Project Mongoose

I’ve been behind on what feels like everything for far too long. Mainly commissions. And that makes me actually sick. I don’t like “owing” things and I feel like my mental state plus all the changes to my work, life, and the effects of COVID on my industry have resulted in significant disruptions to how I typically complete work. This has resulted in longer than expected times to complete commissions and other product development.

Over the past few months, I took time to figure out what was working, what wasn’t, and to use those skills I’ve been learning at the University of Florida to determine how to fix these problems.

What I came up with was an evidence-based strategy (fancy business management terms I learned in school) to make sure I am meeting your expectations moving forward.

This post outlines that plan, but might skimp on some of the logic for each of the phases, which I’ll talk about in other blog posts.

I’m sharing this part of my journey because I know there are a lot of other artists out there coping with the effects of COVID on our work and who are also having to cope with a lot of significant change. And, if you aren’t one of us right now, there will come a time where you’ll have to face significant change. I’m hoping that, by sharing my experience, I can help you get through it. I’m hoping that, by sharing what’s going on behind the scenes at my studio will also help set expectations going forward.

So, what is Project Mongoose?

It’s a four-phase plan that prioritizes completing the backlog of commissions (16 total) while also enabling me to continue steadily producing new products to sell at arts markets, conventions, and in my online stores with the understanding that I must still maintain good grades at the University of Florida, a presence at local arts markets and conventions, a presence on social media, and maintain a regular streaming schedule on Twitch while creating engaging content for viewers.

Each phase lasts two weeks and has anywhere from 4 - 6 goals which are then broken down into weekly objectives and daily tasks to ensure the project is completed timely, efficiently, and effectively.

If this all sounds very formal and business-like, that’s because it is. I’ve learned through project management, business management, entrepreneurship, and data & analytics courses that this is necessary to meet these bigger goals that sometimes feel too large and too vague to tackle on a Tuesday afternoon.

So let’s get down to it!

Phase One Goals:

1. Complete 4 Commissions (~ 42 hours)

2. Complete Pillow Product Development backlog (~30 hours)

3. Complete and put 10 emotes online (~12 hours)

Phase Two Goals:

1. Complete 4 Commissions (~42 hours)

2. Complete Phone Strap and Shaker Charm Product Development backlog (~12 hours)

3. Complete and put 10 emotes online (~12 hours)

4. Redesign the cover art of Game Over Levels 1 & 2 (~18 hours)

Phase Three Goals:

1. Complete 4 Commissions (~30 hours)

2. Develop new products (TBD) (~ 8 hours)

3. Complete and put 10 emotes online (~12 hours)

4. Redesign the cover art of Game Over Levels 3 & 4 (~18 hours)

Phase Four Goals:

1. Finish remaining commissions (~30 hours)

2. Revise commission-taking structure (8 hours)

3. Complete and put 10 emotes online (~12 hours)

4. Redesign the cover art of Game Over Level 5 (~12 hours)

5. Reformat Game Over Levels 1 - 5 and order copies (~6 hours)

6. Develop new products (TBD) (~4 hours)

To achieve these goals, I’ll be making a lot of changes and I’ll be sharing those decisions here on my blog in long-text format as well as on my YouTube channel. Most updates will be distributed through Twitter in short-form.

If you have a commission and you have questions about my progress or where it fits into Project Mongoose, please contact me via ottermagedesigns@gmail.com . I do my best to respond within 48 hours, Monday through Friday. I do not typically respond to emails on weekends because of vending commitments and travel for work. I also respond on Twitter. Facebook and Instagram are less useful for getting in touch with me because of how Meta handles notifications. If you contact me and I do not respond within 48 hours on a weekday, please know that I am not ignoring you. It is likely that I received a bunch of spam or notifications to my phone and, in clearing those out, it may have dismissed your messages on my accounts. Should you not hear from me, please send me another message. You are even welcome to try reaching me on other platforms which are linked at the top of the site.

As always, thank you for your patience. I’m looking forward to finishing more of these commissions and producing more content and art for you to enjoy.