011. Why am I not dynamic enough?
I've recently been trying to figure out a good layout for my graphic art portfolio and business, Virtual Crisis Media, which has been untouched for awhile. It's gone through two drafts, one I decided to settle on, and I showed a few of my friends enthusiastic.
Sadly, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. The regulars weren't fond of the background graphics - one a photomanipulation of myself (a friend said it creeped her out), the other side butterflies. The experienced one didn't understand why I had to go for the futuristic neon theme, said it lacked the style he observed from my artwork, and said I was following a Web 1.0 tradition rather than converge to Web 2.0.
Now arguably, this could be a matter of taste. Me and my friend definitely have different tastes - he's Apple, I'm Windows, he's left-brained, I'm right-brained, he likes women, I like men, etc. While that certainly hasn't stopped us from working together in the past, combining his interface ideas and my Photoshop powers together and creating some awesome stuff, there's a reason I'm taking his advice seriously: he's had more experience and success in developing web and UI designs than I have, and at this point I've realized I really need to learn and offer that if I want a balanced market and income online.
I've recently been trying to figure out a good layout for my graphic art portfolio and business, Virtual Crisis Media, which has been untouched for awhile. It's gone through two drafts, one I decided to settle on, and I showed a few of my friends enthusiastic.
Sadly, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. The regulars weren't fond of the background graphics - one a photomanipulation of myself (a friend said it creeped her out), the other side butterflies. The experienced one didn't understand why I had to go for the futuristic neon theme, said it lacked the style he observed from my artwork, and said I was following a Web 1.0 tradition rather than converge to Web 2.0.
Now arguably, this could be a matter of taste. Me and my friend definitely have different tastes - he's Apple, I'm Windows, he's left-brained, I'm right-brained, he likes women, I like men, etc. While that certainly hasn't stopped us from working together in the past, combining his interface ideas and my Photoshop powers together and creating some awesome stuff, there's a reason I'm taking his advice seriously: he's had more experience and success in developing web and UI designs than I have, and at this point I've realized I really need to learn and offer that if I want a balanced market and income online.
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| A PSD Vault tutorial for a Web 2.0 button, taken from Naldz Graphics' 40+ Best Photoshop Tutorials for Creating Buttons and Badges. |
I've had a very mixed opinion on the "less is more" motto of Web 2.0, where everyone knows Apple's name. Heck, I can't shake off how so many Web 2.0 things remind me of Apple that it bugs me tremendously if I'm doing a set of tutorials to coach myself and the icons look as though they're going to settle and float at the bottom of my screen any second.
It unnerves me how behind I really am on technology, especially with smart-technology - I mean, I was more than content on having a slider with full keyboard and unlimited texting, the plan is affordable and the model is nice. Meanwhile I have my friends scanning BBMs and asking me how to use smilies again when they log onto their unlimited Facebook or MSN intentionally to taunt me (and they don't even use it that much).
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| Screenshot of a mobile UI from Creamscoop.com |
I've noticed a very important trend too - mobile internet. It's here to stay as well and the convenience it offers is astounding. How many websites that offer mobile browsing is one factor, but how many websites that take into consideration the integrity of their UI layout + graphics + browsing structure and manage to incorporate enough of it into the mobile versions of their sites is something else. I saw a web layout that looked incredibly simple, sleek, and devoid of anything artistic touch - but it would be able to survive in both internet and mobile in terms of what content it offered and how the content was structured as a news feed.
I'm probably going to end up keeping a good portion of my current design for VC Media anyway since it's my website, but it feels as though my personal taste is getting in the way of the dynamic industry that is new media and technology. Now, as somebody who would call herself an artist and as an individual, I'm obliged to have my own opinions and interests. That hasn't gotten in the way before.
But right now, if my tastes and choices end up interfering with how I'm supposed to be doing my job, something's not right here, and I need to get those textbooks/online tutorials open and my pen/mice/tablet stylus* ready before I embark on fully filling the role as a proper graphic designer.
*I do not own a tablet.
