Dec. 24th, 2008
Consider a feeling every blogger knows: an idea appears; something important, meaningful and complicated enough that you can’t quite write it yet. So you think, instead of writing. And just as it gels in your head, you read what you wanted to write on another blog.
That other blog belongs to Andy Budd: founder of Clearleft, smart & funny guy, interview victim and totally slack blogger. I’ve been pretty slack myself of late, which is why Andy’s “My blog is dying, long live my blog” took the words right out of my mouth. His situation’s changed (lots of work and new colleagues to discuss ideas with), and a combination of too much input from too many sources, and new modes of expression like Twitter, has killed his urge to blog.
Slack Like Andy
This blog’s suffered some slack moments lately too. When Blogger’s Guilt has raised its ugly head, I’ve been telling it, “I just moved to the other side of the world. Give me a break.” Buying furniture, adjusting to working freelance, getting to know new friends, falling back in love, lying on beautiful beaches and exploring an exciting new city have been in focus – I’ve just had too many compelling reasons to spend time away from the keyboard. But now that I’ve started to settle into a routine here in Sydney, other reasons have been fueling my Blogger’s Block.
Scraps
Like most edglings, my online presence is pretty widely distributed: on this blog, my Tumblelog, Twitter, Facebook, delicious, Flickr, and quite a few more sites. It often takes a moment before I’m sure where to post what. I’ve been feeling dispersed rather than distributed. I’m rethinking how, why and where I present what, and such thinking tends to clog the content production arteries for a while.
Personal? Professional? Both?
For the last 12 years, I’ve worked for The Man – my online activities were solely personal and off the clock. As a freelancer, I now am The Man and I’m on the clock 24/7. “Matt Balara” is not only my person, it’s also my brand and my business. What I write, shoot, tweet and collect online are all me, but are also marketing and a potential client’s first impression. I’m becoming more conscious of what I’m doing online, and thinking through how combined or divided my activities should be, and what it might mean for my business. Also artery clogging.
Write About…
Part of leaving the clearly structured agency world and diving into the freelance pool is redefining what you do, or who you are professionally. Since arriving in Sydney, I’ve been lucky enough to have plenty of “whatever pays the bills” work, but haven’t had much time to think about those questions. Now that I have a little breathing room, that redefinition is rolling around in my head, but until it’s a bit further along it’s also hard to answer the “what should I write about?” question.
What Next?
My summary’s similar to Andy’s: I’ve got some questions I still haven’t answered. I’m leaning towards a single cohesive presentation on this site, whether it be life-streaming or clearly divided sections (blog, portfolio, photos, etc.), with all the other sources relegated to a clear data storage role. But the big questions above are the more important and difficult ones, and until I’ve got some answers there the changes will wait.
Considering the distributed (or dispersed) nature of our digital lives, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been going through these thoughts. What’s your feeling about personal vs. professional presentation? How has your online persona, content and personal brand evolved in the last few years? How separate or cohesive are you in the web? Do tell.
What do you think? Leave a comment…
Dec. 23rd, 2008
On the last day of this year, Polaroid will cease production of its magical film.
In 2004 I became fascinated by a beautiful old chrome and leather folding SX-70 polaroid camera a friend had. Within a week I had bought two on ebay, and a year-long project was born. Every day I carried a camera with me, and made one polaroid of something interesting I saw that day, and published each of them online at Polaroidiary. It was an exciting exercise in seeing, discipline and storytelling, and the resulting collection is an evocative document of a turbulent year of my life.
After playing daily with the SX-70, and the magic of holding the framed object-photo and waiting, breathless, for an image to surface out of the grey murk, the finality of polaroid’s decision to cease production does indeed feel like the death of an old, well-loved friend.
Here are few of my favourites from Polaroidiary. You might also like to look through the archives, or just start at the beginning.
It’s definitely just not the same, but in typical optimistic, cheerful Photojojo style, they’ve gathered some ways to keep the Polaroid spirit alive in spite of it all.
What do you think? Leave a comment…
Dec. 22nd, 2008
A manifesto – the suggestion that anyone can summarise anything accurately and meaningfully in ten bullet points – has something rather fanatical about it. My knee-jerk reaction to anything with the word “Manifesto” in its title is a skeptical snort. But then, when reading through the succinct, simple, compromise-free list, I tend to drift off into a kind of “if only life were so simple” dream-state, and can’t help imagining living & working in strict adherence to the list.
That of course lasts a few minutes before I return to the regularly scheduled program of earning money however possible and enjoying life as it comes.
Matt Jones, one of the über-smart Matts behind my favourite travel site Dopplr, wrote a web design manifesto back in 2001, and called it WebDOGME 01. His tongue was obviously very firmly in his cheek, but it’s certainly a big serving of food for thought, even almost eight years later.
- The designer must code.
If the designer cannot code the design, then he is not the designer.
- The code must be produced in a text-editor, not through the distorting filter of a WYSIWYG editor.
What you get is what you type.
- The browser must not be violated.
The use of Frames, Flash, dhtml, pop-ups, or any other device in a fashion that would remove the browser back-button’s raison d’etre must not be used.
- Time is not yours to control.
It is the user’s to control.
The use of any time-based media should be subservient to the asynchronous nature of the user’s perception of the web.
- Presentation is not yours to control.
It is the user’s to control. It is only yours to influence. If design is fundamental to the experience you are creating, then it must be a system, malleable and adaptable to the user’s preferences. Let your design be a conversation.
- Your experience must be part of the web, not just a website.
Do not trap people with devices to keep them on your site, and use URLs that will be permanent, clear and distributable.
- Never use a graphic when text will do.
Don’t destroy meaning for presentation’s sake.
- Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden.
People will experience what you have created at their leisure and expect it to be relevant, rather than when it is relevant to you. See also point 4. The web is a global medium – while staying true to your content, do not be parochial in your language, symbolism or other conveyance of meaning.
- The experience should have meaning.
Content (or functionality) may be self-referential or autobiographical, but the designer must remember they are in conversation with a visitor. Silence from that visitor could be reverence for a monologue, but more likely indifference to a self-obsessed bore. This applies as much to companies and brands, as individuals.
- The designer must not be credited.
Pretty forward thinking for 2001, and I agree with almost all of it, although I must admit it took me quite a bit longer to come to these conclusions. And considering how sensible and right this list seems to me, it’s disheartening to think how few of these points most projects in my past have fulfilled. That’s something to aim for in the new year.
See also “My Internet” by Ben Terrett.
What do you think? Leave a comment…
Nov. 26th, 2008
There’s not much worse than reading a blogger’s self-flagellation about how long it’s been since he’s written anything, and his pathetic excuses as to why not. So I won’t be doing that here and now. But a few people have asked, so I’ll just say this…
I made it to Sydney, and everything is absolutely wonderful.
What do you think? Leave a comment…
Sep. 26th, 2008
Let’s see if this internet works like it says in the user’s manual.
I’m getting rid of some stuff at the last minute. I’ve thrown together a page with details and photos, and if you can pick up what you want in Hamburg this weekend (and you can read broken German), you should have a look.
What do you think? Leave a comment…
