New Theme: My Profession
More than half a year after I launched this domain (and sadly, made only nine posts), this is the first re-design. I decided to resurrect one of the many themes I started and failed to complete during the one year I had a severe bout of design block and over-perfectionism. The previous design never really seemed “finished” to me, and this design achieved in being able to fill in the gaps from the last that were apparent to me and perhaps some other visitors. Aptly called “My Profession”, this theme is inspired by what is currently my biggest focus: growing as a designer in this ever-changing and increasingly competitive industry.
Being an interior designer by profession, I scattered the appropriate design elements of graph paper, architectural lineweights, colour swatches, furniture photos, fabric snippets, Post-It™ notes, and Copic™ markers. All design elements are strategically scattered to show the puzzle-like process in portraying an idea in a slightly more universalised type of organisation that it becomes understood beyond the bounds of the creative industry. Otherwise understood by all industries: from chaotic to systematic, from general to specific.
Structural Upgrades & Changes
- Portfolio Update: The portfolio has been updated with new work, and the overall structure of way the work is displayed has changed. I have also taken down some old work, due to the inability to re-hash the portfolio samples to adhere to the new portfolio structure. A lot of my older work is scattered in various computers, and I have yet to compile and collate them accordingly. It is very unlikely that they’ll be taken down permanently; if I find them, they will be re-displayed. Also, there are still a large handful of much newer work that is waiting to be displayed on the portfolio page. I just have wait for permission from the clients.
- Re-written “About” Section – Now, with A Photo: I re-wrote the “About” section a little bit, and now it finally sports a profile picture. Mind you, it’s a pretty old photo, and those who read this and have been out with me know that it’s evident through the fact that I no longer part my hair in the middle.
- Re-categorised Archives: The previous incarnation of this domain allowed the visitor to scan the jotter archives by post title, month, and category. The option to view by topic is now available and a tag cloud has been added.
- Lurker Candy: For those who aren’t inclined to leaving a comment, I added an “emo vote” on the bottom of each post. The function to email various posts or submit it to various social networking websites has also been made available.
This list should expand as I iron out the finer details of this design over the course of the week.
Technical Issues
So far, this design appears decent on a Mac environment, through the Safari 4.0.4, Firefox 3.6.2, Google Chrome, and Flock 2.5.5 browsers. It has not yet been tested on a Windows environment, and I highly doubt I’ll be giving Internet Explorer 6 the time of day for this design. Expect some live tweaking over the next several days. There are a handful of apparent missing elements in the design and the back-end structure, such as the overall validation of the website’s code, moving this design over to the Tumblr, changing the favicon, adding a list of social networking websites I am currently a member, and customising a sidebar of sorts for the jotter.
Of course, visitor input is always appreciated, so if any of you happen upon any errors or have some suggestions on how to improve this website and/or design, kindly notify me and I’ll attend to them as soon as I can. Enjoy the domain’s new costume!
Do I even need to say that I love the new look? Well I’ll say it anyway; I love it :) Nice job as always!
I also like that you have the ‘emo vote’ lol Hopefully your lurkers will make use of it :)
You know, when I get famous, you’ll be first on my list of choices to design my website :) And to decorate my new house :D
Comment by Kris — March 24th, 2010 @ 4:17 amLuv it! I’m not sure how the emo vote works, but it’s cute! :) Everything looks so professional, I bow down to your CSS mastery! Haha. Now to explore the other parts of the site ^^…
Comment by Nikz — March 24th, 2010 @ 5:21 amLove the new design too maria.. Awesome job on this.. Now I feel inspired to redesign my domain too! (actually, i never even designed it to begin with, but now i feel inspired to design it!)
Comment by Davadrian — March 24th, 2010 @ 10:38 amooooh copic markers! I liiiike (:
Comment by Nadine — March 24th, 2010 @ 12:32 pmawesome job with the re-design! I’m hoping you’ll blog
more about life (: I’ve missed your little notes ^^
I’m loving the revamp! I’ve always liked messy desktop-inspired layouts <3 And it's brilliant how you reflected your profession in your layout. Thumbs up!
