Internet friendships

Hi, this is Manu, the designer and developer behind the website you're looking at right now and this is the first—and probably only—guest post on this new blog. Mike's busy at the moment but this won't stop us from pushing this new website live.

The story I want to tell you is one of long-distance friendships and this weird thing we call the Internet. Almost 8 years ago—8 YEARS!—I got an email from a guy in the states called Mike. Mike was a designer, and like many designers, he was looking for a developer to team up with to create something, and that something was designed.space

We chatted about the project and I ultimately decided to help him out. Like the great businessman I am, I ended up earning nothing from that project but what I got in return was something a lot more valuable: a friendship.

To me, this is what's great about this strange thing called the internet that we built over the decades. It allows for all sorts of weird and random digital connections across the globe that can develop and evolve into beautiful human interactions. I met most of the people I consider friends thanks to the internet. And yes, that includes Mike.

After DS, I told him I was going to build him a website one day. It only took me 6 or 7 years but I finally did it and I think it was worth the wait. I told Mike many times that he should write more about what he does because it's interesting. I love reading about his weird stories, about the woodworking, the dogs, and his life in general. But in order to do that he needed a blog and that's why he now has one.

Mike, it was a pleasure to make you a new website. Thank you for all the funny memes, the silly voice notes, the chopping board, the woodworking lessons, but most importantly thank you for being a wonderful friend.