The Thirty Year Itch

Yesterday Linkedin told me and my connections that I established Wolffe 7 years ago. That coincides with a broader anniversary of thirty years as a graphic designer.

 This has got me thinking; why would I do this for so many years?

 The answer to that question is a varied as the projects I have worked on since 1986. And there it is…variety…that’s what keeps be doing the job I love, and that’s why I love it.

 Picture my week, and multiply that week by 52 weeks in a year, and times 30 years, and you’ll see how many weeks I have been doing this; it’s a very rare week that I will work on one project for the whole week, that’s the nature of what I do. Even if I work on three different projects during a week, the chances are they will be from opposite ends of the business spectrum; a financial services business, a food or drink business; a five star hotel group or a retail business.

 As a designer working across these sectors you have to gain a level of knowledge pretty quickly, you have to be interested, inquisitive and curious. 

 So the three year itch I felt some 27 years ago at Tayburn as a young designer materialised and then disappeared quickly when the next interesting project landed on my desk. I then had an itch to establish my own business and have been keeping the itch at bay since 1998.

So the itch I now feel is for the next brief, the next exciting project, the next client relationship, the next challenge that will pique my interest, and it sounds a real cliché, get my creative juices flowing. 

So if you see me scratching my head, I haven't got an itch, I'm just thinking about the next challenge.

Andrew Wolffe
30 June 2016