This list is a direct response to every client interaction we’ve ever had. It’s an acknowledgement that the design process is complex, unpredictable, and personal — and sometimes a little too much for all of us.

This is our manifesto

This list is also an opportunity to align our personal and professional selves. It’s an admission that — as people and as professional designers — we cannot disable our love for the potential of design.

So we’ve taken a look back at our most successful projects, identified the things that really worked, and distilled them down to these 11 things. For the first time, we’re asking all of our new clients to read and agree to these things before we sign a contract. That’s a pretty big deal.

Each of these things addresses a specific part of the design process, and each of them establishes an understanding between us and our clients that provides the best chance so far that we’re all working towards the same goal.

Collectively, they frame a vision of Oxide’s future that allows for more opportunities to solve problems, realize meaningful change, help people, and make sense of the world.

Oxide 10th anniversary logo made with LEGOs

I’m not even sure what I expected Oxide would be after ten years, but I could hardly have dreamed of being where we’re at now. Oxide has grown to four full-time employees, we’ve won every design award I could hope for, we’re a nationally-recognized expert on ballot and election design, and now we even have our own bus rolling the streets of Omaha.

I won’t drag you too far down memory lane, but suffice it to say we’ve had our trials and tribulations, along with unexpected surprises and joyous successes. We’ve generated a lot of design work that I’m immensely proud of, and I continue to love coming to work every day. Even more importantly, the great team we have at Oxide makes me excited for what we’ll be able to accomplish in the future.

A few different people have asked me what I’m most proud of having done over the ten years (other than simply keeping a small business running and vibrant for well past the national average). For me, it’s being able to do something I love in support of the causes I believe in. I’m happy to say that it’s becoming more fashionable for service-oriented businesses to donate some of their time to charitable causes, with some national movements suggesting design firms give 10% of their time to non-profits. But since the very first days of Oxide, employing design in support of others has been about more than meeting quotas or doing the bare minimum.

I’ll also note that Oxide would not be where we are today without a great set of corporate clients, from one-person startups to Fortune 500 companies. Their trust in our abilities has allowed us to create effective design solutions to help them achieve their business goals. One in particular bears mentioning again: Vic Gutman & Associates was Oxide’s very first client, and they played an integral role in helping Oxide become what it is today. Thanks to Vic, Mindy and the whole VGA team!

Thank you to all of our clients, partners, vendors, supporters, and friends who have helped us achieve this great milestone!

Creating this site has been a dream come true; we’re doing some amazing things here. Not only is the design great, but the functionality behind the scenes allowed me to challenge my abilities. Everything you see going on in the site has been meticulously crafted in order to make it easy for all the guys here at Oxide to create really great looking layouts in blog posts and project pages. Going forward, you’ll see some really nice things happening that should make this site more enjoyable for everybody.

The countdown page, just before launch. This allowed us to launch the site in the background without you seeing all of the ugly details.

The site comes fully loaded with a ton of great features:

1. HTML5 & CSS3, complete with all those fancy semantic tags and even a few transition animations.
2. A plugin (written by me) which allows for the addition of pull-quotes in post text.
3. A plugin (written by me) which allows for the meticulous ordering of posts, which helps us make the project pages so awesome.
4. Dynamically-sized images which we can change on-the-fly, giving us a great deal of control and versatility when presenting images on the portfolio and project pages.
5. Varied presentation of different image types, giving greater flexibility to the appearance of portfolio pieces. This includes a randomized shadow under some images, giving a more unique feeling than a typical drop-shadow.
6. Better association of blog posts with portfolio pieces, combining every relevant piece of information about a project on a single page.
7. A vastly improved and highly usable comment form. Write a comment, it will make you happier.
8. Searchable portfolio content, and improved overall search functionality. (The search pages work beautifully, by the way – you should search for something now.)
9. Full integration of Avenir® Next, Oxide’s corporate typeface.

