Team Nachael

As I'm sure some who know me are aware, my boyfriend Nate is also an industrial designer. Being involved with someone in the same profession creates an interesting dynamic.The amount we influence each other as designers could easily be overlooked by some, but I'm always completely aware of the enormous impact Nate has had on my work over the past year. We have most certainly benefited from each other's skill sets; his existence as a surfacing ninja has launched my CAD abilities to another dimension, whereas he feels he's learned a thing or two from my graphic sense. We share a healthy dose of competition that betters us as designers, though I won't mention the havoc it can sometimes wreak on the relationship. Most importantly, I have 24-hour access to a talented designer who knows my style, methods, and objectives inside and out, and is fully invested in seeing me succeed in whatever design adventure I wish to embark on.

Nate is one of the only people I give an honest-to-god, blunt opinion to ("Jesus Christ, boy. Why do you insist on using sentence case? WHY? It is retarded and hard to read. TELL ME WHY), and he's one of the only people I can depend on for similarly blunt opinions ("The graphic on that air freshener looks like a bleeding anus. Sorry"). When I speak design with peers I give my opinion... if it's easy to give and will likely be well-received. If there's any possibility that what I say might be hard to hear or is a matter of taste, I'm often times guilty of telling someone I think something looks alright when I don't really think it does. When I'm looking over Nate's work, however, we'll battle it out. Even if we don't follow each other's advice, we feel obligated to give it honestly and completely.

At times I find myself wishing I was dating say...an accountant, so that I could come home from a long day at studio and design could cease to exist for a moment or two as I try to decompress. I think it's a double-edged sword; I really resent talking about design every hour of every day- like an obnoxious neighbor you just can't stop gossiping about- but I think the hyper-awareness that results keeps us on our toes.