Going to Google

The cat’s out of the bag. I made the announcement here in New Zealand at Webstock, so I’ll confirm that, yes, the rumors are not just rumors. After a bit of negotiation and a lot of internal debate, I recently accepted an offer to join Google as Visual Design Lead, a position that did not previously exist there. I’m charged with helping the company establish a common visual language across all their collaborative and communication products. This includes products I’ve already had some hand in like Blogger and Calendar. But it will also include other highly used products like Gmail, Writely, Page Creator, and other projects in the pipeline.

So whether obvious or not, I’ll be adding a statement to this site that the words, views, and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my new employer, Google. I’ve been assured that my voice will not and should not be silenced by joining Google. So you should start to see and hear even more from me now that I don’t need to worry about losing a Stopdesign contract just for blogging about working on something post-launch.

It was a tough decision to put the contract work I do under Stopdesign on hold for now. But as many people already know, I’ve been working with Google for the past six months as a contractor, and the relationship has gone quite well so far. I’m actually quite excited about the opportunities and the major challenges that lie ahead for me, the teams I’ll be working with, and the company at large. Here’s to hoping and wishing for a successful adventure and many great things to come.