I have this problem, every time I've finished a design like this one. I immediately want to make a new version, it's not that this one is bad or something like that. I just want to do something new. I get inspired by this site and I love the feeling that I can do whatever I want with it. The possibilities are endless!
I always get inspired by my fellow designers on the net. I mean the redesign of Avalonstar, it blew my mind. I didn't even know that Bryan Veloso had it in him. He always made clean designs, clean monotone or duotone sites. I really loved them a lot. But this new site is soo new, creative and inspiring. I love it even more, if that's even possible?
If you have Safari, go to Avalonstar and check it out, if you don't have Safari, you should get it. I don't say that you should change your browser and simply use Safari for everything (you should), just check the site and the new CSS3 animation features.
Back to the topic
Alright were where we, right. So I always want to redesign, always! I hate the unwritten rule of waiting at least 6 months - 1 year until I get to redesign. But I guess that is for the better.
The thing is that I have so many ideas I want to try out and no projects to try it out on. All clients I have don't like experimental or anything fun. I need an creative environment. School just isn't good enough to tickle my creative mind.
People say that I'm weird, but I believe that it's a good thing. To get better at web design, do shit load of web design. You'll learn something new every time you do it. And some day you'll get rewarded for it in some way.
So my question today is:
How long does it take before you want to redesign your site? Are you like me who wants to do it right after another or do you wait a couple of days, a month or maybe a couple of years?
Comments
Hehe...i guess it really depends how much time you spend staring at it. Two or three month are the most likely option for me, so the trick is not to look at it so much.
About the Avalonstar redesign i definitely admire his sleek css skills - there are some really nice over effects etc), but looks like the design has gone a bit backwards in time to me. More 19-ish than 20-ish.
Just feels like a bit too much graphics for my taste :)
@Simone, Yeah I guess I know what you mean. I just think it's nice that he is doing something different. Everybody is doing the 2.0 thing and all overrated stuff that comes with it.
The thing I love about it is just the graphics actually, well at least being able to use it again. Screw IE6 for not having transparent png's. I want to be able to use png. So my next version will include photography. ;).
Bryan Veloso made a nice little remake of http://revyver.com/ . It uses photos and I love it. It's just nice.
Alex, I've never heard of Avalonstar but this new design is so refreshing! I totally agree that the web 2.0 look is becoming overrated and played out too much, but at the same time, can that be helped? Every designer is saying that in order to be a real designer you have to follow standards and the standard at the moment is web 2.0
I miss designs like avalonstar's...the uniqueness and the extreme colorfulness of the design. That was a time period where designs were radical, but content was lacking. With a* we see a radical design with proper content layouting...if that makes sense.
And to your question. I used to do that with my website every time, finish a design start on a new one...it wasn't until a designer I looked up to said I should let a design sit for a while. He suggested 3 months, I've read 6 months though. Now that I look at it, I think that's a load of bullocks.
I think that if you want to resdesign, then do so. But I think redesigns should teach you new things and further develop the work. A major issue I had when I redesigned my websites was that I only changed graphics, I never improved by coding ability or the content's layout.
And that ends a portion of my rant!
Haha, i have similar thougts.
When i try to design my portfolio site i get stuck and think of too much and endless possibilities...
But i think i just need to pick something and make it.
:)
@Alexander: I always seem to have the same problem too...in a year I changed my web portfolio design at least four times. I found that I had been browsing css galleries too often, which always give you so many ideas and make your site looks totally crap :)
Right now, I am really lost design wise (because I have too many ideas) so I have decided just to stick with a basic wordpress blog until I have a clear idea of what I really want.
My blog is http://www.ajassat.wordpress.com
@Kristopher, well the only thing that I want people to follow is good semantic code, good grid and good typography. After that you can do basically anything you want. Avalonstar did just that. =)
Yes! I agree! I feel like too many people are following web 2.0 standards, myself included, that they're forgetting to add their own aesthetic. I've been stuck trying to create a new invigorating design that would be accepted for web 2.0 but it's been so frustrating, so I think I'm going to just do what I want.
I have a question for you Alex. I was debating with my class whether or not web 2.0 standards also included the way in which the site looks. What's your take?
@Kristopher, well I guess not. I don't really know, the only thing I know that is Web 2.0 is user-generated content and all the new/old techniques that have arrived such as Ajax, RSS feeds etc.
How the site looks is just a trend. It's just that people are getting more aware of good typography and better layouts for websites. I don't think that it's part of the Web 2.0 definition.
How long? Try /during/ the actual designing process. What I mean is, I'll be doing a design for myself, a client or whoever and I'll constantly have a new idea and I'll start working on that.
So, I generally end up with at least 7 variations of designs for a project and than a ton of 'sub-variations' per each variation.
Sounds bad? It's actually worse you're actually do this, like I do. :<
I used to take 1 to 3 months max before i got tired of a design and started on a redesign. I am constantly tweaking and tuning the back end to keep the functionality and framework as best as i can. That means I sometimes spend hours or even days staring at the site making small changes checking to be sure everything works and so on ......
After a while the design can seem not as interesting as when you first started.
Long story short. In my opinion I try to concentrate on the functionality and user friendliness. The looks can be changed after the fact with CSS.
Don't get me wrong I think the looks of a site is important too. I just find it easier to change the look afterwards then the other way around.