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No matter where you are in the world, you’ll find people working on WordPress.com: Developers deploying lines of code. Designers tinkering with themes. Engineers working one-on-one with users to help make their websites just so. (Want to join in? We’re hiring.)

One cool thing about Automatticians? We care about WordPress.com so much that we’re always thinking about ways to make it better, online and off. Here’s a glimpse at the 230 Automatticians around the globe — and things we’re working on and thinking about right now.

We blog about WordPress (naturally!)

At Automattic, we’re constantly communicating, breaking and fixing, and iterating and improving. Communication tools like the P2 theme, Skype, and IRC channels allow ideas and conversations to flow at all times, while our own blogs are spaces to reflect on and share the things we’ve learned.

In Moscow, Code Wrangler Konstantin Kovshenin works on the Dot Org Team, writing themes and plugins and contributing to WordPress Core. On his personal blog, he shares tips, code snippets, and even videos of his talks at WordCamps, like WordCamp Sofia 2013 in Bulgaria.

Meta Engineer Nikolay Bachiyski chatting with others. (Image by Sheri Bigelow.)

Colorado-based Automattician Greg Brown works on search, natural language processing, and machine learning; his team wrangles data (and launched the Related Posts feature last November). On Greg’s blog, you can follow his recent posts on Elasticsearch, indexing, and the future:

Humans express their dreams, opinions, and ideas in hundreds of languages. Bridging that gap between humans and computers — and ultimately between humans — is a noble endeavor that will subtly shape the next century. I’d like to see Elasticsearch be a force in democratizing the use of natural language processing and machine learning.

We blog about the web and technology

At Unencumbered By Facts, Code Wrangler (and Linux Geek) Jason Munro muses on a mix of topics, from programming to data, and even on moving from Wall Street to WordPress.

Over in Taipei, Taiwan, Growth Engineer Ben Thompson focuses on attracting new users to WordPress.com, and improving their experience, on Team Triton. Ben actively writes about technology from a strategic perspective at Stratechery, like his recent thoughts on messaging on mobile, and his follow-up piece on this week’s Facebook and WhatsApp deal.

On ebeab (or eight beats equals a byte), Marcus Kazmierczak publishes newsletters about trends around open source, web development, Linux, and more. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Marcus works on Team Tinker — a team focused on creating new products — and covers more than just your usual technology news: his latest edition dives into the world of crypto-currency and Dogecoin, and past editions focus on productivity and hacking and security.

Theme Wranglers Kirk Wight and Michelle Langston. (Image by Sheri Bigelow.)

Over on the east coast of the US, Sheri Bigelow (who snapped the images you see in this post) is a New York-based photographer and designer who strives to make the WordPress.com theme and customization experience the best it can be, and shares techniques and ideas on her site, Design Simply. We especially like her tips on photography workflows and themes.

Theme Team Lead Ian Stewart. (Image by Sheri Bigelow.)

Likewise, it’s cool to read design ideas from Theme Team Lead Ian Stewart from Winnipeg, Manitoba, whose crew of wranglers launches the new themes you see in the Theme Showcase.

This week, Ian ponders the principles of good design, but he also writes on general best practices and other interests, like writing. If you’ve not seen it, Ian’s talk at WordCamp San Francisco 2013 resonates as an inspiring, big-picture, yet personal talk on themes and web design.

We blog about other stuff, too

Automatticians write about all sorts of topics — from tread desking to fatherhood to musings on love and life to gaming to reading and writing. And even if we’re not working on WordPress.com, we bring the same curiosity and motivation to our other passions — and find that much of what we do and enjoy here overlaps in side projects.

Isaac Keyet, a Product Designer living in Sweden and working on the Data Team, writes on a variety of subjects. In his recent post on light, color, work, and sleep, he talks about the types of light that affect our sleep/wake patterns (and recommends f.lux, an app that changes your screen temperature to best fit your location).

Tokyo-based Automattician Naoko Takano, from Team Global, engineering happiness. (Image by Sheri Bigelow.)

