Do Designers Ever Get Out?

Design might be a bit more difficult than others may conceive. It is not a structured workplace as any normal work environment, as ideas do not tend to continuously flow 24-7. Designing projects often requires outside stimuli, much like that of an artist, something must inspire the creativity, and for that reason designers tend not to work in a 9 - 5 structure, but rather in bursts or chunks of time. 2 - 3 hours at a stretch (at all hours) is a very common method among web and graphic designers.

While there are times when great ideas seem to endlessly flow from brain to mouse, there can also be times when the well runs dry and concepts are much more difficult (akin to a what’s commonly known to baseball players as a “slump”) to come by and we struggle through - making due with the skills we possess.

I recently ran into one of these slumps coming off a vacation where the run up to it was quite creative. I was in a great creative groove, with a lot of new ideas, however, I was feeling quite tapped out and overwhelmed in terms of physical energy. My vacation was only a mere week long, however, upon getting back to work, I simply felt uninspired and void of new ideas (I hate it when that happens).

In dry times, some folks like to pack up their MacBook Pros and head off to the local Starbucks as the interaction spikes their creativity, however, I am more inclined to just get away. Do something completely averse to design, it might be going to the grocery store, playing with my kids or my dogs or going for a drive in the lovely hill country.

So the question is “Do Designers Ever Get Out?” and the answer is absolutely “yes!” The surprising part is that we might be working on your project when we do. We aren’t slacking or avoiding your project, the fact is we’re probably just looking for inspiration to make your project better.

FYI Screening, Inc.

Chris Miller came to me needing to re-brand his employee background screening corporate site. From concept to completion, we developed a professional yet casual site matched to Chris’ business style.

Responsibile for: XHTML + CSS + PHP + Design
{Launch Project}

Man, I Love What I Do…

Every now and again, I wake up at 3AM and am excited to go to work. Now, most people don’t get too excited about going to work, but I am so blessed to be able to work from the comfort of my home office in the company of my wife and three dogs and be here when my kids get home from school. To top it all off….people pay me to, essentially, play on the computer all day. How cool is that!?

The only downside is repetitive motion injuries and the dreaded “designer’s cramp”, when sometimes the creative tank just runs to empty (like a hemi on the freeway) and ideas just dry up. But I often think back to paragraph one and am once again inspired because of how blessed I am.

To all my clients…Thank you for liking my work. I appreciate you more than you can ever know.

Trademark Content

Damon Zahariades of Trademark Content, a web content copy-writer presented me with little project to create a brand and header image for his new website Trademark Content.

Responsibile for: Graphic Design
{Launch Project}

Silver Bullet Selling

Darrell Smith of Authority Selling, presented me with this project in conjunction with the release of a tactical and consultative sales training book release by the firm Outsell Consulting.

Responsibile for: XHTML + CSS + PHP + Design
{Launch Project}

All Shiny And New

We are proud to introduce the brand, spankin’ new Float:Right Media. Our old design was looking quite worn, dated and tired and we wanted a much cleaner interface and a better way of showcasing our work. So after about 10 mockups, 100 crazy ideas that never made it past the scratch pad, 15 color schemes that were too bold, too plain or just too wrong, we finally settled on what you now see…a crisp, clean, nicely colored and sharp all new Float:Right Media using Brian Gardner’s Revolution Pro Media Theme.

Much like the auto mechanic, who’s car is the last to get fixed or the painter, whose house needs painting, the web designer’s website is always the last to receive the attention it needs. But we finally just parked it in front of our glorious LCD monitor and chugged through and are proud to present the final product (save for a few tweaks here and there).

And oh yeah….built on Wordpress, of course.

Lake Area Blues Society

This site was developed as a catalyst to bring together local area blues musicians. The community regularly gathers to jam, exchange ideas and hope to bring a blues festival to the area.

Responsibile for: XHTML + CSS + PHP + Design
{Launch Project}

The Paraplanner

I was approached by Richard Allum, a financial planner in the U.K. to transform his Wordpress theme into a professional resource for the Paraplanning industry. The Paraplanner continues to be a developing project.

Responsibile for: XHTML + CSS + PHP + Design
{Launch Project}

Fast Fit Blinds

A long time client was opening a new custom window blind and shutter business in the U.K. Using Wordpress as the engine, we developed a clean and nicely styled front end to showcase his product and for clients to arrange appointments.

Responsible for: XHTML + CSS + PHP + Design
{Launch Project}

Clear Mountain Water Company

This site was a redesign of an Arkansas water distribution company. The existing site looked quite dated and needed a face lift, with a light and refreshing theme, reflective of the products offered.

Responsible for: HTML + CSS + Graphic Design
{Launch project}

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