Where have I been? Before the pandemic hit, I was gung ho about speaking at meetups, conferences, posting content and doing what I could to share what I knew. I would blog and make sure I had a steady stream of content on social media so I could network with other designers. Even before the pandemic hit, it slowed down. Where did the motivation go?
Almost three years ago, I found myself alone in raising my 3 boys. Great kids. Every free minute I had, was boosting them up, playing games and teaching them some cool things along the way. Networking and sharing my expertise was no longer relevant to me. We spent countless nights talking about our futures, what everyone wants to be when they grow up. We became video game and board game fanatics. Enjoying life! Since I work at a company where I can’t share anything I do, it was a giant relief not having to constantly update a portfolio everytime I made something really cool.
I have a special person in my life who adores my boys. We all play games, watch anime and just have a good time everyday. That’s the recreational part we all love, but what about professionally? What have I been doing? I became an information gathering nerd. I subscribe to multiple magazines, I have dozens of books ready to read after I finish a current book. I also make stickers and 3D print things.
The biggest thing I’ve been doing recently is getting into game design. I have 100+ udemy courses, but one in particular is how to make an idle clicker game in Unity. Why an Idle Clicker game? Well as part of gaming with my boys, we’d all sit around and pick an idle clicker game and see how far we could get in two days. I wanted to take it to the next step and learn how to make one myself to publish. I’m working on the bones of it now and nearly finished with the tutorial. Next step is to skin it with my custom illustration work.
I can sit here and say I’ll post updates on twitter, instagram and everything, but will I? I’ll try too. The past 3 years have been fun and games and I’m ready to make some professional progression in my life.