Karen Arnold, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and works on the Happiness Team, started a blogging class as an experiment for a homeschooling group. (Karen also led a workshop last fall at the Digital Family Summit to teach kids and their families how to get started blogging on WordPress.com.)

Further north in Quebec, Canada, Kathryn Presner, a member of the Theme Team, recaps her experience mentoring students at Ladies Learning Code. Being a Happiness Engineer and WordCamp speaker, educating others is nothing new to Kathryn — it’s a perfect example of open source education in action, and how the skills and passions of Automatticians aren’t restricted to “the workplace.”

Are you interested in working alongside these and many other talented folks? We’re hiring for numerous positions — consider applying!

Every once in a while, we sit down with an Automattician to help you get to know the people who work behind the scenes to build new features, keep Automattic’s wheels turning, and make WordPress.com the best it can be. In this installment, we’re delighted to introduce you to music …

If there’s any silver lining to yesterday’s awful news about Rhythm & Hues, it’s that other companies hunger for the services of Rhythm & Hues’ respected crew. Reel FX is among the companies that has been most vocal about its desire to hire some of the hundreds of R&H employees who are expected to be laid off.

The Santa Monica and Dallas-based Reel FX, which is brashly entering the world of CG feature films by simultaneously producing two major pictures—Jimmy Hayward’s Turkeys and Jorge Gutierrez’s Book of Life—posted a special recruitment page for unemployed Rhythm & Hues artists. It included the following note:

This recruiting tab was created for those Rhythm and Hues [artists] who have been affected by their recent situation. Please know our thoughts are with you.

Thumbs up to Reel FX for doing its part to create a positive impact out of an unfortunate situation.

[Disclosure: I'm sorry to inform you that the girl in the photo above does not work at Reel FX, but I had to stick their company logo somewhere. Photo via Shutterstock.]

(story via Deadline)

How to Hire an Artist: Tips for Hiring an Outstanding Illustrator for your Next Project:

Finding the right illustrator can be a challenge. Whether you decide to use Bob Ostrom Studio or someone else it pays to know what you’re looking for. If you’ve never had the opportunity to hire a professional before here are a few tips that will help you find the best possible artist for your project.

Know What you are looking for.
Every artist has his or her own style. Many artists are versatile but no artist works in every style. Look for the artist who specializes in the type of art you are looking for. There are many artists and styles to choose from so be patient and make sure you leave yourself enough time to find the right one for your job.

Try starting with a simple Google search. Check out a few artists websites. Notice that no two are alike. Some are very professional with a highly focused direction, while others may choose to show a broader spectrum. Regardless as you begin to move away from the top ranking sites  you may also begin to see a drop in quality. Being a professional artist is an extremely competitive field. Artists work hard to make sure they are seen. There is a reason those sites are at the top of the search.

Some artists work with representatives and some are independent. Generally the better the quality the higher the price you will pay whether you are dealing with an art rep or an independent. Remember though that with higher quality artists you are not only paying for a more appealing image you are also paying for experience, but more on that later.

Determining a Style
Before you contact an illustrator take a few minutes to determine what you are looking for.

Who is your target audience and what is your demographic?
Determining who your potential audience is and what appeals to them is a great first step for helping you chose the proper illustrator. Here are a few tips to help narrow things down:

Describe your customer.

• Are they male or female, both?
• How old are they?
• What kind of things do they like or pay attention to,
• What kind of things do their peers like or pay attention to?
• Where can you find them?
• How do they find you?
• What is their income bracket?

Crating a detailed profile on your potential customer will help give you a better idea where to begin. Once you’ve determined who your market take a look around. See what else is out there.

What is your competition doing?

This your chance to really stand out and get noticed. Instead of putting something out there that looks like everyone else consider trying something a little different that’ll get you noticed. Finding the right artist will help.

Shop around

Visit an artist’s website. Look at their style and level of presentation. You can tell a lot about an artist by the way he or she presents their work. Take a look around and see what type art they are displaying. How long have they been an artist? How successful are they? Do they have recommendations, a recognizable client list, have they received any awards.
Experience is the name of the game.

