Meet Cody Hopper: Front End Designer

We're excited to welcome Cody to the team. He joined in June 2020 and is adding his design and development skills to expand our capacity. Let's get to know him a little better together.

Q: Why did you apply to Oldspeake?

A: What stuck out to me most was the title: “Front End Designer”. I was extremely attracted to the idea of working as a designer in a front-end development environment, and taking on responsibilities typically associated with job titles like UX/UI Designer, Graphic Designer, and Developer. I knew from the job title alone that my passion for developing user interfaces and my digital design chops had found the right place at Oldspeake.

After pouring over the job posting—and geeking out at the job title—I researched Oldspeake as a company. This step was really important in my job search because I wanted to make sure that my team and I would share the same goals. What I found at Oldspeake.io stunned me. From the homepage to client work and down to the manifesto, I saw Oldspeake’s mission: “to build impactful, unmistakably human digital experiences” (emphasis added). That was when I knew I found the place I was looking for.

Q: What is the best thing about being on a remote team?

A: There are a couple things I love about remote work. The first is that my coffee budget has gone down… way, way down. I’ve only been to Starbucks once since starting at Oldspeake, and that was for a delicious blueberry muffin! Another thing that I love is the time I get to spend with my dog Millie, whenever she’s not snoring from her favorite spot under the bed. Working from home also means entertaining lunch breaks with Debra, my wife and favorite person in the world. Lastly, my favorite thing about being on a remote team is the commute. I can access my teammates at ease, and collaboration is expanded to include all kinds of screen-sharing and video-calls. Now, instead of commuting to work, I leave the house for hiking nearby trails and going to the climbing gym with Debra, for visiting friends (from a safe distance), and for so many other things you can do in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Q: What’s your favorite color and why?

A: In HTML it’s called SeaGreen, but I don’t associate this color with the ocean depths. Instead, it reminds me of the strange bluish green that we have here in the ridges and valleys of the Appalachian mountains (often called the Blue Ridge Mountains). Dense forests create this particular bluish green by releasing an organic compound that gathers in a haze. Most lightwaves don’t make it through that haze—except for green and a lot of blue! Whenever I see this color, it reminds me of hiking on the Appalachian Trail and of my home in the mountains.

Q: What do you love doing that has nothing to do with your job?

A: When I’m not thinking about typography, web design, or development, I’m enjoying one of my many hobbies. I’m extremely interested in folk architecture and studying structures and homes that are tied to pre-industrial cultures. I enjoy making shibori, an ancient Japanese dyeing technique that combines Indigo with chemistry and art. Also, I like experimenting with PICO-8, a “fantasy console” dedicated to making tiny little indie games. Lastly, I’m a huge fan of rock climbing and bouldering with a personal best of 5.11+ and V3 respectively. It’s my dream someday to set my own climbing route—the ultimate UX/UI design challenge!