Sideways8 started as an Atlanta web design agency in 2010. Really, Aaron and Adam started in web design together in 2008 but finally formed the company in 2010.
About Adam (Co-Founder)
Adam grew up in Atlanta, going to South Cobb High School and college at Georgia Tech. He started doing web design in middle school as a hobby. That hobby has now turned into a company, a career, and a thriving nonprofit. But, that happened slowly.
Before all of that, Adam was a web designer in Atlanta, working for himself and trying to make ends meet. He started doing more and more web projects during 2008 while trying to start another venture in Decatur Georgia. That venture didn't work out, forcing Adam to work even harder on his web design skills. He networked all over Atlanta to grow more business, which eventually blossomed into a company.
About Aaron (Co-Founder)
Aaron designed his first website professionally in 1996, yes, you read that right! He was a web designer in a few different roles, then in 2001, he got more into dynamic backend coding. He likes building things that do stuff, creating web experiences. Though Aaron started as an Atlanta web designer, that profession has taken him to other cities and other countries as well.
An Atlanta Web Design Agency was Born
Adam and Aaron met in 2008 while working at a church. Since both were Atlanta web designers there was a quick connection and they became good friends. They started working on projects together, building larger websites. As they partnered on more and more projects, they started to specialize. Adam focused on design only, while Aaron worked on development. This allowed them to build more websites, more quickly, and with better quality.
From there, it just made good sense to start an Atlanta web design agency and Sideways8 was born. Though Sideways8 will always be an Atlanta agency, we are virtual. This wasn't intentional at first but has become a part of our culture and a huge value to our team. We became a virtual agency because Adam and Aaron lived on different sides of Atlanta. Both had small kids, and neither liked the idea of a long commute and longer days of building an agency. So, they worked from home, and the agency still does today.
Sideways8 has gone from being a two-person Atlanta web design company to a ten-person web design agency. We have worked with Fortune 500 companies. We even continue to work with Adam's first website client from back in 2002 that sells sewing machines.
Atlanta Web Designers Giving Back
As we have grown we have also gotten more passionate about our city and our craft. Our team consistently helps to lead in the WordPress community. We lead the Atlanta WordPress meetup, and we also help to plan the yearly WordCamp Atlanta.
In 2015, we found a new and unique way to give back when our Co-Founder, Adam Walker, co-founded 48in48. 48in48 is a nonprofit that puts on events to build 48 nonprofit websites in 48 hours. The idea was simple, bring Atlanta web designers together so they could use their professional skills to serve their community.
Amazingly, the 48in48 team pulled it off and built 48 nonprofit websites in 48 hours. Since 2015, 48in48 has expanded, hosting events in many cities across the country and the world. All with the intention that local web designers can serve their local communities with their web design skills.
What is Web Design?
We know, at this point this is a silly question to ask, but is it? Most people don't think much about what web design is, they just think they need a new website. But, web design is more than a website, it is solving a problem using a website. We became an Atlanta web design agency to do just that, solve problems. Creating beautiful, compelling sites is great, but be we believe those sites must serve a larger goal.
Web design starts with strategy. Any project that doesn't first ask the question" why?" Or, "what problem are we solving?" is likely to be a bust. That's why we like to think about web design differently. We like to understand our clients. Who are they? What are they trying to do? Why do they think they need a website? Why do they really need a website? How is that website going to change their business? How is that website going to improve the quality of their work, or their staff's happiness, or their lives?
We believe great web design can, and should, solve big problems. A well-crafted website with great content can really set the stage for success in many areas. It starts by informing users of what is really important to a company. But, it ends with engaging and enabling those users to take the next step that will most help them to get what they are needing.
Web design really isn't about the company at all, it's about the user. That's why our websites exist in the first place, for the users. Therefore, we must craft websites and web design experiences with the user in mind at all times. We must focus on their needs over our own and use our websites to be of service.
We believe web design should be service oriented. We want to always ask the question, how can we better serve people online? How can we help them find what they need? How can we make them smile, give them knowledge, improve their decision making, or just offer some help? Every good web designer thinks this way and this is at the core of what we work towards as Atlanta web designers.
Why Atlanta Web Design?
Let's be honest, though we are located in Atlanta, we are a global agency. We do work all over the country and the world and really enjoy it. Being a virtual company certainly helps with this. However, at our core, Atlanta is our home and we consider ourselves Atlanta web designers. Many of our team grew up in Atlanta. Most of our team still live in and around Atlanta. And, all of our team appreciates Atlanta and the city that it is becoming.
