Sprucing up

So as you may or may not know, depending on your frequency of visit, I have launched a new version of the 'ol blog. After nearly 16 years of running this site, I have lost track of which version this is, since at some points in it's lifespan the design changed multiple times a year. Let's just call this version, Optimus Primal. Yes, I haven't moved on from using Transformer names for my site versions. Sue me.

So why the radically different design?

While the last design was colorful, it really was a failed experiment. I had hoped to bring all the components of my digital life together in one place and while that seemed like a good idea at the outset, it quickly became clear that wasn't the right path to go down at all. The reason? I have seriously branched out when it comes to content creation. Currently I am producing music, film, apps & games and novels. Adding what I write here (2 articles in 3 categories a week) and it became too much noise, not enough signal. I decided to split off everything except my random musings here into a media focused site, which you can find linked in the header. While this made a lot of sense and made the consumption of that content easier, it left the design of this site broken and empty. So, new design time.

Enter #May1Reboot

I was cautiously optimistic when I saw that the Reboot had been reborn. I participated for years, and loved the core concept. Having something like this back in action would be a welcome shot in the arm of our industry. Given my long history with the Reboot, and being around for the changing of hands and then the eventual demise, I definitely had reservations. Luckily the human beings behind this latest incarnation are top notch, stand up homosapiens.

So, the Goals

With this design I was going for focus on the content itself, while breaking the mold somewhat with my design aesthetic. I love minimal flat design as much as the next bloke, in fact I have been designing this way for years, but the fact can't be ignored that it has gone to a place that isn't very productive. In many ways it has begun to hurt the very users it was created to help. So the task before me was to remain true to myself and what I love, while introducing some aspects of design back into my workflow, that have been missing. I also wanted to use some CSS tricks I had developed/discovered over the last couple of years to do some interesting things. Although I'm not done, I do think I can say mission accomplished. Oh, and one note. No images were used in creating the layout of this design. It's all beautiful, beautiful CSS.