Pros
It is always a challenge to write a review for small design firms with so many factors incomparable to the big-ass design houses. Personalities seem bigger and in-your face, every day. It may be co-workers, a supplier or the big boss. Workforce is small. Your contribution to the office may represent a tenth to a quarter or more of the total effort to get the work done. Over or under-performing is often relative to those around you. Resources are often less. Juggling what you have with what you need is the unique art of working in a small business. It is also important to remember the owner and senior staff are almost always designers first. Being a team-leader, a manager, a partner or the owner is often something they grew into or fell into through immediate need, love of design or wanting to grow a better place to thrive. The bottom line is you either embrace it, contribute and grow, or you reject it, become unproductive, unhappy and end up leaving - only to write bitter reviews of your hardships on platforms like this one. It is always curious to see the dark-cloud past co-workers years later doing the exact same job they were doing before or sporting a mile-long list of short-term gigs. That speaks volumes about them, not the workplace they left behind.
Cons
To appreciate Wiklem Design, it is a small design firm, grown from the owner’s design adventures out of the trunk of her car to be a successful full-service design firm of under 10 employees. Wiklem Design is a decent place to work, encourages broad design-styles and has an odd-collection of employees, who are all fine people to work with. If you are looking to hide in a team-mosh-pit on your laptop, pick the same 3 wall paints every day and play foosball in the staff lounge, Wiklem is definitely not a good match. But, if you are looking to put yourself out there, roll with the good, roll with the not-so-good and gain valuable experiences in all aspects of design, design-processes and the design business, Wiklem may be a perfect place for you to explore. Good Luck!
