The first draft of my personal webpage is ready!
This page has already been through a number of iterations. And, predictably enough, I still have to make a lot of additions and subtractions. Burt let me first talk about some of the changes that happened along the way.
I had initially conceived my homepage as a repository for my MATC portfolio. But I have changed my mind about that. I will still showcase my portfolio on this website. But I will not build my site around it. Why? You may call it a whim. Lately, I have been working my portfolio too much. I need a break from it. So, I thought of seeking some comic/creative relief through this assignment. In short, I no longer intend it to be a professional website. Rather, I am looking at it as an exploratory space for conducting short and long term experiments in web design. It’s truly a space of my own.
My webpage, as it stands now, is somewhat of a cross between a blog, a journal, travelogue and a homepage. Hence, the unconventional choice of words for the links: “Past,” “Present” and “Future.” While the links are pretty self explanatory, here is a quick summary of how I have visualized them. The “Past” page will look at some significant moments of my past life. The “Present” will present me as a TC graduate. The “Future” page (it’s been giving me the greatest headache) will document some of my aspirations and plans for future. However, I am not sure if I will be able to carry this off since this would obligate me to update the content often as my position keeps changing in real life. This could become a real headache after a point.
After reading Meadows, I was inspired to come up with an overarching narrative for my website. After much deliberation, I decided to explore the metaphor of a “journey.” My page exploits this metaphor at three levels. First (at a very literal level), I will be drawing on some of my cross-cultural/continental experiences. Second and on a more metaphorical level, my website presents life as a passage through time (Past, Present and Future). Finally, I would like to conceptualize my visitors as people who will be making a journey through my website.
Now, here are some tweaks that I am contemplating:
I will be replacing the dummy content. I will be also making other big and small edits on the existing text.
I will retain the rollover on the front page but try to come up with something more relevant. I have experimented with quite a few ideas so far. None of them turned out well. But I haven’t given up, yet. I am still hoping to dazzle all of you with something extraordinarily creative.
I detest the way the footer is looking at the moment. The color contrast is simply awful. So, that I will be taking care of that.
My podcast will also go into this webpage. I am thinking of doing something on my native city Calcutta, which gets mentioned couple of times on the homepage.
I will be also incorporating links and photographs to liven up my pages a little more.
Really, I have a long journey in front of me.
2 comments:
I love the idea of a homepage that is an experimental site and more of a "home" than a portfolio.
A fun website sounds like a great idea, but will you feel the same way a year from now? How likely are you going to keep it live? No criticsm -- just checking to see if you are planning to keep it live knowing it'll mean that you have to manage multiple sites.
You idea is in contract to mine. I've got multiple sites that I am trying to consolidate into one central location. All of these sites and spaces are wearing me out.
Whatever your decision, I think this is a great looking page. I love the style and design. I like the cyan/black buttons more than the blue/black frames. If I could vote on your color scheme, I'd go with the former. Of course, it is entirely possible that my opinion won't count for anything and that's okay. I'll like the site no matter what you do. I think it will work as a personal and professional shell.
Good luck.
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