Most artist’s would love to illustrate a picture book but that doesn’t mean you should hire them. Do a little homework first to make sure you are choosing the right artist. Can they draw or create the style you are looking for consistently? Does their portfolio contain the right art for your demographic or is it scattered and lacking direction? Has your artist been published, if so where? Try searching their name on Google, LinkedIn or Amazon to find out more about them and their level of expertise.
Hiring the wrong artist for the wrong  job can be time consuming and expensive. Your project is no place for on the job training so be sure to hire someone with the highest level of expertise you can afford. Always check out who your artist has worked for and examples of jobs they have done. A good artist will be proud to display their work and answer any questions you might have about past experience.
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You get what you pay for.
Why do some artists charge so much more than others? Without a doubt experience is worth paying for. The art you display will directly affect the perception of your company or business. This is no time for bargain shopping, always hire the best artist you can afford. It is always better to spend a little more and get the best quality possible rather than trying to save a few dollars and ending up with something you can’t use.

Successful artists are not just good at making pretty pictures they also know their market and understand production. They know the difference between file formats and what will work best for your project. They can talk to your printer and help give you exactly what you need saving you time, money and aggravation.

If you’re not sure about the difference between vector or bitmap art and which one you need ask your artist. He should be able to explain in simple terms explaining the pros and cons of each. Do you need a jpeg, tiff or png? RGB or CMYK format? An experienced artist will know which one to use for your particular project and why. Even if your artist works in traditional media the art will still need to be scanned and translated into a digital format at some point. If your artist doesn’t understand these simple requirements you might want to shop for some one else who does. The proper format is crucial and could mean the difference between your project looking great and becoming a costly disaster.

Questions your artist may ask

Here are a few questions your artist might ask. Use this list to have your answers prepared before you talk so you don’t forget or leave anything out. It’s best to be descriptive and include as much information up front as possible. The clearer you are with your artist the better chance you have of getting back exactly what you asked for.

Always start by describing your project in detail.

The more information you can provide the more accurate your illustrator can be. Don’t be afraid to include your illustrator in your creative process or as a part of your creative team. A good experienced illustrator will often be able to help you with creative suggestions or finding great new approaches to your project you may not have even considered.

Here are a few questions (in no particular order) you will want to think about before you begin.

• What is the artwork being used for?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • What is your goal?
  • What style you are looking for?
  • Are there certain color preferences or other considerations?
• Production
  • How many illustrations will you need?
  • What is the size(s) and or format?
  • Where will you be using the art?
  • What is your deadline ?
  • What is your budget?
  • Can you put me in touch with your printer?
• Contact information
  • Who is the main person in charge of the project ?
  • What is the best way to reach that person or people?
    • Email?
    • Phone
    • Other

What is the artwork being used for?
Different uses mean different file requirements. Knowing who your audience is and where your piece will be used make a big difference in style and approach. What might work well for one audience might not work well for another. Do you have a goal?

A piece of art that needs to be many different sizes will require a different solution then one that will be printed at a specific size. The demands for the web are completely different from print. Knowing the different places your art will be used will help me determine the best format(s).
How many illustrations will you need?
What is your budget?
Most illustrators charge by the project not on an hourly basis. One size does not fit all. Many artists will charge you different rates for different types of usage. They may charge less for limited usage then they will for a total buyout because once the copyright is sold the artist no longer has the potential to make money from that image. Determine which usage works best for you and be sure to negotiate the rights with your artist up front at the beginning of each project so there no surprises later on.

I prefer to charge by the project and am happy to give you a quote before we begin. If you have a limited budget that’s okay chances are we can find a creative solution to fit your needs.

Can I talk to your Printer/ web designer?
Why on earth would an illustrator want to talk to a printer. Simple, every printer has certain requirements when it comes to artwork depending on what type of equipment he is using. He can tell the artist what type of file will work best for his machinery. Similarly a web designer may also have certain requirements for artwork and file format.

I’ve worked with many printers over the years and I speak their language. If you have any questions about the process just let me know and I will be happy to explain.

