5 Things About Design and Me
I had some free time tonight, so I thought I would start a simple 5 question tag deal. Below are 5 things about design and me:
What is something that would surprise people about you and design?
12 months ago I didn’t own my domain name, had never touched a piece of WordPress code and knew nothing about blog design. In other words, everything I’ve done with WordPress and blog design in the past year has been self taught, using trial and error.
If you could design one blogger’s site for free, who would it be?
A while back I stumbled across Whoorl, and have loved reading it ever since. Last year her blog was basically prego mommy meets the OC – Sarah spent a majority of 2006 pregnant with her adorable little baby Anders. Whoorl is a witty depiction of motherhood, the pains of parenting and living in Southern California. I have even mentioned to her that if she ever wanted a blog redesign, I would do it for free. (Sarah, the offer still stands, even if you are Jayhawk fan!)
What blog platform do you prefer, and why?
WordPress all the way. I honestly think that nearly anything is possible with WordPress, and my Revolution theme is proof. The backend is awesome, and customizing theme files is not only fun, but easy for me to do. With a growing community, and a guy who’s #16 on The 50 Most Important People on the Web, I’d say Automattic and WordPress has a lot going for them.
Aside from your own, what is your favorite blog theme/template?
A few weeks ago I landed on Michael Pollock’s blog design website – checked out his themes, and instantly fell in love with Simplicity. It was a blessing in disguise, as it led to conversation, and a potentially really cool blog design community that he and I might build.
Do you have a blog-reading guilty pleasure?
Sure do. I absolutely love reading Dooce – I can easily look past Heather’s raunchy and sometimes vulgar language, simply because I crack up nearly every time I read her blog. If you want a taste of her uncontrollably witty charm, read her frequently asked questions page.
Now it’s time to tag 5 designers – I am tagging Randa, Charity, David, Char & Tara. You guys are it, and now you are REQUIRED to make a post answering these questions!
Both have tagged me with a fun little meme – 5 things about design and [...]
Interesting stuff, Brian.
I reckon you’re one of the lucky ones, who just 12 months ago were still able to snap up their own personal domain name. It is surprising, for sure, that you’ve come so far in such a short amount of time. You’re an inspiration buddy.
As for this blog design community, you’ve piqued my curiosity!
Thanks David appreciate it – obtaining my domain name was a project, b/c someone already owned it. I had to make them a deal…
Anyway, here’s a link to the project. Note the Site Name Poll that we are have to help us decide on the name.
No worries Brian.
I prefer blogdesign.com of the two domains. Within the past 10 months I’ve actually looked into acquiring that domain. Are you the one who has it parked?
Oh, and I’ll answer your questions soon. It is a REQUIREMENT after all.
David, yes, I have it parked. I went after it a few weeks ago, and managed to work something out with the owner at the time. Domains don’t come cheap these days, I’ll tell you that much!
I’m rather amazed that it’s only taken 12 months, I’d be really interested to learn the chronology of the first year. The steps you took and the prioritization.
I’ve been been dipping my toe into the business for a while now, taking on sporadic projects, but never really making a commitment to being a “blog design guy”.
How did you make that decision and when did you feel confident enough in your ability and skill set to say, “Yeah, I’m good enough to do this.”?
Chris, in all honesty, one of the turning points of me feeling like I was a blog design guru (your words, not mine!) was when I was talking to a friend of mine, and he mentioned that Chris Pearson liked my Vertigo theme. When you get a compliment like that, it really has a validating effect. Through that friend, I was introduced to Mark at Splashpress Media and was able to get my foot in the door with designs such as the Blog Herald and WordPress Themes.
Hey, found your site through a theme link, your themes are great. I too am amazed at what apparently is a natural ability to code themes, because you have a great eye.
I wish I had your ability, plus the patience, to do my own themes for my site. The most I can bring myself to do is personalize what other people have made and are offering.
Hi Brian
Wow, I can’t believe you only started working with Wordpress a year ago, I assume you knew how to code etc before that? Did you learn to be so bossy in that time too
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“You guys are it, and now you are REQUIRED to make a post answering these questions!”
Thanks for the tag
@ Tara – guess I’m a quick learner, because I didn’t know PHP or CSS until I started messing with WordPress – and to shed some light, the first theme I really used/learned from was the Pool theme.
If you have any tips on resources for learning PHP please I’d love to hear them. I bought a book and got stuck on about page 2
Brian – thanks for the tag – my post is up!
My post is up too, thanks
Offer accepted. Seriously, HELP!