months to the day since I moved into this little studio for a sabbatical leading to who knows what. These days when I run into people I haven't seen in a while, they usually ask, So what are you doing? meaning work, and I’m always a little vague or incomplete in my response. "Just doing my thing," I say sometimes. A blawg is a good place to lay out the whole story.
I started working with Oregon Council for the Humanities several months ago. The relationship began very serendipitously and gradually, and before we knew it, we were working together on a branding overhaul complete with new name, logo, identity, online presence, short film and collateral. The work breaks this fall.
I’m also working with the Infectious Diseases Research Instititute, a Gates- and NIH-funded biotech working on the world’s neglected diseases. Again, I’m working with them on an extreme makeover/brand edition which includes the whole works. I’m in the thick of the process and enjoying it. Chris Hornbecker just finished shooting wonderful portraits of all the scientists.
My first official client, Imperial Woodpecker, is rolling on their own now, successful in only the way Stacy Wall can be, and executing their own stuff based on the identity Fredrik and I created for them, noted in blawgy detail elsewhere.
I have a couple of other things brewing. Starting to look at whether I continue getting my work done working with my team of freelancers and consiglieres - Patrick Long drew these portraits - or whether it's time to hire someone fulltime. That will unfold over the next few months.
The last 9 months have been helpful in reminding me why I'm here, what I love to do, what I offer the world, the kind of people I like to work with, the way I like to work, and the sort of work that I like to create. I haven’t enjoyed myself like this in my work in a long time.
