The love is in the detail

I started this blog entry about ten times before I finally got past the first sentence. I’m not a designer by trade, so what could I possibly have to say that would be worth reading here?

But then I realized I have lots of experience in something I see in (great) design all the time. Attention to detail.

When I was a teenager my family built our log cabin home that still stands today on our farm.  The massive pine logs we used were originally cut in the 1800s, rough hewn from axes and adzes. There weren’t any straight lines on those timber beasts.

This meant every piece of gypsum, trim, baseboard, and other things that connected to the logs had to be hand scribed and coping saw cut to fit the ever changing surface of the pine. It was ridiculously tedious and time consuming work, and I was impatient to get it done.

After I had worked all day on a particularly complicated section, my father came over to have a look. I knew the verdict without him saying a word.  It would all have to be redone. I was not happy, and moaned about how it was good enough. I mean, who was going to see it anyway? He walked away without saying anything, which was his way of saying everything.

Truth is, I knew even before he came over it wasn’t good. The next day I did it all over again. The right way. And I’ve been operating that way ever since.

To this day whenever I’m back home, I marvel at the craftsmanship that went into that single wall, and frankly the entire beautiful cabin. It is an important reminder of why attention to detail matters. It is timeless.  It is beautiful. It shows love.

The team at Imagination Riot come from very different backgrounds and experiences, but one thing I know we share is a passion for getting things as close to perfect as they can be. It matters to us. It’s my hope that decades later we will look at the work we did for our clients and still see the care and love that went into it.

David.