2011 was quite a year, and a few members of our crew took a moment to reflect on what the past twelve months taught them. Below, you’ll hear from some ‘ship veterans, as well as several new voices. Their reflections range from the personal to the professional, but there is a common thread. We all recognized the need to focus on human moments and how they fit (or sometimes don’t fit) into our hyper-digital lives.

Here’s to 2012!

Able Parris, Sr. Designer

Attention is valuable. There are many things vying for our attention, and while some of them are a good use of time, many of them are only keeping us from what we should be doing. I feel the pressure to try out every new social network because I’m an interactive designer, but it’s very easy for these to take up more time and attention than they should. Our time and headspace are the most valuable things we have, and what we can do with them is virtually unlimited. I am learning (or perhaps re-learning) that cutting out distractions can be more valuable than any to-do app.

Nathan Adkisson, Strategist

To produce better digital work, I’ve lately found myself thinking analog. Technology makes it so simple and seamless to build platforms and disseminate content that it’s almost too easy. It allows us to publish without knowing what we hope to accomplish. This is why a lot of content on the web feels like knee-jerk reactions to buzzwords. “Build an app.” “Tweet that.” “Post this.” “Make a microsite for it.” The result? Clutter. Content that exists because it can, not because it should.

A simple solution is to ask myself, “If this was print, would it still be worth doing?” Does this message deserve to be written out by hand? Would I actually “share” this photo or video if I had to deliver it in person? A common refrain in the creative community is “make things,” but that statement leaves out a very important qualifier: “make things of value.”

Digital makes it easy, but is it good enough for analog? If we answer this question honestly, we will certainly produce less work, but it will be better work. The legendary designer Dieter Rams said it long ago, but we need it now more than ever: Let’s make 2012 the year of less, but better.

Karla Mickens, Designer

In 2011, I moved to New York from a small country town in North Carolina. In a city like this one, where lingering in a moment is unheard of, it is very easy to get sucked into the chaos. The first few months were tough, because there is nothing quiet about this city. Then one weekend the internet connection I usually tap into became password protected. I was without Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix. But not only did I survive, it was the start of many great weekends to come! I am constantly consumed by things, things, and more things so I rarely give myself time to think for long periods of time. My New Years’ resolution?…Disconnect.

Dan Mall, Design Director

I learned that design is much more than what we do in Photoshop. It’s all of the mushy stuff behind, beneath, and between the comps that help us to better connect people.

Stacey Mulcahy, Sr. Technologist

In 2011, I learned how to wake up awesome everyday. What does that mean? To me, it means I discovered how to channel my inner auspicious 5 year old child. At 5, I didn’t care that the result of climbing a tree might be a broken leg. Everything was new. Everything was possible. Tantrums were about dropped ice cream cones.  I learned how to say ” I don’t know” to more people than just myself. I learned that boundaries are meant to be pushed. That you can’t call it a risk if you fail to acknowledge the consequence. That having your hands in everything and pushing it around feels good. That the only thing you need to wake up thinking in the morning is ” you can’t stop me”. Oh, and of course, that if you pocket dial internationally, you’re bound to hear an unidentified accent and get saddled with an unexpectedly obese phone bill.

Jamie Kosoy, Technology Director

The most interesting thing I learned this year was just how deep and abstract one has to think to make a creation meaningful to people. If Apple said “We are a company that makes computers,” it would feel hollow and untrue – the stuff they make feels like much more than that. Similarly, if I said “I’m a programmer at a web site company,” I’d be selling myself and my company short. Of course I can program and Big Spaceship has made lots of web sites, but it’s those intangibles that allow us to create breakthrough work.

It’s a disruptive way of thinking and it’s starting to create some really interesting change. There’s a powerful new movement towards quality and craftsmanship that’s different than anything I’ve seen in the past two decades. The ways we educate (Khan Academy), build cars (Tesla) and even approach the thermostat (Nest) are evolving right in front of us. It’s cool and it’s scary and I can’t wait to see what happens next.