I just got to the point where I was always embarrassed.
I loved my previous design, but I was embarrassed by it. And one shouldn’t hold such rotten feelings when asked to show their blog. Or worse yet, when other sites actually link to it. It should be a moment of excitement, of satisfaction of ‘everything is just right’.
That’s what I was missing. I didn’t have that at all. I was bothered by a lot and found my self in a horrible position, burdened by cures to fun and excitement.
I felt as if I could do better. I felt as if I needed to provide a better experience for those of you who were kind enough to come visit. A blog should feel like a home — a place of comfort, entertainment, knowledge, an inviting place of warmth, full of little nooks and crannies in which fun can be found.
So I set my self the task of building a better home.
A year is a horribly long time
In this online world, a year is a very long time. I’ve seen some amazing sites launch and grow in community and content in the time it has taken me to just get to this point. I’ve seen great sites become poor ones and poor ones become great ones. All while I twiddled my thumbs.
I apologise to those of you who were kind enough to visit and subscribe in the hope of new content. My audience means a great deal to me, and I failed to show it due respect. I went quiet, and as a content producer, going quiet isn’t acceptable. So I do hope you accept my apology.
I was in equal measures horribly lazy (hello burn out, my old friend!) and wildly energetic (nothing like 18 hour days playing with WordPress).
Enough of such talk, its time for the fun stuff!
Sketches
I did start this process about 13-14 months ago, so much of the details have been lost in the fog of memory, but let’s see what we can stumble around and feel out, shall we?
Initially I wanted to understand what made a good website tick, so I sketched out a few sites that I found to be beautifully designed.
Then from this my mind was racing towards a design for Retinart as I could see a pattern emerging in what felt right and how to handle the kind of information that’s to be found here.
Photoshop Comps
I spent quite a bit of time in Photoshop, just hoping to get the design as perfectly figured out as possible, before I ventured into WordPress. If I had to do this again, I might not have spent quite so much time here, but it did provide a great help when it came to the CSS.
CSS not being my strongest suit, I felt that if I could have a perfect layout in Photoshop, then all I’d have to do is attempt to match what I’d done, just with real content.
Before I even did some sketches, I thought about using the Thesis theme as it has some great features. In the end I realised I’d spend so much effort getting it to work how I wanted that I would just end up killing all those great features.
From Joomla to WordPress
Before this redesign I had never touched WordPress and my only experience with a CMS was Joomla, which I found infuriating and painful to work with.
Still feeling the burns from my previous CMS, I decided that I would do what I know and build the template to completion before venturing towards WordPress. So I went ahead and with help from a good friend, Esben Thomson, was able to have a validated, cross-browser safe HTML template to put into WordPress.
Unfortunately, though, the latest 45 comments submitted to the old design didn’t make it over.With the help of a few plugins and a lot of MySQL headaches I was able to port all my content over and, most painfully, was able to get my comments to jump into WordPress too.
With the content now in WordPress, I had to tediously update all the title imagery.
This is the third version of Retinart, and with each version the title artwork has grown in size. When I went to the second version of Retinart, I didn’t update the old artwork and instead had this ugly mess;
An example of what happened after the last redesign. Click here to see how it looks now.
I wasn’t going to repeat this mistake and instead went through and updated every single title artwork I had previous done. Luckily a lot of the PSD files had extra content off the canvas edges, so the process took about a week and involved minimal tweaking.
Site Features
Obviously you can just wander around and see what I’ve done to the site, but there are a couple things I’m especially happy with that I wanted to show off.
Citations in the Margins
I love seeing margin notes in printed material, so this is something I had in mind while designing the site.
Images in the Margins
Again, I do love those margins! In this case you can see an image sitting to the side for those cases where an image should be included, but not too strongly in the content
Pull Quotes
References & Links, Article Navigation
Most articles will have a References & Links section at the bottom of the content.
Comments Form
I love to play with words for the simplest things, making them a little silly and a little fun — the comment form was a great opportunity to have such silly fun.
Footer (of the Footer)
I get that my footer is crazy-large, so I needed to counter all the weight that the content of it drops on the bottom of the page. These three little buttons and the light italic text is probably my favorite feature of the entire design.
Contact Form
You’re taking the time to write to me? Why wouldn’t I do my best to make it a little more interesting than a standard ol’ contact form?
Content, or
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Hard Work
So anyway, I now have 30 articles finished, scratching at the walls for freedom.
