We Are Fixel

The Fixel Retreat 11.12.2010

When we announced Fixel last week you probably came to the website expecting to see a killer design for a ridiculously awesome new design company, but all you were left with was a white page with a few logo examples and some mumble jumble about who we are. Well don’t you worry! There is a purpose for our madness. You see, the timing has to be just right. And that time is our Fixel Retreat.

On the weekend of November 12th, our entire crew will be traveling over 4600 miles to the coast of Oregon where we’ll be doing a live launch of Fixel, which includes the design and development of our new website.

WHAT WILL WE BE DOING FOR 3 DAYS?

Fixel is currently is in it’s very beginning stages. All we really have at this point is a custom logo type. The Fixel Retreat is dedicated to developing that into a full blown brand. Here are a few things we will be cranking out throughout the weekend:

• Establishing a color palette
• Finding the “Fixel Style”
• Designing a wicked website
• Generating copy for the site
• and finally, coding the beast

All decisions and production will be made in this three day span. And the best thing about it is you are invited to watch it all happen.

YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG

Not only will we be doing the development live on http://wearefixel.com but we will also be doing a UStream here and there throughout the weekend. We will be sharing every look into or process, collaboration and longwinded hours filled with tacos, Dr. Pepper, and Sour Patch Kids.

Our main goal with Fixel is to be an open book with everything we do. To be completely honest, we have no idea what to expect. But we want to make sure to share our discoveries and expose all our learning experiences. We hope either everyone who tunes in can pull out some type of value from it whether it be from a design and development standpoint, a business standpoint, or just pure amusement.

Live Development Site:
http://wearefixel.com

Live Development Broadcast:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/fixel

Follow us on twitter:
http://twitter.com/wearefixel

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

As a virtual team, getting everyone together in one location is a huge event for us. And what better way to celebrate our new venture than building the face of our company together in one continuous flurry of creativity. We want to take full advantage of our time together and do something that will build the team.

We really want to let our personalities shine through our site, branding, and everything else we do. Getting all together and reserving this time solely for the purpose of letting that happen is an amazing opportunity for us. We hope you tune in to see what happens!

WHERE THE MAGIC WILL HAPPEN.

The five of us will be spending the weekend in Pacific City, Oregon in this awesome house. Five guys, three days, one mission. This could be trouble! :)

Meet the Team

During our many man-dates to P.F. Changs Josh and I would regularly talk about our freelance design businesses (The Visual Click and Vintom). We’d discuss the projects we were working on, the challenges we faced, and our dreams for the future. Both of us would half-jokingly talk about how we would one day start a small design agency that would rock the world. Over the course of the next six months we started to inch our way closer to putting our dream into action.

Fixel is a collaborative effort between five guys who are passionate about design and want to make a difference in the world. Each member of the team has unique skills and a truck load of passion.

Although we don’t officially launch until November 15th, we want to start sharing the process of building Fixel. And the first order of business to let the team introduce themselves.

VIN THOMAS

I’m a young studly dude living in Salem, OR with the three most amazing girls in the world: my wonderfully creative wife and two beautiful little daughters. If I were a cocktail I’d be 3 parts entrepreneur, 2 parts designer, and 1 part developer.

I remember building my first website in 2004. I wanted to create a site where I could post some music and figured it couldn’t be that difficult. The process of building my first site spawned a deep passion for web design. I’ve spent the last 6 years building my freelance career working primarily with ministries and non-profit organizations.

I couldn’t be more excited to band together with such a great group of guys to help people build sites that not only look great, but truly make a difference.

JOSH HEMSLEY

I’m Josh Hemsley, Co-Founder & Designer here at Fixel. I’m that guy that people look at and say, “How did he marry that sexy woman”. That’s right, my wife is hot! Brownie Points! Together we have a beautiful 1 year old daughter.

I spend most of my days flickering and fluttering around Photoshop, creating a flurry of patterns and textures and blending them into the perfect stream of elegance which is then smothered across websites all over an internet near you. And the other days I code.

For you by-the-book folks, I have a BA Degree in Visual Communications with a Minor in Interactive Web Design. But to be honest most of my education has come from working hands on with people in a professional & creative environment, which I’ve been doing since 2007.

I’m thrilled to be a part of such an amazing team here at Fixel and I hope you are as excited to join along on this journey!

SEAN FARRELL

My name is Sean Farrell and I am a “Creative”. What that means, I still don’t know. When I’m not designing logos and illustrations, my time is usually spent relaxing with my Wife (who is also hot) and my dog Zoey. I would consider myself a typical family man. Although I don’t have kids yet, I appreciate the simple things in life and enjoy spending time around family and friends.

When you love what you do, you really don’t ever feel like your working. When you’re passionate and excited about what you do and it really does bring the best results.

MATT RIOPELLE

I’m Matt Riopelle and I possess no real technical skills. Now sure, I’m creative. But I’d like to think of myself as the Ringo Starr of the group. To prove my point, look at the guys I chose to partner with. Talented, right? Way more than me. Makes it much easier to further my career ambition of making the internet a better place to live. So I’ll lead the project and let the others do what they do best.

When I’m not working a project, I like to get out in the trees with my wife and our four kids, eat spicy food, find the next great t-shirt design, volunteer with the kids at church, and train for an ultra-marathon.

Fixel Logo Design Process

I was really excited to design the logo that would become the face of our brand. As many designers know, the hardest person to design for is yourself.

I started the process like all my others, sketching out some possible ideas. I talked with the team and we all agreed that we would like to have a custom typeface. The sketches below are some of the ones that we liked the direction of.

The fixel typeface was either going to be a modern sans serif with clean lines or a funky, script style typeface.

Here are the two different directions we started with:

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

While both were strong, we liked the direction of the script better and decided to go this route. You can see the evolution of the logo below. With tons of feedback from the team, you can see how we landed on the final design.

You can see the final version of the logo below. It is a lot more fluid than the first version and honed in what we represent – a personal and honest approach to design.

We then posted the shots to dribbble to gain any other feedback we could from the community. After hearing most of their thoughts, one thing rang true more than others… it read as “Axel.” We then thought of some new ways to address that issue and here were the two concepts presented back to the group:

Overall we liked both but felt the second one represented us better. It was free, laid back, fun, and engaging. Currently we are not set on colors, so that is next. Stay tuned!
- Sean

Late-night Project Prep Calls

Tonight we rocked our first project prep call which of course came late in the evening at about 9:20pm. I don’t doubt that this will be a typical agenda for us. It was destined to have the sounds of little kids playing in the background and our wives giving us the “what are you doing working” looks, but there is so much excitement between all of us that we can’t stop thinking about the things ahead. I know these little sacrifices will pay off in the end!

Taking the leap

It was great to connect with the guys and really dig into how each one of us handle new project inquiries. I can already see the understanding and openness to learning from each other that is already happening!

After tackling a few different options on how we want to handle the transition of our freelance tasks into a more organized team effort, we’ve decided to just dive right into it without any hesitation and bring Fixel it’s first client meeting.

Although, to most, setting up a first client meeting may seem like a small task it feels like a major stepping stone into making the Fixel team a conjoined unit.

Here’s to good things!

We’ve Landed!

Today we announce the collaboration of 5 guys who have a vision, a passion and the desire to produce great things. We are Fixel.

Follow along as we take the tint off our windows and expose our process as we build a business, partnerships, friendships and some wicked craftsmanship!