Change is constant… isn’t that ironic.
It feels like just last week that I completely overthrew the design of my website, and built a new one. Now I’ve done it again. With each new iteration, I look back on the old design and think, “what the hell was I thinking?” It was horrible. But I have to realize that at the time that I was designing that version of the website, it wasn’t that bad. It was in line with many of the current design trends, the colors were consistent, and I was following all of the right rules. The problem? Those rules change. ALL THE TIME.
- You’re never going to be done redesigning
Destructive perfectionist tendencies aside, as tastes change, your website will too. An idea that I thought was a beautiful design concept 8 months ago now looks tacky and out-dated. Change isn’t easy, but I’ve had to accept that it’s necessary for a better, and more aesthetically beautiful future. Every time Instagram changes part of it’s layout, or slightly adjusts the color scheme, I, as Tinashe would say, “Throw a Fit.” A few days later I’m usually pretty grateful for whatever forced adaptation and deep emotional stress the conglomerate put me through.
- The audience matters – but so do you
I spent a lot of time reading articles about how to optimize your personal portfolio. A lot of the advice comes with how to present your skills and projects in a way that makes you hire-able for your industry. I’ve had a lot of trouble with this. Not only am I still a college student, but there isn’t one industry that I’m gnawing at. My major has taught me a lot of programming and computer science skills, but that’s not the only thing I can do.
I also was a circus performer. I’m an entertainer, and an artist. I like to design things, write, and i’m interested in business, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. To me, it would be unauthentic to cut all of these parts out of my life. So I guess it comes down to what you value as an individual. Do you really need to get a job, in a specific area? For now, I’m trusting in my ability to get a job in whatever area I want. I can leave the job-aimed specification to my resume and cover letter. Because in the end, my website is my own little corner of the internet: it’s a space for me.
- Plan out what you’re doing ahead of time
This time around, I did this correctly. One issue with redesigning a website is that when you’re in for a big overhaul, you can’t really update piece-by-piece. This redesign wasn’t just changing the layout of my about page, it was changing the entire concept and structure of the website. Without prior planning, your website could be down for weeks or months. I have my website linked on all of my social media: Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.. It’s on my resume, it’s on my emails, it’s everywhere. I can’t go and suspend all of those links or take them off. Thus, I basically try to complete my redesign in a single day, ideally in an afternoon.
A short checklist that I use to make sure it’s all ready to go:
- paper/pencil sketch of the entire website: what goes where, what photos where
- Color palette is picked out and hex’s ready-to-go
- All images are prepared, labeled, and sized to the correct dimensions – in a folder on your desktop
- A list of all of the links you’ll include on your website in an easily accessible place
- Text is written, edited, and cohesive
- You’ve backed up the current/old version of your website
- A significant chunk of time (with buffer room) for which to update everything in one sitting
- A complete plan of how you’re going to announce your updated website
(If you’re going to)
Conclusion
All of this may have been a long-winded way of saying that I’ve finally redesigned my website. The last one wasn’t that bad. It was actually featured every quarter for a class at Stanford about building a professional online presence. But I think this one is better.
Let me know what you think!
Your website is amazing!