The Inner Workings of a Web Site

The history behind this site is a twisted tale of standards, flash, fonts, CSS, browser compatibility, and (of course) aesthetics. I hope, in the next few posts to show some of the routes I took to get this thing where it is now. This round, we’ll focus on the aesthetics. (The next post will probably take you on the journey from flash to web standards, with a link to my “almost launched” flash site.)

So in the beginning I, like many of you didn’t think web designers existed. How could they? Obnoxious blinking, horrible font choices, nasty browser war refugees, and plain-old ugly design reigned supreme five years ago. But along with the first big boom in consumer sites came opportunity. Everyone was calling themselves web designers and the lure of a job someday got me kinda’ interested. Not having any idea on how to do anything “web” I decided to invest in my future as an illustrator, all the while keeping an eye on what was happening in the web design field.

I played with all kinds of things on the side and eventually had to create a site for the non-profit organization that I worked for. In my younger days, research and asking for help (gasp) were not at the top of the list, so I just jumped in. The overall look of the site was “nasty”, but I was happy to be learning and moved on from there. The idea was to someday have such a grasp of the technology that I could create on screen what I saw in my head.

Now, onto the look and feel of this site, now. How did I arrive at some of the choices I made here? The overall feel needed to be indicative of both the design work and the fun illustrative work I do. I arrived at a nice median, I think. The gray tonal colors give the design flexibility and also makes the use of color more declarative (you know, like “HEY LOOK AT ME!"). I also knew that the homepage needed to have something for everyone (casual observers, possible clients, etc.), kind of like Veerle’s incredibly beautiful and well designed site. The sketchbook is an idea I borrowed from Jason Santa Maria’s Daily Photo as a way to force myself to update regularly and keep it loose, publicly. I wanted the title image to change every once in a while, so you’ll notice that it changes based on one of the sketchbook images to the right. The “H1” heading and the sketchbook rollover color all change based on the title image. This helps tie the three areas together, a bit.

I didn’t want to go too far in the “web 2.0” direction, so I stayed away from gradients and starbursts. I tried to go old school, focusing on typography (Georgia) and older looking illustrative elements. The ink dots and faint writing push the “this is a workspace where work actually happens” thing I tried to imply. I also have always been inspired by things that look worn and used - like “wicked worn”.

Overall I’m fairly happy with the look and layout. Would I do some things different? Of course! But notice the lack of obnoxious-blinky-ugliness ... that’s intentional and um, you’re welcome.

* This entry is about the previous version of the site. The links and info are still relevant - enjoy!

This is where I ramble on and you tell me about it below. Ok, I actually hope to do more than ramble, but the jury is still out.