Comment by Nora Ismail — March 24th, 2010 @ 7:29 pmLOL! Awesome! We now both have layouts from the same color family! Woot! Love it – especially the little patterned samples. Very cool!
Comment by Ivy — March 25th, 2010 @ 4:25 pmThe new layout looks really great and neat. I like staring at it, the colors are comfortable for my eyes too. Love it! :D
Comment by Oridusartic — March 25th, 2010 @ 8:46 pmIt’s really, really lovely. :) I love the colors and the textures and just, well … everything!
Comment by Jenny — March 25th, 2010 @ 9:00 pmIt looks great! I love the color scheme, very easy on the eye, very feminine and it’s definitely the perfect layout to welcome spring! And I love the personal touch, that it refers to your profession. :)
Comment by Kathleen — March 26th, 2010 @ 2:39 pmi am loving this layout. it’s very cute. i also love how you dedicated this layout theme to your profession. the pictures of color swatches, magic markers, and furniture are just too adorable. makes me want to play with my design book and coloring pencils now. :D
Comment by jannie — March 26th, 2010 @ 4:30 pmThis re-design is absolutely beautiful! It’s unique and the colors are easy on the eyes. I love how this re-design correlates with your profession. It’s one good way to express yourself and let the visitors know who you are and what you do.
Comment by Kristine — March 28th, 2010 @ 2:48 amI’m totally loving the new layout, Marz! I especially love the box of copics in the footer! Reminds me so much of the endless plates back in college! =P
Comment by anna — March 29th, 2010 @ 10:19 amI’ll be very Chinese with you:
Wah! So nice wan ah! Aiyo, I very like this very much oh!
Phew…that wasn’t so bad, eh? Lovin’ this new layout. Kudos once again, my dear Maria. :-)
Comment by Chris — April 1st, 2010 @ 11:22 am@Nikz: Actually, Nikz, the “emo vote” plugin doesn’t appear to be working. I’m still remedying the issue, and when the plugin functions, it should give lurkers the chance to make their voice heard (if they’re so inclined) without feeling compelled to type a comment.
@Davadrian: Thanks, Dave! The good thing about your domain is that you concentrate on adding a substantial amount of content, which bodes well with incoming visitors. Should you dress up your website, I look forward to seeing the result.
@Nadine: Nadine, thank you for bringing up that point about making more personal posts. In fact, you were not the only one who has this sentiment. In the recent years, I decided to turn my general online presence towards an increasingly design-oriented direction, but perhaps the turn was a bit sudden. I’m currently really back-logged on various reviews, but it’s good to know that someone appreciates the more personal posts. I’ll make it a point to include more of those for future entries.
@Ivy: Yet again, this is soul-sistering in the works, Ivy. We have layouts from similar colour families, and (finally) released around the same time. Hopefully the design will elicit more jotter posts! In fact, remember when I used to have an obsession with that enigmatic colour between turquoise and light blue, in the summer of 2007? Good times! Miss you!
@anna: I’m glad that the design resonated with you in some way, and it is unsurprising, considering our professions are very similar. Hope you are well, Ms. Ignacio!
@Chris: The Chinese part of your comment made me wax nostalgic about my years in Singapore. Well, almost. Great, Chris, now I’m thinking about laksa and sambal stingray.
Comment by Maria Celina — April 2nd, 2010 @ 10:16 pmI love the new look. It has such a nice and organised, yet slightly scattered feel to it. Very reflective of the life of a busy person!! The navigation works really well for me. I like how it appears at the top and bottom of the page, framing your content.
Comment by Skye — April 4th, 2010 @ 11:58 pmTheme is good but I see you less and less in cyber world (read blogsphere). What is the reason?
Comment by Shirazi — April 29th, 2010 @ 1:11 pm@Shirazi: Perhaps the reason behind my sporadic appearances is part and parcel with the busy lifestyle of post-college adulthood, Shirazi. I am also trying to distance myself from a website with an overly personal nature, and maintain a substantial connection with my profession. All that’s left is a question of regaining the momentum, though.
Comment by Maria Celina — May 11th, 2010 @ 4:46 pm