2007
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 1.01.08It seems each year’s surprises surpass the previous. I’m not sure if this is a valid argument for such phrases as “goodness, what a year!”, but if I were to use such colloquialisms, that would have to be one of them.
You may remember from my 2006 letter that I had started working for the Creation Museum, as part of the design team in charge of museum content. I got to work alongside some wonderful and superbly talented people, and though things quickly ramped up to breakneck speed, it’s just the kind of rush I love. Unfortunately, it’s a more than appropriate euphemism; holidays were done away with, as were saturdays, and for some people, sundays as well.
After 3 months of long weeks and little sleep for the artists, the museum opened to crowds beyond anything previously predicted, or even hoped for. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough to keep the museum running with full staff (not to mention the lawsuit from CMI), and massive layoffs started just one week later. The painting crews, only partially finished with the museum surfaces, were let go, along with many of the tour guides and several friends of mine. Visual effects are, unfortunately, a commodity easily cut from spending, and I was let go a few weeks later. I’m still not sure if the Adam video will get finished, as I was the only artist left to complete the visuals. Loosing a job is one thing, but loosing it that close to the finish of a massive effects piece is a heavy blow.
It’s easy to flippantly say you’re trusting God, but this was one of those times where I really had to mean it. I had a month to get things in order at AiG before being completely jobless, in which time I think I was able to get jobs passed on to the right people. My last day was July thirteenth, which is ironically also my birthday.
I started freelancing to hold down rent while waiting for a more permanent job position to open up. After almost two months of week-by-week odd jobs, I received an offer from Vectorform for a motion graphics position near Detroit, Michigan. I had to leave some close friends in Kentucky, but made the move.
Moving was an ordeal rather worse than last time. It seems not only had I accumilated more than I’d thought, but the appartment market in northern Detroit is expensive, old, and small. Thankfully God lead me to the right place; safe, large enough to have people over, and best of all… it looks out on grass and trees, while still being very close to main thoroughfares.
Vectorform is a pretty cool place. With employees in Royal Oak (Michigan), Brooklyn (New York), Berlin (Germany), and Hyderabad (India), it’s a decently sized company that focuses on interface programming and design, internet media, and corporate videos. With the recent addition of several motion graphics people, we’re looking to expand into advertising and other production markets as well. In the past few months, I’ve worked on animations, presentations, and print materials for Crysler Financial, Microsoft, and other corporations, along with some internal animation projects just for fun!
In my free time (what little of it there is) I’ve continued working on my websites, especially Iaian7.com. Mediabox (the javascript used to open video windows here on Iaian7) has gained a fair amount of popularity, with an average of over 70 visitors a day, and quite a few downloads too. Tech support keeps me busier than I’d like, and unfortunately the Iaian7podcast may have suffered for it. I try to keep up with some photography as well, posted both here on the Iaian7blog and my Flickr account.
That should catch us up to the very end of 2007, which was packed chock full of family and friends. I pray that all is well with you, that the wind is at your back, and the sun upon your face.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless.
John Einselen
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