19/06/2002 - Entry #1.
So here it is. My so-called opus. Kinda laughable really, when you look at it. It's more of an anti-opus, I suppose. A Nopus, perhaps. Oh well. You'll get what you're given, you blood-sucking leeches. You want the moon on a stick, you do. Moon on a stick! I think the whole thing could be in for a redesign sometime soon though. I guess it depends what you lot think of it.
See, the idea was a fairly straightforward one. The crux of this website's existance is for me to put up work, and build on my portfolio, right? Everything around that is merely filler and padding. So I decided to design the site with that in mind. I don't really like the idea of designing something purely cos it looks good. Don't get me wrong, there are times when that works, and works well. The pairing of concepts and functionality is a more clearcut distinction, to use as an example. I mean, if someone was designing, say, a telephone, then I'd consider being able to use the thing slightly more important than being able to view it as an allegory of human suffering through the ages. Functionality has to be the priority of design. Similarly, I think there are times when aesthetics are foremost. Something like a computer game, I'd like to see conceptualised, as it were. But the individual characters in that game don't necessarily have to follow any kind of grand innovative idea. They're better off just looking good. There are times when aesthetics are the most important factor, I think. But when there's enough creative freedom to build on a concept, I really dislike the idea of designing it solely cos it might look cool. Websites, I think, have plenty of creative room to manouevre. Functionality is incredibly easy to achieve (things like broken links aside), so the rest is entirely up to you, more or less. So I feel I have to try and do something with the site, rather than just make it work and try to avoid offending anyone's occular nerves. Unfortunately, I'm no graphic designer. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I'm about as good at graphic design as I am at sexually gratifying three women at once. Technically, I possess all the motor facilities necessary for the task, but I can guarantee I won't be any good at it within our lifetimes. No, it's a life of graphic design strip-clubs, for me I think. I don't know if I lack the 'eye' for this stuff, or if it's simply a case of lack of experience. Either way, I'm no good at designing websites.
But anyway, getting back to the point, I wanted a concept for this site. And since the whole purpose of the place is to host my portfolio, which is going to be almost exclusively computer art, I decided to make it look something akin to a computer application's interface. It both did and didn't work. The background grid is a homage, a homáge if you will, to 3D apps like 3D Studio Max, which use (vaguely) similar grids themselves. Except in 3D. Obviously. I didn't really fancy designing a 3D website though, regrettably. Could've been beautiful. So close. Anyway, the various tables around the front page were meant to mimic 'windows'. Header strip over content. You know what it looks like. Hopefully you can see the rough idea of what I was going for. It was just meant to look slightly less like a website, and more like a program. Again, it both did and didn't work. I suppose it is my first real website (unless you count the diaryland thing, which nobody in their right mind would do since I didn't change the default template), but still.
The biggest drawback was that the whole thing just looked unbearably dull. I mean, it was all shades of grey and white, with nothing to make anything stand out. It was the most insipid website in all of christendom. Much like a computer program, in fact. Hoisted, you could say, by my own petard. And I do say. Anyway, so I tried to think of something to break up the lines slightly, and the best I could think of was drop shadows. Not exactly an 11th hour blinding stroke of genius, but at least it's not something you see on many websites. Or do you? Well, I haven't, and that's all that matters.
Oh well. Sorry to spend the first ever update (can it actually be classed as an update, when it's the first of its kind?) talking about the design of the site, but I'm worried about how it looks. I just can't make my mind up about it. On the one hand, I like the idea. But on the same hand, it doesn't really look all that inspiring. So I think what I'm gonna do is ask you all what you think (just leave a note in the guestbook up there) and if you all hate it, I'll do a complete and utter redesign when I get a chance. Oh! And as for content, there are a few things that aren't done yet. I've kind of got it all planned, but haven't had time to upload it all yet. Obviously there's nothing in the portfolio just yet. That takes the most time, naturally, so stuff will be gradually uploaded as it gets made. A bunch of the reviews (and R3v1eWz) aren't written yet, so give me a bit of time and I'll get those done too. Basically, please just be patient and it might slowly start turning into something resembling a website.
Fair thee do's. I'll be off. Maybe next time I'll talk about something halfway interesting. Imagine that!
P.S. The England flag was a last minute addition, as I believe my inclusion of a cheaply crafted flag, cobbled together in Photoshop in 5 minutes, slapped haphazardly on an obscure backwater internet site with three or four visitors a week will VASTLY improve England's chances of beating Brazil on Friday. It's virtually in the bag, my friends. Start celebrating now.
Please sign the Guestbook. For the love of God, sign it now.