Success! The header is finally up...although because of the many problems I shouldn't be so quick to declare victory. More like a moment where I can sense the tide is turning...kinda like the moment when John McCain called Barack Obama "That One"! I feel I've moved from the older generation into the wide new world, where web design can only open more and more doors.My link again, as my shameless plug
Having said that, there are many drawbacks to the current web design, so I'm going to vent on a few of my current site problems. One of the biggest problems is getting my side nav bar for cafepress active. It seems to break up the page and also keeps the old nav text section, even when I try to hide it. I have a few ideas on how to remedy, but also need to keep posting designs and getting the site more presentable...not to mention the freelance side stuff goin' on.
If I had a superpower, it would be to make multiple copies of myself. Not like the Michael Keaton film...I was thinking like the Penny character from Sky High. you know, you can get a lot done, are never alone, and someone always laughs at your jokes.
My actual superpower, or so I've been told, lies in my ability to speak to animals, most specifically dogs. I think that's why to very few dog designs on my site are doing the most of the earnings. My furry little breadwinners, so proud of them!
I think the lack of sleep is catching up to me. More later!
Showing posts with label web design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web design. Show all posts
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Is It Thursday Already?
Actually, the clock just slipped past 12 here on the Left Coast. And I am just completing the finishing touches on my first ever cafepress website. It's been an event that has been long time coming, but not that's it's started it's impossible to stop. I literally have found myself working almost 24 hours a day, attempting to balance both the upsurge of cafepress potential as well as my ongoing freelance business. I think it's telling that the amount of time I devote to each has skewed heavily in favor of my little cafe's pet project.
If I might do a little late night musing before the release of the first site (at least the exterior homepage...sections still need organizing), I am struck at how immensely fulfilled I feel. This is not to say that somehow I didn't register accomplishment before now. Nor is it do classify launching a website template as my crowning achievement in life.
In fact, I have been an artist, graphic designer, and writer for many years now. Yet it was only after I begun this cafepress journey do I finally see Brazen Path's purpose. rather than the bordeom and coldness of corporate clientele, or the one-and-done lifestyle of a wayward freelance contractor, there has been a lack of audience in my life. The need for creative freedom with the elusive steady paycheck is a balancing act I've pulled off for a few years.
But indeed this post isn't about the wonders of money, though cafepress is certainly helping to alleviate all lot of concern at the moment. rather, in a world where a designer's work, at least the entry level caste, is almost always handcuffed into accepting jobs with no residuals or no guarantee of steady work. Often their designs disappear into the jagged abyss of company branding regulations or client edits, inevitably leaving a stripped down withered version of the design you intended. Other times, there is no way to get your heart completely into the project. I freely admit that there is something entirely unwholesome about perfecting real estate brochures for million dollar homes in the crux of the housing crisis.
But to sell a design you've poured your heart and soul into, like the Mutts of Politics line that currently features three of my outstanding pups, that is a new revelation. I design now not for myself, my income or even my future earning potential. No, I do it for the dog on the beach, who I might happen to stroll by and see wearing my Hope dog jersey. Or walk past a political rally and notice my shirts and buttons casually littered throughout a crowd. It is in these moments that we designers spend countless hours honing our craft, and it is in the smiles we see that truly justify why we do what we do.
Enjoy the rest of the week...make sure to get out and vote!
If I might do a little late night musing before the release of the first site (at least the exterior homepage...sections still need organizing), I am struck at how immensely fulfilled I feel. This is not to say that somehow I didn't register accomplishment before now. Nor is it do classify launching a website template as my crowning achievement in life.
In fact, I have been an artist, graphic designer, and writer for many years now. Yet it was only after I begun this cafepress journey do I finally see Brazen Path's purpose. rather than the bordeom and coldness of corporate clientele, or the one-and-done lifestyle of a wayward freelance contractor, there has been a lack of audience in my life. The need for creative freedom with the elusive steady paycheck is a balancing act I've pulled off for a few years.
But indeed this post isn't about the wonders of money, though cafepress is certainly helping to alleviate all lot of concern at the moment. rather, in a world where a designer's work, at least the entry level caste, is almost always handcuffed into accepting jobs with no residuals or no guarantee of steady work. Often their designs disappear into the jagged abyss of company branding regulations or client edits, inevitably leaving a stripped down withered version of the design you intended. Other times, there is no way to get your heart completely into the project. I freely admit that there is something entirely unwholesome about perfecting real estate brochures for million dollar homes in the crux of the housing crisis.
But to sell a design you've poured your heart and soul into, like the Mutts of Politics line that currently features three of my outstanding pups, that is a new revelation. I design now not for myself, my income or even my future earning potential. No, I do it for the dog on the beach, who I might happen to stroll by and see wearing my Hope dog jersey. Or walk past a political rally and notice my shirts and buttons casually littered throughout a crowd. It is in these moments that we designers spend countless hours honing our craft, and it is in the smiles we see that truly justify why we do what we do.
Enjoy the rest of the week...make sure to get out and vote!
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