Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

Suppose you had a dream job where you did things like, say, design the new Chicago Cubs logo. But then, what if it wasn't really your dream -- and you had a kid on the way (like, really on the way) and you live in a big-ticket city. Would you bow out?

Keenan Cummings took the red pill, and hasn't looked back. We sat down with the Wander designer and co-founder at the TechStars office to chat about his designer roots and Wander's pre-launch strategy.

Previously, Keenan was in a strategy post at a 200-plus person agency (and he did actually design the new Cubs logo). But that gig never struck him as meaningful enough. So he quit and paired with Jeremy Fisher to build Wander, a new take on how people express place online.

Wander's pre-launch strategy is intriguing and delightful. Called Wander Weeks, users are prompted to post something aspirational one week, something nostalgic the next, all in a madlib format. This, Keenan says, exemplifies what's different about Wander. Place online has so far been focused on point-in-time information (like check-ins or photos) "rather than as a way to express your identity more broadly."

What's clear is that Wander is gorgeous. And we're still stunned that most of it was designed on a 13″ Macbook Air as opposed to the Jumbotrons favored by most designers around town.

Now go forth (and get lost).

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