Welcome back from trying the new search functionality! (You did go and try it, didn’t you?) I’m sure there are a few more awesome things going on that I’m not remembering, but the point is that overall, a lot of hard work has gone into this not only by me, the code guy, but by everybody here at Oxide pulling together and making this new site happen. Joe will have to tell you about the amazing design for the site, Adam will have to tell you about all the photography, and Drew will have to talk about the arduous task of overseeing such a massive project and seeing that it actually came to completion.

But wait, there’s more!

I should also inform you that this isn’t everything. We still have plenty of enhancements and improvements to bring to the table, so keep coming back and keep clicking around, the site is only going to get better from here.

I’ve dreaded writing this one. Today is it. It’s the last day of my internship. I’ve tried to figure out why I’m so attached to this internship and these guys. Oxide has been wonderful. Truly great, but why is it this hard to say “See ya later”?

Kelsey Janda self-portrait part 3

My best friend is my brother, Aaron. We’re so similar and yet so opposite. He’s nine years older than me. He’s a graphic designer, photographer, husband, and dad. He likes superhero movies. Spiderman is his favorite, and he can’t stand 3D movies. He’s meticulous and likes taking his time on whatever he’s trying to accomplish. If his job allowed it, he’d wear a superhero/nerd/graphic-design-inside-joke t-shirt and jeans every day. He likes Legos, and going to midnight showings of movies. When we get together, we like eating Mexican food, talking about our lives, showing each other our recent work, and talking about new movies coming out.

For those of you who know Oxide and the guys that work here, does this remind you of anyone? Working with Drew, Joe, Adam, and Drew is like working with Aaron every day. So, today, when I leave, it’s like leaving my best friend.

I’ve tried my best to describe Oxide, but I don’t think I can do it justice until I’ve introduced you to the guys, the way I know them. So, here we go:

Drew (Davies)

He saw a need for good information design in Omaha. Instead of trying to fix it quickly, he put together a brilliant solution that all of Omaha has benefitted from for the past ten years: Oxide Design Co.

If you hung out at Oxide for a day, you’d find out Drew likes a lot of things. Such as: unique-looking watches that don’t necessarily have to work, Aquaman, lighting his Lego scene, and using a notebook with Loverboy on the cover as his sketchbook.

Joe

He teaches a creativity course at Metropolitan Community College. And quite honestly, I think he’d be one of the coolest teachers to have. He teaches the way he’d want to be taught as a young graphic designer. He’s quick to listen and thoroughly thinks out advice and critique.

Here’s an inside look: Joe is one of the most quoted designers out of Nebraska. “Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.” Joe adds the simplicity. He’s the guy you want going through your design with a fine-tooth comb because in the end it will be better. It will be Great™ design.

Adam

He plays a huge part in almost every logo constructed in the last four years at Oxide. His logo ideas are brilliant from the way they’re crafted to the first idea behind it all. He’s also one of the few people that can pick up a nice DSLR, snap some photos, and produce fantastic photography. Oh, and did I mention he’s a pretty great illustrator as well?

Here’s what you don’t know: Adam likes giving his time to Big Brother Big Sisters. He’s a “Big Brother” to a ten-year-old little boy. Whenever I call Adam over to my computer to look at a design, I usually picture him running over with pom-poms. I know he’s going to encourage me, cheer me on. He’s going to encourage me to keep thinking and solve more of the problem. Or he’s going to celebrate a design victory with me.

Drew (Gourley)

Drew has never said no to a web assignment. He’s never responded with, “I don’t know how” or “I can’t do that”. Even if the web task Oxide is asking him to do is impossible, he tries for a least an hour to create code that would make it possible.

Now you know. You know why I love Oxide so much, why it’s hard to leave. These four men are the unique puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together to make Oxide. No one could ever fill their shoes. They’re all the best at what they do.

When I walk out the back door this afternoon and get into my car to leave, it’s going to take everything in me to not run back in and say, “Just kidding! I’ll stay. I’ll be the permanent intern. Nope, not ready to enter the real world yet!”

