Meta

You are currently browsing articles tagged Meta.

Redesign 4: Tarskiesque

April 16, 2009 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

I’ve been wanting to redesign Solitude for quite some time now but I figured since my post rate has dropped to a few month in recent times that I should concentrate on getting the post rate back up first.

That said, I had always been picking apart other designs and storing away my favourite snippets; the odd comment layout, a neat footer section, some interesting navigation etc. From that, and a few things I had done in my previous job with grid layouts, I had a pretty good idea how I wanted the new design to look. I wanted it to be relatively minimalist, with clean lines and an orderly and obvious grid layout.

I noticed two different websites, about 2 months apart, that had a lot of the features that I wanted, and noticed that they were oddly similar. A little investigation turned up that they were both using variants on a pre-built WordPress theme called Tarski. It was then that I decided that I’d be better off taking that theme too, and tuning it over time to fully achieve the effect I wanted. It was already 90% of the way there.

I consider the design to be a work in progress, though it’s perfectly serviceable as-is and will only be worked on slowly. Let me know if you have any suggestions for it. The first thing to go will be the header, as I’ve long had a particular image in mind for this.

Fun facts:

  • This is my first redesign (beyond seasonal variants) since September 2004 when I introduced the previous design, Hazy Morning.
  • Hazy Morning had that big “flower” in the top right, as some people pointed out? It was actually a heavy processed and sharpened picture of the sun.
  • The header image I have in mind for the new theme I created in 2006. I just didn’t come up with what I wanted for the rest of the design until now.

You’ll be seeing the finishing touches sooner or later.

Tags: ,

The Quiet

December 28, 2008 in Uncategorized | No comments

I hate seeing those “Sorry, I haven’t been posting much” posts, so it’s with more than a little trepidation that I write one myself to try and explain my two and a half month absence. (I am, in truth, adding this entirely for my own benefit years down the line.) The following things have happened:

  • I left my job at the BigCo I’ve been working for since I graduated from university (3+ years of service). There wasn’t any big, deep disagreement, I just felt it was time to try something different and take on a different kind of challenge. I’d certainly go back at some point in the future, if that’s where my path was headed.
  • Consequently, I’ve started working for a pretty SmallCo. So far it seems pretty excellent, and is a remarkably different kind of pace. The amount of bureaucracy has decreased dramatically, but the level of support for peripheral items has also decreased. All in all, it seems like it’s a good experience and one I should be taking at this point in my life.
  • I’ve moved flat again. Yes, this is my 4th flat in 3 years, but hopefully the last for a good little while. I’ve finally left the city centre of Glasgow behind, and am slowly getting acquainted with the south side (specifically, Mount Florida).
  • As I mentioned on Twitter, I was briefly admitted to hospital after my appendix decided it wanted a separation. It was a tough break-up but a few weeks later, I think I’m over it.
  • Aside from that, I’ve been catching up on various games. My Guitar Hero skills are coming along nicely, and Fable II was quite a nice diversion. Fallout 3 is just warming up now.

I’d like to say that it won’t happen again, but we all know it will. I do, however, have a reasonably large selection of ideas that I want to write about in the near future so hopefully it’ll be a little less barren here. Look out for the remainder of 2008′s Film Fights, and the Film Fight Finale in the next few days.

Tags: ,