10.9.21 (S2 Color Palette & Discord Renovations)

Today, I just feel like updating y'all and documenting where we are currently at with Simplex Minds.

This past meeting (10/5), we came up with our color palette for Season 2. It was the first collaborative project we have done as a group. Except for Carissa, she unfortunately had other work she had to commit to.

It was a fun process. Ricky brought to our attention that we should be doing more collaborative work during our meetings instead of just talking about things and basically having all work be homework. That's how our meetings normally ran.

We would meet up on the Discord, talk about what is happening this week on the instagram and blog. Talk about what has happened, what we want to do differently, and what we want to do in the future. We'd talk about projects that we are currently doing, then talk about projects we'd want to do in the future. Plan out what we are going to do and set due dates. Then we'd sign off.

It's not like those meetings weren't productive. They have been very productive, it just made working feel more individualistic.

So we decided to work on a different project or goal every meeting. This past meeting was for discussing the Season 2 theme and create a mood folder.

We are planning on expanding the team for Season 2 and I wanted to have a theme, color palette, and aesthetic kind of locked down before onboarding. So that's what we worked on.

Not to spoil too much, but we decided on the overarching theme for Season 2 to be "beginnings". The first season felt more like a test. We did a lot of different things. We were testing the waters. We didn't really know what we were doing, we just did it and kept going. We've learned a lot this past season and are planning on doing a lot more for Season 2.

Next season feels like a true beginning to Simplex Minds. We have a skeleton figured out. We have a solidified blueprint for how we want to the Features to go in the next season. And we just have a general better understanding of how we want to go about things.

This is the time where we are going to ramp up and explore different projects outside of the Features.

So that's what we brainstormed this past week, the theme of beginnings. We talked about what we thought of when trying to understand "beginnings". What kind of tone we wanted to portray and what colors best represented that.

We sent reference photos in our group chat. Then Ricky would color pick different colors from those reference pics. Then we'd discuss those colors chosen. See whether if it felt "soft" enough or "warm" enough or "vibrant" enough. We'd pick and choose different colors that felt right for the theme we decided on.

After a while, we decided on 6 colors. It was a really fun experience. It was fun collaborating with the team in this way for the first time. We gave each other live feedback and thoughts on the colors chosen and ended up creating a palette that we were all happy with.

It's funny because we were sending all the reference pics and color palettes to our main group chat, so Carissa was getting all the texts without the conversations we were having on the Discord. So she got to see our references live and saw how things developed without any commentary.

Besides that meeting, yesterday, I also worked on the Discord server. The plan is to turn it into an actual community and open it up to the public. We have opened up applications to be a part of the Season 2 team and are planning on hosting informational nights for those applicants and anyone interested on the 14th and 22nd. Was thinking of doing it on zoom, but I don't have a pro account so we decided to just host it on the Discord.

I recategorized some of the threads, created new ones, and renamed all of them. My dumbass forgot to screenshot the before, but here's what it looks like at the moment.

Pretty happy with the results so far. Just need to start adding in bots and ways for people to pick roles and shit like that. It has been a fun project to work on so far, but so much more to go to.

Also I figured out that 70s Japanese Funk and Soul is a great genre to listen to while working. Had that shit playing in the background while I got this done.

Within this next week I have to open up a personal email "troy@simplexminds.com". Add the finishing touches to the Discord. Create an email format, like for mailing list users and sending professional emails. And build a powerpoint presentation for the upcoming informational nights.

Oh yeah, and I also have to work on my Feature that's due in little under two weeks. Just need to do some more research and I'll be fine. It's my last feature for the season, so I want it to make sure I write about something I really want to talk about.

Today is Saturday, October 9th 2021. We are currently in our 15th week of Season 1. Going into week 16. We are 75% of the way through this season. Things are starting to build towards 2022. We are taking bigger steps and I'm excited. A lot of dope things are to come in 2022.

I have never looked this far in the future with solid plans post-grad. Its great to have and is a huge blessing. Going to keep going, keep my head down, and do what I have to do.