I know it’s time. They’ve poured so much knowledge and experience into me. I’ve learned, collaborated, and designed with the best design firm in town. And it’s been an honor.

But what do I know? I was just the intern.

It started off like any other Monday morning. I got in at 9, checked my e-mail, and then made a quick trip to Bucky’s with the guys.

We sat down at the concepting table like we do every Monday morning for our traffic meeting. It usually consists of going through the open jobs list after we spend about an hour talking about our weekend, or less than an hour (depending on if we all had lame weekends or not).

Kelsey Janda self-portrait part 2

I mentioned applying for my school loan, the prices for tuition rising, and still not knowing why I was going back. That was it. That was all it took.

Two hours later, we hadn’t gone through the job list or the exciting events of our weekend. No, the four men (who cared enough to wait a month while I traveled to China and back to let me start my internship) pushed aside their own schedules to explain to me why, in their opinion, I didn’t need to go back to school. It wasn’t about them or why having me around longer benefitted them. No, it was about my future.

This is a debate I started with myself months before Oxide. After about two hours of me silently listening to them explain their views, there really wasn’t much to say. So, the idea (that a few months back I thought might be a fun risk) turned into a reality. A week before school started, I said goodbye to homework, professors, and the label of “student”.

This wasn’t the first time these guys were solely looking out for my future. You see, they’re some of the most selfless people I know. Each project they’ve given me has been presented as, “Hey, Kelsey. I think this might be a fun project for you to do.” But it’s been so much more than that.

The projects have ranged from really small things to really big projects (literally). Catalog edits, office photos, 20 by 80 foot banner, save-the-date card, simple homepage, newsletter, poster, and brochure. They’ve even hired me as a freelance designer for a logo. In all these projects, they’ve cared more about me getting the experience than what they get out of it.

I realize this story, like the last, has a lot of me in it, but this says so much more about them. Oxide has brought me in on concept meetings, client meetings, and team meetings, and asked for my thoughts, ideas, and honest opinions. Believe me, they didn’t need them, but they wanted them. They wanted to give me the experience, to let me have a say in a big or small way, and to know how to handle this process in the future when I won’t be here.

You can make an argument about all of this and what their intentions could be. But when you hang out with these guys for 3 months (and some odd days) or 30 minutes, you can tell there’s something different. They’re not the big agency type looking out for only the thickness of their wallet or awards folder. They’re better.

But what do I know? I’m just the intern.

Note: Kelsey Janda was an intern at Oxide during the summer of 2011. See her portfolio of work at kelseyjanda.com. And we honestly did not bribe her to write this – but we are most definitely flattered.

I didn’t have a clue who Oxide was until 15 minutes before Joe Sparano reviewed my portfolio. Here’s the story:

I walked up to the board where all the postings were listed. There were already a handful of my classmates crowding the area. Portfolio review night is required at the Creative Center. Well, if you want to graduate it is. Finally I got to the front and searched the list of student names and professionals. I wasn’t really thinking about internships. I was going to China for a month just two days after school ended. I was missing graduation and in my mind, any chance of holding a summer internship.

Kelsey Janda self-portrait part 1

I smiled when I found my 9 o’clock appointment. It was with a woman from a well-known agency in town. An agency I could potentially see myself working at. Then my eyes scanned across my 8:30 appointment. Oxide? Joe Sparano? Who? It was 8:15 and I had 15 minutes to find the closest computer to Google “Oxide Design Co.”

I was early to my appointment to meet Joe. When he was ready, I sat down. He told me he wanted me to go through my portfolio and explain my projects. He wouldn’t comment until the end. So, that’s exactly what I did. He didn’t really say much. At the end he closed my portfolio and sighed. At this point I almost went into panic mode. The last time my portfolio was reviewed by a professional, the guy ripped it apart, told me all my efforts to make every piece mine weren’t good enough, and basically tore my heart out.