What are your deadlines?
It is very important to spell out your needs and plan out a schedule at the beginning of the project. Most artists work in stages and will submit artwork to you within a certain time frame. A typical schedule witll start with sketches and proceed from there. It is important to be realistic about your needs. Be sure to provide you povide enough time for the best job possible. Some artists may ask for an additional rush fee if your project’s deadlines are unrealistic. Different artists work at different rates, if you’re uncertain how long it takes just ask.

I am very efficient with my deadlines but too little time will probably mean having to make a few compromises. Art takes time. Always think ahead and make sure to leave plenty of time for your project. Leaving extra time will assure you always receive the best quality.

How would you like the art delivered?
An experienced artist will make arrangements for delivery at the beginning of each project. Digital artwork is great because it is so easy to work with. Some programs can produce rather large file sizes though. If you have an FTP site or another preferred method of delivery let your artist know. If you don’t chances are your artist will have a quick efficient way to deliver files that are too large for email. Most artists have experience in this area and have worked out a delivery method that should be easy to use and eliminate headaches.
Make sure to resolve this issue as early as possible so you don’t run into any problems on you due date. I have several methods of deliver I use based on costumer preference.

Who or how many people are involved in the decision making process?
The more people involved in the approval process, the higher the potential for miscommunication. Pick a leader or point person for your project and be sure to have all direction go through that one project leader. If it absolutely must be a committee decision make sure everyone involved in the decision making process signs off on direction before you involve the artist.

Conference calls are fine as long as it doesn’t waste everyone’s time. Be clear and decisive and do not leave big decisions unresolved. Ambiguous direction will be costly.

Contract
If you do not have a contract or written agreement, ask the artist to provide one for you. Do not hire an artist without something in writing. Be sure to spell out all the details of your project including delivery schedule, usage, copyrights, payment schedule and any other important information that might effect the outcome of your project.
You may also want to include a kill fee in your contract spelling out what happens if the project is cancelled for any reason before completion. This will protect both you and the artist by allowing you to understand ahead of time what happens if for any reason the project needs to be terminated.
I am happy to provide an agreement if you need one.

Enjoy the process
Working with an illustrator should be a fun and rewarding experience. Hiring the right illustrator will not only make you look great but will add great value and marketability to your project. If you have not worked with an illustrator in the past or need a little help organizing your project please feel free to contact me. Whether you plan to hire me for your next project or someone else I am always happy to answer any questions you might have about how to improve your project, hiring an artist or other any other art related questions.

For more information on hiring me for your project please visit my contact page.

The post How to Hire an Artist appeared first on Illustration.

Welcome to a new feature on WordPress.com News. Every couple weeks, we’ll sit down with an Automattician to help you get to know the people who work behind the scenes to build new features, keep Automattic’s wheels turning, and make WordPress.com the best it can be. Mr. Tim Moore suggested this new feature and so we thought it only fitting that he should be first. Everybody, say hey to Tim!

What’s your role at Automattic?

Tim Moore

At Automattic, I’m a member of Team Social. We handle projects like Publicize, Post by Email, Sharing, the new WordPress.com comments UI, and Gravatar, among others.

I also do a lot of work on Automattic’s Jetpack plugin. I have a toe in each part of Jetpack; I started out doing mostly development, though now I help with support, maintenance, and any aspect of the plugin that needs work.

What sort of work have you done in the past? What did you learn from it?

For development work, I maintained virtual machines. Usually, beyond the basic web server software (LAMP or similar), I didn’t get involved in other software packages that could be run (email, for example). I used to do this, but haven’t in a long time.

In light of some of the recent privacy policy rigamarole that has been going around in the tech world, I decided to brush up on my skills to see what I could do. I ended up setting up my own email server to handle email for several of my domains that, until then, I had piped into a Google Apps account. Because they’re low volume email accounts, I don’t need Google’s vast data centers. I ended up with a functional email server and I learned that email, a thing we take for granted, is a complicated beast.

If you have an interest in how something works, take the time to learn about it. It’s going to be frustrating (My email server certainly frustrated me!), and you’ll probably feel like you’d be better off leaving it to someone else (I felt like that too).

