Where It All Began
Before I move forward with new projects and a new business, I’ve decided to take a moment to reflect on where I’ve come from. (What better way to know where you’re headed?) So I’m starting by taking a look at the second website I ever designed and developed–my old portfolio.
At the time that I designed it, I was nearing my last days at IU and getting ready for a new way of life in the infamous “real world”. I was getting ready for the job hunt (which was so much easier just a year and a few months ago), but still full of all the knowledge and inspiration I’d picked up during my stay with the School of Fine Arts’ design program.
The Inspiration
Much of my inspiration came from my recent classes in design. The one thing I miss most about the college atmosphere is having people to soak information from and bounce ideas off of no matter how crazy they seem. As much as I hated my design classes–especially the first two–and as much as I was ready to drop out every semester that I had a design class, hindsight proves that it was all more than worth it. Though I hated the competition and inarticulate critiques from instructors, nothing could have better prepared me for the inconsiderate and clueless clients (and bosses!) I’ve encountered. What made the pain worth it to me was learning from the work of those design prodigies we all hated to love. They were confident enough to try different color combinations or unorthodox typefaces while the rest of us were still cowering from the last critique.
Coming back around to the subject at hand, I took the lead of those prodigies and tried something different. So many websites are cluttered with images, illustrations, and content. Going into web design intimidated me because I remember thinking “where do you even begin to start filling up a page like that?!” I loved the beauty and simplicity of print design, especially that of the minimalist approach. I’ve always been a sucker for anything that just gets straight to the point and doesn’t jerk you around with unnecessary information. Don’t get me wrong, though, I fully appreciate (and slightly envy) sites that take the opposite approach and actually pull it off. It just doesn’t quite “get me” in the same way.
This design was one of my main influences for the new Point Brake design. Going back to my roots played a huge part in being able to see where I wanted to go. (“The best way to predict the future is to design it.” -Bruce Mau) There were a few other influences, but I wanted to keep it fairly simple, elegant, and legible–yet with a twist. Soon enough we’ll all see if I pulled it off or not.