So, when a really long pause followed the long sigh… I was a tad worried. But the exact opposite happened. He said he was going to be honest with me. Panic. He said I didn’t need to go through a third year of schooling. What? He said it was the best portfolio he’d seen at the Creative Center. Huh? He said I was good; really good. He asked about an internship. My heart sank. The next five minutes were filled with my explanation about China.

The next day, Friday, I sent Joe a thank you e-mail. I mentioned I was still interested in an internship some day in the future. The following Wednesday I received an e-mail from Drew Davies. This was the e-mail that made all the difference. Here’s part of it, “The internship is a 10-hours-a-week unpaid position, which generally lasts the months of June, July, and August. (Understood that you’re in China for most of June, which wouldn’t be a problem.)”

It’s crazy how much a phrase encompassed by parentheses can change everything.

After a long interview with a dog on each side of me in the “conference room” and an even longer conversation about my schooling, here I am.

I’ve always been a little bit of a rule breaker. Obviously it’s September and I’m still here and I’m not in school. Instead, I hang out 20 to 30 hours a week here. And this is the start of a series instead of just one blog post. See: rule breaker.

Before I could tell you anything about these guys, you had to know this story. You had to know they became a small part of my life before I even became an official intern, before they became a big part of my life.

There are a few more stories to be told. Stories with more them and a lot less me. Them being Oxide. Oxide being… a pretty big deal.

But what I do I know? I’m just the intern.

Note: Kelsey Janda was an intern at Oxide during the summer of 2011. See her portfolio of work at kelseyjanda.com. And we honestly did not bribe her to write this – but we are most definitely flattered.

Traditionally, design has meant graphic design. But that’s become too narrow a label for our skills as creative problem-solvers and clear communicators. In the new definition of design, these skills are the real value that designers bring to any situation — skills that have become essential to making sense of our ridiculously (and increasingly) complicated world.

On the board, my goal is to demonstrate that value to non-designers. I want to help our community understand that design can (and should) play a bigger role. I’ll be making all kinds of new connections: with organizations that can utilize these skills in brand new ways, high school students considering a design career, and other artists that share our passion for purposeful creativity.

The position was inspired by AIGA national, who is helping designers come to terms with their own potential. In AIGA’s mandate for 2014, AIGA challenges itself to find new ways for designers to assume a bigger role in their community. And in The Living Principles for Design, they’ve outlined a revolutionary approach for design sustainability — not just environmentally, but socially and culturally.

This is huge stuff, and it’s going to take time for designers — and especially the community at large — to understand what it all means. But I’m happy to be playing a part (along with the other AIGA Nebraska board members) in figuring it out.

Drew Davies sitting on the EAC roundtable

I was invited to participate because of my experience in election design, along with Oxide’s role in co-authoring the EAC’s national ballot design guidelines. My fellow panelists were: Amy Bunk, chairperson of PLAIN; Elizabeth Ensley Deiter, Election Commissioner of Shawnee County, KS; Ron Gardner, U.S. Access Board member; Larry Herrera, City Clerk of Long Beach, CA; Wendy Underhill of the National Conference of State Legislatures; and Whitney Quesenbery, usability and plain language expert.

The EAC roundtable covered a wide range of topics, including plain language, ballot design best practices, increasing accessibility in elections, the effects of state legislation on elections, and various real-world examples of how election officials can improve the voting process in their jurisdictions. The webcast is over six hours long, but if you don’t have time to watch the whole program, here’s a few points of interest:

• 3:13:30 – I discuss using color functionally and consistently in ballot design (including getting to reference “bears & kittens” in a discussion on election design).
• 5:47:15 – Whitney Quesenbery sums up her thoughts on the salient take-aways from the day.
• 5:51:30 – I reiterate my top three points from the day’s discussion, and share my broader thoughts on the practice of evolving election design.