When you’re done, you’ll have learned something new, you’ll understand a service you’ve (maybe) taken for granted in the past, and you’ll have a new appreciation for how hard folks work to make these things available.

What do you love most about working at Automattic?

I love having instant access to some of the best brilliant minds in the field. I’m an autodidact* and love to learn; there’s nothing better than being able to jump on IRC or Skype to ask a question or have a discussion about something I don’t understand and coming away having learned something new.

I also like that my commute to my office can be different each day. Not just in, “Let’s take a different route to the office today,” but in that I can stay in bed and open the laptop, I can work in my home office, I can go to the café or restaurant. My commute can be different each night, too, if I choose to work at night.

What should the people know about you, Tim?

In my spare time (hah!), I write fiction (speculative fiction or science fiction or fantasy) and read just about anything that captures my interest. I currently have a novel and several short stories in progress and I usually read about one book a week (this week I’ve knocked off Gun Machine by Warren Ellis, the B-Team by John Scalzi, and am working on the Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey).

I’m also a family person. I like to spend as much time with my wife, Caroline (also an Automattician!), and two daughters (ages four and one) as I can. One of the things I like to do with them, to relax after work, is cook dinner for the family.

*Fun fact: Leonardo da Vinci is one of the world’s best known autodidacts.

Did you know that Automattic is hiring? We want people who are willing to work hard, share their ideas, learn from their colleagues, take initiative to get things done without being told, and those who aren’t afraid to ask questions. Think you fit the bill? Work with us.

Merry band of comrades seeks nice, hard-working, diligent, motivated, fun-loving people to join their mission: to democratize publishing and make WordPress.com the best it can be. Work with us.

Last year at Automattic (WordPress.com’s parent company) we hired 48 people:

• 19 developers/systems folk — those who write code and make sure servers are running.
• 14 Happiness Engineers — those who support our users in the forums and answer requests for help.
• 6 themers and designers who create beautiful themes and sites.
• 8 in business and operations — those who work internally with Automatticians and with our VIPs.
• 2 in editorial curating Freshly Pressed, and inspiring bloggers to keep on blogging.

We expect to hire 60 new Automatticians in 2013. We’re a distributed company: Automatticians work from home, their local coffee shop, co-working spaces — the location in the world where they’re most comfortable and productive. Our hiring pool is planet Earth.

We need developers, designers, themers, support folks, and more. Are you a mobile developer? Apply. Are you smart about WordPress, incisive, and compassionate? You might be an awesome Happiness Engineer.

What qualities do we seek? We look for people who are willing to work hard, share their ideas, learn from their colleagues, take initiative to get things done without being told, and those who aren’t afraid to ask questions.

To help you get to know your future colleagues a little better and learn about the awesome people who fuel Automattic, we’re starting a new series here at WordPress.com News called “Five Minutes with an Automattician.” First up, on Monday, January 21st, Mr. Tim Moore.

Think you’ve got the right stuff? Work with us.

Do you love technology? Do you love books? Do you have great interpersonal and communication skills? Do you live to build and support great software teams? Do you thrive in a fast paced e-commerce environment? If the answer is yes please read on.

If you are a software engineer and want to live in the Pacific Northwest BookFinder.com is currently looking for two positions.  1) Software Engineering Manager and 2) an experienced Software Engineer to be a part of a small agile team in our Vancouver B.C. office

If you are interested take a look at the job postings which are located on our parent company’s website.  All of the qualifications and contact details are listed there however please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about the positions.  We hope to hear from you.

[Now Reading: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald]

Tuesday night a received an email via Facebook from a friend from college notifying me that I was tagged in a photo. As many of you on Facebook know, once you have been friended by a college or high school alum, you begin getting more requests from... Read the rest of this post

With the recent news of Yahoo’s potential acquisition by vile Microsoft and its prior layoff of 1000 hardworking geeks, there was a bit of an air of piracy in the office last week.

Linden Lab is going into another round of recruitment, focusing on web developers, QA folk, and other nerdy types. If any web developers out there (you, yes, YOU Joy!) want to work in a more stable, hilarious, and weird environment, you might want to fill out an application to work at Second Life. Free beer, the Love Machine, and a frightening amount of RockBand can all be yours!

