Just sayin’…

I’ve had some decent ideas, but my recent fall, pending surgery, and pending redesign of my employer’s massive website have all created a perfect storm of not being able to do much web-related work on the personal side of things. In a week, I’ll be left handed mousing, and typing with one hand…

In the past seven months I have adopted a cat, purchased a house, switched jobs, lost a marriage, gone skydiving for the first time, gained a roommate, purchased a car, and led an initiative to overhaul my employer’s CMS — in that order.

I’m starting to create again, but I still have a nagging itch. It’s this site. What am I doing with it? Not really anything. It got me the job I needed, but it serves little purpose as a voice for me. I rely on Twitter + Facebook far too much for that. Something needs to change. But when do I have time? Somewhere, I do. But I don’t feel much like sitting on the couch or at my desk to do it. Maybe I should go to more coffee shops and fewer pubs? Perhaps I need to block out a specific day and time to write?

I’ve noticed I’m not the only one — many designers aren’t publishing as frequently as they used to. Our communication channels are shifting ever closer to shorthand, easy-to-consume signals. Are our sites destined to become dusty portfolios slapped up alongside Tumblelogs?

Nay, I tell you! It takes quite a bit of effort to generate content, but we’ve all got to get better about it before the dumb channels take us over. Besides, you can’t squeeze a Photoshop tutorial or a full-blown discussion about frameworks into a tweet. So this is my reminder to myself… Write, dammit! Now I’m no expert, but what do you young designers entering the field want to know O.o

Check out this original, grassroots-made music video supporting Barack Obama. The level of effort put into the design and video production is enviable, not to mention the message and impact of the video being incredible. Just… Wow.