The stated purpose of the roundtable was to “host a national discussion about designing ballots and polling place signs, and how simple design principles yield huge benefits for the American electorate.” I think the event exceeded those goals; it was truly inspiring to see this collection of experts come together to work collectively towards improving the voting experience for everyone. I can honestly say that I’m very proud to be devoting a portion of my career towards my ultimate goal (stated at the 5:54 mark of the webcast) that “every eligible voter can vote confidently and accurately in every election”.

July 13–19 cover of of Shout! Weekly

1. Tell us about your job, what you do, and why you chose this career?

I am the owner and design director of Oxide Design Co., a communications and information design firm founded in 2001. Half of our work is traditional graphic design: identity, branding, print, and website design. The other half is information design: redesigning forms and processes, and improving ballot and election design. I chose a career in design because it was the perfect place to combine my artistic abilities with my obsessive compulsive tendencies, in order to help create clarity in the world.

2. What is your favorite part of living in Omaha?

Its combination of traditional midwestern honesty and work ethic with a dynamic, innovative, metropolitan feel.

3. What could Omaha do to be more attractive to young professionals?

Continue to shift our thought process in a more progressive way. Young professionals often aren’t at a stage yet where “great place to raise a family” is a major selling point. We need to make sure that Omaha is a forward-looking, innovative, cosmopolitan city that also happens to be a wonderful place to raise kids.

4. What are your hobbies outside of work?

Number one on the list is scuba diving; I find every opportunity I can to get underwater. Beyond that: LEGOs, Ultimate, and spending loads of quality time with my wife Elisa and 16-month-old son Miles.

5. What is your favorite website (aside from your company’s site)?

It’s almost impossible to answer this question, because the Internet is a pretty vast place. But lately I’ve been really fascinated with the site littlebigdetails.com — a running collection of remarkably thoughtful user interface details.

July 13–19 spread of of Shout! Weekly featuring Drew Davies

6. If you could have lunch with any one person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Dieter Rams, German industrial designer. He’s a man who codified the entirety of my design philosophy into his “10 principles of good design” years before I was even born, and who’s work has been a major influence on a good percentage of the designers whom I truly admire. Not sure what we’d talk about, but I’d be sure to take the opportunity to tell him that his design approach of “less, but better” is the most brilliant mantra I’ve ever heard.

7. What’s on your favorite T-shirt (or your second favorite, if your favorite is a company T)?

Octospelled — a blue shirt with a bright red octopus using its tentacles to spell out the word “octopus”, designed by Jeff Clark. It’s a perfect combination of clever design with beautiful illustration and a subject matter celebrating my love of ocean creatures.

You may have already noticed the blog working a little more smoothly (I’ve been doing some tweaks even as I write this), and you’ll probably be noticing some more improvements going forward as well. Of course, I won’t just be working on Oxide’s company sites. I’ve already found myself quite busy bringing web goodness to several projects already-in-progress.

Code is Poetry

When I graduated, if you would have asked me what I was doing with my future, I would have told you I wanted to land a design job doing primarily print and logo design. So you may wonder why a graphic designer would gravitate towards web development, and I get asked about it quite a bit. I have a passion for art and design, and always have, but I soon realized out of college that I have the uncanny (and sought after) ability to combine the problem solving processes of web design with all of the necessary code development. I guess part of that may come from what you could consider an ingrained understanding of coding languages in general. After all, I’ve been writing code for websites since the internet was called CompuServe. If that isn’t some major geek street-cred, I don’t know what is.

For the record:
Just to make a couple things official, my wife Andrea and I have two pugs, Mollie and Leela. I have a chronic video game music addiction. I have beaten the entire SNES Megaman X Trilogy in less than 12 hours.

The doctors say that if it gets any worse, I should seek help...

Stay on your toes and keep an eye out for a code block or two in my future posts, I love to share helpful snippets whenever I can. (I’ll be adding that feature to the blog shortly.)