02/04/2007 
8 Comment(s)Perfecting the Imperfectible
Your personal website is your shrine; your online place in the world. Here you can experiment to your heart's content without any borders or boundaries. No boss tapping his watch, no deadlines to meet and no formal specification other than your imagination. These personal sites are a melting pot for the internet's capabilities, and its future. New ideas are born, new techniques demonstrated and new lessons learnt.
So why do we do it, and where does the motivation come from? Perhaps from our local web community - those we speak to on a regular basis, and from inspirational events such as the CSS Reboot? Maybe. I think the motivation stems from the knowledge that our own personal site remains the most pure representation of ourselves, our personality and a testament to own abilities. It sets us apart as designers and as artists of the new media canvas. In more ways than any I believe our motivation comes from within ourselves; our perfectionist nature firing on all cylinders - pushing us to achieve more than we already have. But will we ever be truly happy with our own site, or will we continue to seek a better result? I personally don't think so. I still now look and Shaun Inman's site in awe, and whilst there is a site I prefer over my own ill never quite be happy. I don't think we will ever stop trying to improve ourselves, attempting to perfect the imperfectible. It is this reason that drew us to this business and keeps us coming back for more.
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On 13th of June 2006 Stu Hall said:
Ah ha! I KNEW I'd see your 'inspiration' at some point!... You gotta love that navigation.
On 13th of June 2006 Steve Tucker said:
Aaargghhhh!!! Curse you Stu!!!!
On 14th of June 2006 kitsimons said:
Gotta love it alright. Your navigation is superior of course Steve - it slides over the content rather than with it ;-)
And to answer your question - no, I'm never truly happy with my own site. But I know I never will be. And that makes me happy. The day I'm satisfied with my work for myself is the day I find a new career.
On 14th of June 2006 Oliver Zheng said:
I feel the same. Sometimes I look at those well designed websites and then mine, then I go "aww.." But sometimes it's nice to see the new talent out there.
On 14th of June 2006 P.J. Onori said:
I totally agree with you although I would take it a step further and recommend finding inspiration in all forms of design. New Media/Web design is only one small facet of the design universe. To limit yourself to it is to limit your horizon.
Look everywhere. Take in everything.
On 14th of June 2006 Steve Tucker said:
@Kit: Cheers mate, appriciate that :)
@Oliver: I know exactly how that feels - looking at a site which seems to dull the opinion of your own. It is definitely a major teeth-grinding part of any design job.
@PJ: "Look everywhere. Take in everything." - Spot on with that one mate - I should look beyond web design more than I do