Changing of the blog . . .

I started this blog as an experiment with two goals in mind:

1. Learn what it takes to create a blog.
2. Create a viable, easy-to-update portfolio.

I've since learned that it doesn't take a lot to get a blog up and running. In fact, Blogger makes it so easy to set up that I was ready to blog within 10 minutes of signing up. Of course, it look longer to tweak the layout and create all of the preferences, but when all was said and done, I had a blog of my liking up and running within a few hours. Since then, I've added more posts, learned about the cool PictoBrowser, experimented with html coding, added both Get Clicky and Google Analytical to see who's been visiting, and just had a lot of fun fooling around with the whole thing.

When it comes to the portfolio part, though, I've haven't been quite so happy for two reasons. One, I started with the idea of telling a story about each of my covers, and that's a tricky business for someone in my position. I actively work for a publisher where I have clients both internally and externally that are associated with each of the covers I write about. I would never want to accidentally say something about a product or an author that could be construed the wrong way. So with each post, there is a lot of speculation on my part about what to say, how to say it, and whether to say any of it at all.

The second reason is more practical. Practical in the sense that I want potential freelance clients to easily and quickly sort through my work. Scrolling through lots of explanation about my work isn't ideal for this purpose. Clients want to see the work and see it fast.

So, what does all this mean? I'm doing two things:

1. Creating a slimmed down portfolio site. This new blog is simple: just the work and specs for each job. Easy to update and easy to navigate. Check it out at stage3design-portfolio.

2. Changing the focus of stage3design. This blog will now become dedicated to placing a spotlight on interesting aspects of design. From book design to movie design to technology design, you'll find a bit of everything here. My hope is that it will be an interesting gathering of information that inspires you to take your designs to that infamous next level.

So . . . let the adventure begin!