Old Relics of Design

Filed Under: Web & Design, Visual Arts.

And here we shall see a few old relics of a past life. To live, is to express one’s soul. However, in a society as mechanistic as this, are we not allowed to live, and express to our very heart’s desire? Alas, this is life within the great machine, neatly reificated as such - only in a single darkened corner may our hearts cry out the song of humanity, muffled by the ubiquitous clashing of iron apendages.

I am flesh and blood - a quaint thought indeed.

2001

The splash image for the first version of this website. The site’s design was an escape from the detailed and graphically saturated designs I used to do. I was trying to learn a new sort of design that dealt with newer standards and flexibility, and simply presented the content as it was. This splash image, I guess, was in place to trick the user into thinking that their visit would be far more impressive to the eye than in actuality.

Another, more experimental composition for the first version of this website. Here, I tried to bring more life to the composition by returning to my graphical roots. I used to always use bright, sometimes clashing colors as my old signature style - sort of a surrealists perspective of the world.

1999

This was a proposed backdrop and layout for a never-released site called Shrilah. Like Alazanto, the name was entirely made up, but the unfimiliarity of this new site made it difficult to complete. Design-wise, I wonder if it was also a step in the wrong direction. Why, you ask? Earlier in ‘99 I managed to create pleasant and simplistic compositions. This particular design was my attempt to give edges a fancier, bleeding style. However, along with this, I added elements to the composition that didn’t serve a real purpose - notably the two “moon” shapes in the bottom-left and top-right corners. My intention was to give the backdrop the look of something living, but I got a little carried away. Overall, this is a well-excecuted piece, but I strayed from a few designer’s rules that are relevant in any situation.

This was my proposed backdrop for a redesign of the old Alazanto that never saw the light of day. “Kramgasse” housed the graphics-related work I had done. I remember the old site being a lot of work to update, as everything was entirely static.

I have always enjoyed this design, even if I could have done a better job on the text’s presentation. It was simple, and if I can remember correctly, I only spent around fifteen minutes working on it.

Another proposed backdrop for the old Alazanto. “Zahringer” was the people-centered section of my site which housed links, reviews and various discussions. I knew the naming scheme wasn’t straight forward, but I really liked things better that way. This would give people the chance to explore, rather than avoid that which they might not like.

1998

Stepping back another year or so, we come to a backdrop I used for the gateway to my homepage. Here is where I tried my best to explain the complex hierarchy of the site. As for the design, I personally don’t like it anymore. The colors seem faded, like a faded memory, I suppose. The attempt at creating the illusion of dimension worked to an extent. However, the photographs are poor choices. The trees’ branches tangle with each other, giving the overall composition an unintended messy look. I could have excecuted this better, but I must remember that I was very happy with the way it turned out when I had created it.

This backdrop was for a gateway inside of the “Zahringer” section of my homepage. This was basically one of those “my links” pages, except that I decided to refer to them as the “journeys of others.” I suppose my own journey was only begining.

The design is likeable even if the photos give the overall composition a “muddy” look. I managed to construct a visual structure around the points of interest, and this was a good test for me at the time.

I don’t really have a good memory of this section. I believe it was a gateway within the “Aarbergergasse” section, a section that focused on my own musings. I simply wanted to showcase a few sites I had made for others (usually family).

This was an older backdrop for the “Kramgasse” section of my old site. I actually like this particular composition. The colors work well, and, overall, the design is simple. It reminds me of droplets from a rainbow.

This was a gateway into my personal journal. Because this section was based upon static pages, adding entries was a very time-consuming process. I never bothered with publishing much of anything within the section. As for the design, what can I say? This is very early work. The font choices are especially poor, and the photography just doesn’t work well with the abstract background. However, it did signify the evolution of my style - hence, why I put it here.

Published: 7 years ago