I have mixed feelings about the announcement that the Teehan+Lax partners are joining Facebook and shutting down the agency.
I’m happy for them and wish them all the best at Facebook. They have an amazing track record and I hope they can use that experience to make Facebook a better product for the millions of people who use it.
I’m sad for the 40 people that are all of a sudden left without a job. They’re super talented, so I’m very confident that they won’t have trouble finding another job. (If any one of them is reading this, we’re hiring in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, so get in touch.)
Design is becoming more and more an integral part of many businesses, so companies prefer having in-house teams over working with agencies. It’s only going to become harder and harder for design agencies to stay independent.
We don’t know everything. It’s easy to judge without knowing all the facts. Running a company is extremely difficult. The Teehan+Lax partners are good guys, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.