Tag Archives: webdesign

Tough Decision

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I made a tough decision today. I removed the links to Killing Machines, Obey Fojar and Hatelife from the Space Ninja Design examples page.

Why did I do this? Well, to put it briefly, I’ve gotten two remarks lately that some people, when viewing a list of links, and see a link to something called KILLING machines, or HATElife, or a site about propaganda art, make some assumptions about my character. Now, admittedly, these are ignorant assumptions, and it reflects poorly on the people who make them more than myself, but the fact remains that some people do make them.

I would prefer to avoid potential clients thinking I’m associated with the Nazis or, in the charming words of the asshole Head of the Graphic Design department at CWU, that I’m involved in some sort of sadistic religion.

Yes, it’s frustrating to voluntarily censor the presentation of my work, but I am NOT removing these sites from the web, just the links on my professional design site. In fact, if they dig deep enough through the links on the site, they’ll still find them all, but it will avoid the problem I encountered with the CWU guy, of passing judgment without even looking at the pages to see if they are, indeed, what he assumed them to be.

Ugh. I feel dirty for having to do this, but I guess that’s the way it goes. I can take solace in the fact that hatelife and KMorg aren’t the shining pinnacles of design that I hope to express through my web design front, and Obey Fojar isn’t really web design at all, just a gallery of artwork that I happen to be proud of.

Web Design vs Programming

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Uhh… almost done with the Basic Rights Oregon site…

It’s funny. Web design is a completely different mindset from programming. I guess that’s obvious, but it didn’t really occur to me.

When you program, you focus monomanaically on this set of variables, procedures, and tasks that need to get done. It’s almost like juggling, only instead of balls you have machine parts and you have to assemble them into a working engine without dropping anything. Any distraction is a major setback.

But building a website is more like one continuous stream of distractions; you have to take all these separate bits of information and puzzle them together such that they work together and are easy to navigate. More of a herding process. And instead of communicating your intention to a machine, you’re presenting your content to people; and hopefully making it easy enough for them to forget about the machine.

But when you’re also writing the code for the back-end… you can get confused. The ol’ bug-eyed intense focus doesn’t really help you assemble a site’s content… it’s a different “zone” to get into.

Job Updates

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  • Papa John’s: Annie and I were told to contact the guy today to see if he was interested in hiring two more people. I went by today, and he told me to come back on Saturday. It feels like he’s giving us the run-around, but he keeps saying that he will probably need two people, and we desperately need the job, so…
  • Meadowlark: The woman who runs the bed and breakfast here is looking into getting a website for her shop. I’m meeting with her tonight to discuss options. Looks promising, even if it’s not long-term.
  • Gordon: Gordon is the guy that Jester referred me to. He’s been kinda hard to get ahold of, but he’s the one who seems most into me and my work. He said he showed my stuff to his crew, and he’s interested. The advantage is that he would let me telecommute, so I could work from home. The disadvantage is that he doesn’t even have anything for me to try out with until early November. Still, the ability to do web design from home with someone who’s excited about working with me? Very appealing.
  • CWU Webmaster: I was nervous about this job because the woman said the position was closed (indicating they hired someone), the front page of the site was updated, and a few other bad signs. I found out today that the guy doing the updates is a TEMP! Excellent. My chances are still open. Keep your fingers crossed. I think I’ve got a good shot at this job, it pays well, and I’ll know by the end of the month, basically.

So Tired of Job-Hunting

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Ugh. I’m so tired of job-hunting. I’ve applied for a ton of jobs, and been turned down for a ton of jobs. I applied for the webmaster position on campus, which would be perfect for me, and I’m totally qualified, but there’s a few things that make me nervous that the job’s already been filled. I’ll find out in five weeks when the state gets done processing the application. It’s ludicrous that I have to wait that long just to find out if the position is even still open. Maybe I should send an email to webmaster@cwu.edu and ask if the job’s been filled…

Today I dropped off applications at Papa John’s, Albertsons and Safeway. Annie also dropped off an application at Papa John’s. The guy told us both to come back tomorrow at noon. With luck we’ll get hired. I’m so tired of job hunting I’m willing to take anything at this point, just so I can stop being so worried about money all the time. I really really really really want the web job, but five weeks is too late. I need a job this week or we can’t make rent in time. Best case scenario: I get hired at Papa John’s immediately and quit when they tell me I’m hired for the webmaster position. That would be sweet. Less than best, I get hired at Papa John’s and turned down for the webmaster. Worse than best, I get turned down in both places, and have to apply for a fast food job. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if I got turned down for fast food.

AAAGH! God, I want to get that webmaster job! It’s so sweet! I’m qualified! I can do it! I’m perfect! The pay’s great, it’s something I’m interested in, and I would do a great job!

I’m afraid I’ve already built up the job too much in my mind. I’ve been trying really hard not to, in case I get turned down, so I won’t be crushed, but it may be too late. It’s so perfect, and I want it so bad. I try not to let it affect my self esteem that after two months I still can’t get a job and I’m down to applying at grocery stores and fast food, but it’s hard.

One positive note, job-wise… Annie went by the bed and breakfast place to beg for a job today (didn’t get one), and the woman told her she was looking for someone to design a webpage for her. I’m going by tomorrow. I’ll try to get it as a paying gig, but if it looks like she won’t give it to me, I’ll do it for free just for the resume experience. All my sites now are for me or friends, except for the CNS site. Need more professional stuff. It would be sweet if she would pay me to create a web site. It would make me feel like a real professional web designer. No more of this amateur crap, I’d be getting PAID to do what I love!

Tomorrow: Job Interview (?) at Papa John’s, and try to get a web design job, plus our shift at the radio station. Sunday: Breakfast Burritos, and Becky agreed to come over! Woo Hoo!

Side Note: We were watching the Simpsons tonight, and we got to hear Marge scream “SHUT UP BECKY!” Urn and I need to get a sample of that, and play it around Becky… *grin*

Other Side Note: rented High Fidelity with Urn and Kat again tonight. Awesome movie.

Other Other Side Note: Kat makes good brownies.

Netscape Can Suck My Ass

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Okay. Netscape can suck my ass. I just caught a look at my new design for FTF in their sucky sucky 4.7 browser and it’s all wrong!

Now, a casual observer might look at it and go “what? what’s wrong? I don’t see anything terrible!” But when you know exactly where things are supposed to be, you tend to notice things like the ENTIRE TABLE BEING 3/4 THE SIZE IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE! That and Netscape has apparently decided that the font I specified for the rest of the site doesn’t apply to the counter text, Oh, that and none of the horizontal rules I put in are showing at all! Not to mention that Netscape doesn’t show the background color of the tables in eburg or peons.

That’s THREE major bugs right there! I know the problem is with Netscape because my code is all textbook. AAAAGH! Now some of you might be saying “Scott, shouldn’t you calm down? I mean, Netscape will be coming out with a new version anytime now!.” Admittedly, Netscape 6 doesn’t seem to have any of these problems. BUT AS A WEB DESIGNER, I STILL HAVE TO DESIGN FOR 4.7′s SHORTCOMINGS! Why? Because 90% of people never bother to upgrade their browsers!

I’m going to go buy a copy of the Anarchist’s Cookbook and send Netscape a ticking package.