Linden seems to be where the socially-developed nerds go to work. There’s a much larger % of women, extroverts, parents, and charmers working at Linden than is considered industry standard. Which means you tend to not find yourself in conversations with dudes who can’t make eye contact with a girl, or folks who get REALLY EMOTIONAL about their code.

It’s good to be a god, too, even if it’s only in-world. You can read more about our wickedcool office culture in the Tao of Linden.

On Dumbledore's Gayness...

I'm sure you've heard that JK Rowling has been revealing more than just her undergarments on her current tour (I hope I don't get hate mail or fired for that last link)--she's recently let Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore out of the closet. They're writing about it everywhere.

Check out the Onion if you'd like a chuckle. Then see Alison Morris's PW Shelftalker blog post, What Happens in Hogwarts Stays in Hogwarts with lots and lots of links and a thoughtful commentary.

I can't help but wonder if the people who wanted HP banned because of the magic are excited to have something else to object to.

I just listened to Harry Potter 6 on my iPod--all 17 discs worth of it. It was a long haul, but the audio recordings are very very good.

I have some predictions about the upcoming seventh book and I want to document them here. First, I'd like to say that I do not read fan sites and I have not gotten sucked into debates about Harry Potter anywhere else. Being a fiction writer myself, I recognize that getting embroiled in an argument about what is going to happen in an upcoming piece of fiction is perhaps more ridiculous than fighting over what the weather is going to be like next month.

That being said, here are my predictions:

Snape: I believe that Snape is not as evil as we've been led to believe. I think he dispensed with Dumbledore for a specific reason, but I believe Dumbledore was right in trusting Snape. Dumbledore was too smart and Snape was too obviously evil for me to believe that Dumbledore just made an error in character judgment, which led to his demise. Dumbledore had a reason to trust Snape and I'm siding with Dumbledore on this one. That being said, I believe Dumbledore may play a role in book 7, but I believe he will remain dead. After all, he had quite a kick-ass funeral!

The DA: Dumbledore's Army (the D.A.) is the future. I think book 7 will reveal that Voldemort's operatives have compromised the Ministry of Magic more than we ever realized--all the way up to the top. I think that book 7 will see a huge upheaval that will lead to the toppling of the magical government. The aurors will be killed or rendered powerless and the DA will rise to the occasion and clean house.

Horcruxes: I'm not sure whether this has been postulated, but I think Harry himself is a horcrux. For those of you not into Harry Potter and just reading this to humor me, a horcrux (according to book 6) is when a powerful wizard splits their soul and implants it into an inanimate object in order to make the wizard more difficult to destroy. It is believed that Voldemort split his soul into 7 parts. All the way back to the first time we saw the Sorting Hat and it said Harry should be in Slytherin, I knew Harry had some part of him that was evil. I believe that Voldemort was trying to kill Harry to impart his soul fragment into an inanimate object and something went wrong that resulted in Voldemort's soul fragment to be implanted in Harry.

The Prophesy: The prophesy states, "either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives." This prophesy is worded very strangely and very carefully, is it not? I think this goes back to the issue of the horcrux. With part of Voldemort's soul within Harry, neither can live while the other survives. In other words, Harry can never be free with part of Voldemort inside of him and Voldemort can never live while Harry is still alive, since Voldemort would need that fragment back if he is to truly live.

Does Harry Die: When it's all finished, I believe Harry is going to live. If you've read my entire post, you'll know that the DA will need a leader and Harry has been aiming to be an auror for the past few years. People are talking all over the place about whether Harry is going to die in this book 7. Perhaps I am an eternal optimist, but I think Harry is going to live. He serves a direct function and he needs to go on to see to the rebirth of the magic world. Despite the prophesy, its strange wording leads me to believe JK Rowling has a loophole up the sleeve of her magical robes.

And that's all I'm going to say about Harry Potter. It's only 2 months away until the book's release and we'll see if I'm right! So, why in the title of this blog entry do I say that I hope I'm wrong, you ask? That's easy.

I want to be surprised!