I began 2016 as a freelance developer. I built\u00a0banners for advertising agencies. I’d made the move from Flash to HTML5 very slowly but banners in HTML5 were pretty easy and I had a few core clients that gave me to the opportunity to learn on the job. While this was a fairly comfortable existence I was feeling done with development. I’ve been coding since 1999 and I didn’t see myself growing beyond where I was. Not that I couldn’t but my heart wasn’t in it.<\/p>\n
In mid 2014 and into 2015, I was experimenting with long exposure photography<\/a> and light. I was also playing with electronics in the form of Arduino. I’d built an\u00a0infinity mirror<\/a> and managed to teach a couple of workshops<\/a> in making them. I\u00a0was making<\/em>. I really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n For context, my grandfather on my dad’s side was a handy-man and plumber. My dad is a carpenter. My grandfather on my mom’s side was a farmer and knew how to fix a lot of stuff. My mom is a retired nurse and has shown an incredible aptitude for “getting shit done” in her retirement. As in, she demoed and built installed her own kitchen. These people, that helped to make me who I am, proved you could do stuff for yourself with the right tools and a little know-how.<\/p>\n Back to making, I was getting by doing development and tinkering on stuff in my basement when a friend pointed me to a job posting at a company I’d never heard of called ‘wonderMakr<\/a>‘. The posting was for a Producer. While I am not a Producer, I justified applying by\u00a0figuring it would all work out.<\/p>\n It’s difficult to say how it all went down. It was quickly decided I was no Producer but they had some space for a Creative Technologist and would I be into that role?<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Yes. Yes, I would.<\/p>\n So I started at wonderMakr in Mid-March. My first project, officially, was to make flowers grow for the theatrical release of the Jungle Book. I started out doing what I knew. I took the concept of a lead screw and a motor and attached a flower to the nut moving on the screw.<\/p>\n https:\/\/vine.co\/v\/idbElwDQOIu<\/a><\/p>\n And that worked fine. but my task was three flowers and some ferns. All capable of moving in and out of a movie sign. My coworker, Garrett, said “well, you’ve made a linear actuator”. To which I replied “A WHAT?!” and that was the first of many times my mind was blown at wonderMakr. What follows is a flower attached to a linear actuator.<\/p>\nFamily Context<\/h5>\n
wonderMakr<\/h5>\n