2006.10.16 Redesigning Longbored Surfer
The Longbored Surfer redesign is slowly progressing in my mind. I'm really taking a lot of time to look at various sources of inspiration. Among them:
- I saw/bought some postcards while in Hawaii that had some great colors, and I liked their vintage look. I'll be curious as to how this fits in with the next bullet.
- Some of the artwork for The Incredibles is perfect, and even do-able by me. I'm not really gifted when it comes to drawing, but their approach at using geometry for art was slick. They used lots of basic geometric figures, overlapped (with varying opacity) to show shapes, figures, scenery, and people.
- I was going through some old art prints I had saved for various reasons, and found more colors and thematic elements I liked.
- The whole surfing theme in general is great. I've spent a lot of time looking at surf boards, since they're designed wonderfully, and have the ocean theme already built in. I'm not sure of the degree to which I should try to incorporate their shape into the site at various places.
- Lots of money is already spent on design for surfing, so maybe I'll stop by some websites for those type of companies, and look at some of their products for a bit more inspiration.
- A slight problem I might encounter is in deciding whether to follow a surfing theme in general, or branch out to the islands overall. If that's the case, is it just Hawaii, or do I go for Polynesia in general? I saw some indigenous art I really liked from New Zealand (Aotearoa/Moari art).
There seems to be various surfing themes. When I think of surfing, I think of the beach as well as the ocean towns/cities. You've got the peers, and the fishing/festivities there. You've got the "great" shopping, and the fashion-oriented people. Of all the things I can think of though, I enjoy the laid-back attitude that comes with the surfer people, and the ones who enjoy the ocean for what it is. The camaraderie of the people seems to be palpable as is their respect for and love of the ocean, waves, and nature.
My fear or problem with the redesign is trying to get computers/the internet to work in with an ocean/surfing theme. I'm really trying to stay clear of the Web 2.0 look/feel, but I don't want anything super complicated. Realizing more and more that I'm not a great designer, I don't want to try to make this site a design masterpiece. It will have spectacular code behind it, but it doesn't have to be visually ground-breaking. I like the cleanliness of many blogs out there, but I still want mine to be different enough to keep the attention of a visitor. During the redesign I'll stick to one theme (instead of the three I currently have), and make sure I add/create a printable css to go along with the screen theme. That way, whenever somebody decides to print, it'll automatically format itself correctly and cut out the extra stuff.
With all of these thoughts in my head I suppose it'll just be . I'll put together a few different ideas/themes in Fireworks and see if they strike my fancy. Wish me luck.