Search with Design

I’ve been building websites since 96. Honestly. I started in notepad and a ftp program that look more like crunched potato chips under the sofa cushions that a true file transfer software and built a site for a silicon valley company that’s still in business, remarkably. 17 years for a software company is like 98 in human years. I remember walking 12 blocks to the IP’s computer office/closet with my desktop slung over my should while I tried to navigate thru protocols and subdomains. It was so 1996. Thank goodness for wifi, godaddy.com, newsvine, the Big G, and even 12 different ESPN homepages (more on this in some other post due out in late november, if you’re lucky.) The internet has come a long way.

But sometimes, the work flow for a single designer hasn’t. This evening i’m doing something that takes either an incredible amount of boring, blackhole-like time to do, or I just haven’t figured out my pricing structure to hire a replacement junior web dev. I’m doing updates. For more than one site. Several. 4 actually so far. And still 2 to go. I hate the updates. I love the databases, the dynamics, the user updated content. I don’t like to move numbers around, change the font size and then put up this month’s information.

When I first started out in the biz, it was my lifeline to consistent work. I would get the design job for cheap. And then burn them with the cost of maintenance. Now, I couldn’t charge enough to pay for the pain that it causes me. Perhaps it’s my personality, but it just feels so much like paying bills.

Am I alone on this one?