Progress Makes Perfect – This Here Now
June screamed by, July flew by. August is NOW and RAH HQ build is HAPPENING. I mean, it’s been happening for two months – and seeing real progress is awesome.
I want to spend all my energy and focus on RAH HQ. Badly. I want to cross out every item on our to-do list for the build. But another list is equally pressing – our monthly production schedule for STMT Kits.
“Designers traditionally work to maintain their ‘integrity’ – which means committing to quality, accountability, and authorship. To ‘ship fast and often’ runs counter to shipping an uncompromising, perfect outcome.” ~ John Maeda
John Maeda is my hero. A Seattle native who excels in both art and science, a big advocate of STEM, and earnin’ a mile long list of achievements, awards, projects, and positions that make me swoon hard. He even designed two pairs of REEBOK FREESTYLES!!
He highlights a constant battle of mine – shipping fast and often. Maybe you’ve guessed that I have a design background. The graphic designer in me obsesses about every single big-or-small detail. The direction a pencil is placed, how a knot is tied, placement of label on shipping boxes, and more more more. I’ve rewrapped stacks of STMT Kits because I don’t think they look perfect. I’ve banned a posse member from packing kits after one too many times of rewrapping the kits she wrapped. I KNOW. I know. The OCD in me can’t stop. It won’t stop despite my best efforts.
Six years in and sometimes I wonder why shit doesn’t work faster, why we don’t ship faster, but I get it. What we create, what we share is a mix of design, storytelling, craft, and travel.
What we put out in the world is a box of super rad – created with loads of love, patience, obsessing, and labor. We aren’t a slick service or shop, from the lo-fi goods inside each kit to the lo-fi materials and methods used to create our in-house goods.
We move at an inconsistent speed – we putter then we push hard. We’re moved by what inspires us, sometimes sprinting through minutes, hours, and days. Then we meander as we mull over concepts and memories of recent travel moments. Everything we do, everything we put out is part of the progress-train to perfection.
oxxo, Hen
