A Note to Self

There comes a time in life, where you just go for it. This is one of those times for me. The past three years of life since graduating from college have provided me many opportunities to try my hand at design. For this I am very grateful.

I always felt that when I was in ‘design mode’ was when I created the most value, mostly because this is where I was the most passionate. I didn’t care if I had to spend several days of my own time learning something in order to bring an idea to life. It puts me in a state of “flow” and I once read that this is a very good thing.

So, that’s why I’ve now decided to be a web designer full time. So far, it’s been a process of soaking up as much as I could, by gathering lots of input from blogs and various online classes like Codeschool. And of course, by doing a lot of experimenting by building web sites!

To make viable a career of web design/development, I know need to be REALLY good. Which means I always need to keep learning and stay on top of ways the web as a whole is evolving, both technically and culturally. This blog is a way to summarize, perhaps on a weekly basis, the things I am learning, and why they matter.

If I can really get into the rhythm of publishing what I’m learning, then not only will it solidify my knowledge and abilities, but I will also be giving back to the community of designers and developers from whom I have learned most of what I know!

I hope this blog also serves as a way for potential clients or colleagues to get to know me. So you can get an idea of where my head’s at. Because design is about trust.

Often times when working out a design problem, I don’t know the answer yet. I might have a conception of what the outcome should be, but it’s still a bit fuzzy. That’s where trust is so important.

Any designer has to be allowed to try things and make mistakes to arrive at a good solution. So the process isn’t always pretty. Without trust, it can get pretty tough to make it to the other side.

So how does a client grant their trust to a designer? It’s only the future of their business thats on the line! It’s a really good question. But demonstrating good work and revealing my thought processes is part of the answer.

Good design is all about being able to put yourself in the shoes of the end user and creating an experience that is empathic to their wants and needs. This is the intangible part of the designers job, and it can involve a lot of convincing and cajoling of clients who may not see it that way.

So let this blog also serve as a way for potential clients to evaluate wether they would want me convincing and cajoling them!