Articles

Again, for the First Time

Welcome to Atomick Industries and its twelfth redesign since its launch in 1998 (and now entering the second year of the article-driven format). The inspiration of this design is how I create most of my ideas and concepts: the sweet, beloved, and humble sketchbook, down to even those awesome sticky tabs I put on pages to flag key ideas to revisit later. But more about that in a minute.

The launch of this edition also sees expansions in the Interaction and Photography portfolios, so be sure to check those out as well (and apologies to the IE 6 users of the world, I'm still muddling through final fixes as I write this). You can also refresh any page to see a new header image above the nav.

In talking about the redesign, however, I also want to take a few minutes and chat about a few other topics that have come to mind as I've worked on this redesign. I'll first explain some core concepts of this website (some of which are reader questions)...and how they relate to some observations I have of Web design and communications as a whole.

Paper: The Ultimate Interface?

Try as I might to stick to just drawing directly on the computer, I keep going back to paper for sketching, personal journaling, idea generation. Perhaps it's my original training as an illustrator and a writer that keep me coming back. Whatever the case, this redesign is a tribute to the stickered, coffee-stained, broken-binding paper pulp that actually allows me to get the hell away from this damn keyboard once in a while. FSM bless you, Inspiring Pulp of Wood!

So, speaking of writing...

Why Isn't This a "Proper" Blog?

Here at Atomick Industries, I write articles. You can subscribe to these articles via RSS (look for the logo onscreen). This is also where I post work that I've done in the past. However, this is not a proper blog.

This is because this site is also my learning lab. I write every post by hand in XHTML, and I code the newsfeed XML manually. It's just a choice I've made to learn how to do these things myself, rather than just push buttons using blog software.

There are no user comments. No trackbacks. No automated Technorati pings. No tag clouds. No disrespect to any reader intended here, but this is all by design and choice. Want to let me know what you think of an article? There's a handy-dandy mailto link at the bottom of every article...here's another one! Don't hide behind a veil of anonymity: holler and say hello like a friendly (virtual) neighbor should do, regardless if your comments are positive or negative. Want to link to an article? They're all permanently archived in the, well, Archives section. This is not a Web 2.0 site about an online community sharing thoughts...or flame wars. It's a personal website serving a portfolio and original content. That's it.

And speaking of content...

Is There a Core Theme Here?

My posts are certainly about design, and quite often web and software interface design, but the topics range from techniques to opinions to theory. The common thread is this: There is no single skill you need to be a top-notch digital creative professional, and it's my goal to share as many of these diverse insights with you as I can. In fact, in my experience, to really succeed in creative disciplines, nothing beats a generalist.

A designer, in the grandest sense of the word, should be a Renaissance person and problem-solver at his or her core. One need not be an expert in everything, but instead maintaining a broad range of interests, skills, and experiences will both enrich your design and make you a more agile thinker in new problem domains or with new clients. Use music to influence your motion design. Be able to talk business success metrics with a client one minute and discuss the benefits of new technologies the next. Be aware of the history of industrial and product design while being an expert in your own software tools and techniques. Understand people's emotional reaction to other media like games and movies. Synthesize your influences and interests into a ultra-competitive and client-attracting package.

Of course, nothing is a substitute for talent and being the best at what you do. But when you get to a certain point, challenges can become stale, and one looks for deeper sets of problems. This can lead a production artist into animation, an animator into design, or a designer into management...I have, in fact, followed a path not dissimilar to this. I'll continue to forge ahead with another year of wide-ranging topics on being a digital creative professional, and my humble goal is to provide share my insights and knowledge from my years in the field doing everything from special effects and video editing to information architecture and sound design.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and I hope you enjoy the site's new look and feel.