So Long and Thank You!
The time has come. As of June 1, 2025, David Jakes Designs LLC will officially close its doors. As you might imagine, stepping away from something you’ve built is not easy—something that’s become such a meaningful part of your life and identity. But after 38 years in and around education, and at 66, it's time to move on and enjoy the remainder of my life. It was a bittersweet decision.
After ten years of working on school design projects, I can look back with pride at the many opportunities I’ve had to help schools grow and evolve. It hasn’t always been easy—running a one-person business means wearing every hat: marketer, travel agent, accountant, and designer, among others. The pandemic brought everything to a standstill for more than two years, and now, the uncertainty around educational funding continues to pose challenges. Through everything, starting my consulting firm was the right decision. It gave me the freedom to shape my professional path on my terms. I've been fortunate to work on meaningful projects with thoughtful clients, collaborate with talented designers, and travel across the US, Canada, Mexico, and many international locations.
While David Jakes Designs was, technically, a one-person firm, I was never truly alone. I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by people who shared their expertise, offered their creativity, and supported me every step of the way. To all of you who were part of this journey: thank you. I’m deeply grateful. Here are some of the many people that supported me:
Thank you to all the teachers, administrators, and students of Waubonsie Valley High School, Downers Grove North High School, District 99 (IL), and Glenbrook South High School for shaping me as an educator. I had the good fortune to teach biology to over 2,200 people.
Brad Leeper, INVISION Architecture, for always supporting me.
Monica Hartmann, VS Furniture, for always answering my dumb questions.
Misty and Dave Diller, Fomcore Furniture, thank you for the opportunities and friendship.
Brandon Hillmann, Meteor Education, for being a co-designer on various projects and helping me when he didn’t have to.
Glenn Robbins, Brigantine School District, for hiring me for my first project and the others that followed.
My colleagues on The Third Teacher+ Team at CannonDesign in Chicago for teaching me design.
Chris Lehmann, David Warlick, and Laura Deisley - three of my favorite educators who have always supported me.
Judy Salpeter, Allison Knapp, and Diana Milbert of Tech & Learning for all the opportunities.
Mark Wagner, Chris Bell, Jim Sill, and EdTechTeam for their support when I was first getting started.
Christian Long for helping me get started by involving me in his projects and including me in others.
Kevin Jarrett and Rick Weinberg for the many maker projects we did together.
George and Paige Couros for the opportunity to write a book on design.
My special thanks go out to Jason Meyering of Jason Meyering Architecture, Chicago, who has been a great collaborator on our projects and is responsible for taking my work to the next level and helping me to grow as a designer and a wannabe architect.
It took me a long time to get here. It’s not easy to look at the end of a long career when you still believe you have things to offer. But I did my part and did my best to contribute to the field of education. I may continue to do personal creative projects about education I am interested in to give me an outlet for my creative side. I may explore other types of opportunities. We’ll see.
In any case, it's been an incredible ride, and I thank everyone who supported me along the way and was part of the journey. It has meant everything.