---
title: "The Artificial, Week 277: All Good Things"
abstract: "The last week of The Artificial"
categories:
- work
content-tags:
- weeknotes
- theartificial
external: https://theartificial.com/blog/2018/07/24/week-277.html
---

Everyone seems to know already — this is our last week.

Shannon will continue offering strategic design and creative services as freelance projects. In that way the agency is [rebooting](https://artificial.design/) rather than ending, but Friday is the last day of normal office operations. Over the last month many Artificers have already dispersed, and I will soon begin my first in-house job.

Naturally, everyone asks "why?" so here's the short story: Shannon and I considered the risks of stagnating or growing and decided we would seek to join a larger network in 2018. After spending half the year exploring our options, we found they all entailed business-as-usual for ourselves, would take years to develop, or required compromising our values. Ending on our own terms and supporting everyone in moving on is more authentic to The Artificial.

So the time has come to wrap up this 5-year project. We've learned a lot, created some unique opportunities for young designers, did some amazing work, and will remember it as a success!

If you'd like to keep up on our future adventures, follow [Shannon](https://shannonethomas.com/), [me](https://hans.gerwitz.com/), or [any of us](https://theartificial.com/people/).
