About Us

Unseen Things is an indie development studio that consists of a few friends making cool stuff when they’re not fulfilling their regular freelance duties.

Chris is the graphics guy, though that sells him short by a lot.  He’s a very talented 3D artist, whose specialty is character art, though he can do just about any 3D task you can throw at him.  He’s been essential in developing Sparky the Road Clown over the last year, from his initial concept sketches to the final rigged and textured clown to the car and buildings.  I say “let’s make a hammer” and he comes back with a big red/yellow/blue polka dot clown hammer.  It’s amazing to me.  I’m very thankful to have his talents harnessed towards my projects for a little while.  You can see what else he does when he’s not making clown stuff over here at his website.

Me?  I’m Greg.  I’m a programmer.

I don’t like to use fancy titles like “solution developer” but that would probably be more accurate.  I’d call myself a coder if that didn’t confuse people quite so much, but I don’t think that tells the full story, either.  So why did I quit my very stable 8:30-4:30 government job with solid pay and benefits a year ago (November 2009) in the midst of the worst unemployment and some of the worst economic times in recent history?  Because I see opportunities.  All around, I see opportunities.  Companies are still trying to make a profit, and where companies are trying to make a profit, opportunity exists.  Many companies are reluctant or unable (due to hiring freezes) to hire new people right now, but they still have goals and dreams and desires that they cannot attain with the staff they currently do (or do not) have.  That’s where an independent contractor (or freelance developer) comes into the picture.  I love helping people solve their problems.  And for that 2.5 years, I helped a bunch of great (but wacky) people solve their problems at my day job, and really had a great time doing it, but now it’s time to help some other people with their problems.

Their problems are my opportunities.

I love seeing the problem, mulling it over for a few days or weeks, and coming back with options, each with their pros and cons.  By the time I actually sit down to start programming a project, I know how I’m going to finish it.  I’ve thought it through for days or weeks, written down the workflow and pseudo-code on paper to account for program flow and potential issues beforehand.  I’ve developed a scope of work that talks about what will and will not happen in the program so there are no surprises on either side.  And I love seeing the solution.  Seeing a process that took a company 30 minutes that now takes 2 minutes.  Or something that took all night and now takes 20 minutes.  Or something that only worked okay, when it worked, and now it works really well.  That’s where my real satisfaction comes in.

Seeing the problem, understanding the problem, offering solutions to the problem via software that I develop and write — that’s what makes me tick.  Why?  Simple — I’m a programmer.