In an effort to offer you great, new content, I often have to spend more than a day or two researching — a few of my articles might take a week or two instead. From this I might only get one or two articles, but it means that I haven’t limited the content to what I already know and, hopefully, will be delivering something that isn’t often found online.
I love diving that much deeper so that what I offer might be of stronger interest. While it sucks at the blood of my time, it is absolutely worth it. Having this reserve means that while I’m spending a week researching and not writing, you’ll still get your two articles a week, or in some cases it gives me the chance to just take a break — a pretty good deal I think.
I’ve tried to write two kind of articles — major and minor. The difference is mostly depth and length. Major articles fall in the 1200-1400 word range and the minors are about half that. I might want to spend 1400 words talking about geometry, then a few days later post a review article about the book that inspired me to do so in only 600 words.
It’s mostly about pace. Two posts a week is a nice number for me, but I wouldn’t be able to write two major articles a week, it’d just be too hard and the quality would drop very quickly (a big no-no). I’m also not sure how well two 1400 word articles a week will go down with you guys. Might be a little much, no? I’d think so.
Topics that I’ll cover will vary, but will mostly lean towards theory and history, with a lot of beautiful images. The beauty of writing so far in advance is that if I become obsessed with a certain topic, I can focus on it for a month, but then distribute the content out over three or four.
Here are a few samples from upcoming articles, just to whet your appetite;
Thanks for the help
I just can’t help but feel that there aren’t enough sites that cover the kind of content that designers deserve. Too many assume that all we are after are pretty pictures, which, although great, aren’t enough to help us be better at what we do.
I don’t want to give you articles on the mundane or on the baby steps of design — I want to give you something with substance, something that’ll entertain and inform you. I want you to be better designers so it’s harder for me to talk to you. So you expect more, so I have to up my game.
I’m very lucky that there are a small number of people who seem to connect with what I write enough to first offer friendships and, because of that, then offer a great deal of advice and discussion. I’m sure of this more than ever because of those who helped me with this redesign.
Oh how I will torture my self if I forgot someone, but please let me know if I did! It’s been so long they probably don’t remember helping me out, but to the following people and their critiques, comments, encouraging and wonderful comments, I have to say thank you a hundred times over:
LaurenMarie (@creativecurio), Vivien (@inspirationbit), Tracey Grady (@traceygr), Steve Mehallo (@mehallo), Jacob Cass (@justcreative), Andrew Kelsall (@AndrewKelsall), David Airey (@DavidAirey), Mitternacht (@Mitternacht), Niki Brown (@nikibrown), Matt O’Leary (@olearymo) and Tom Bryan (@demotecontrol)
And I absolutely must give a special thank-you to Esben Thompson who was not only a sounding board for my worries but a good friend. Whenever I hit a stumbling block with the design (or HTML, or CSS, or WordPress, or the content) I always knew I could rely on Esben for some sound advice, or in some cases, rewriting my broken or messy HTML & CSS or telling me something is just a ridiculous idea — thank you greatly!
It’s because of intelligent, talented and driven people like those above and people like my audience that I enjoy writing and discussing design so much.
So what’s next?
Oh, this is the fun part! Starting next Tuesday I will be posting twice a week, a major article on Tuesdays, then a minor on Thursdays.
Like most blogs, this is a site for the audience, not the writer, so let me know of any topics you’d like to see covered or if you have any preference as to what articles I post sooner rather than later from my list above?
I’m looking forward to playing with different ways of delivering content including some videos (I have a lovely letterpress I want to play with, and it’s best shown in video), a newsletter, a tumblr site, twitter and whatever else will allow us to talk about those principles and elements of design that we all so love. So stay tuned!
I’d love to hear what you think of the design so please feel free to leave a comment.
So long, Sir.
Comments
23 pieces of brilliance put forth by the audience
Tom Bryan
1st of June, 2010 • www twitter
Beautiful work, Alex, so great to finally see it alive and breathing. Really can’t wait for those articles, I think I’ll go ahead and subscribe *right now*.
inspirationBit
1st of June, 2010 • www twitter
I’m known by the name Vivien… ;)
I love your witty questions preceding the contact form, Alex :)
So happy to finally see the new Retinart live. I’m already looking forward to future Tuesdays and Thursdays to satisfy my quench for some great, inspirational and educational content on the Web.
Congratulations, Alex and thanks to all the hard work you’ve put into this new site.
P.S. oh, my, just look at those ornaments in the checkboxes, how did you do that?
P.P.S. Please, announce your new posts on Twitter, it’s easier for me to follow the links and read the posts that way, than RSS.
Andrew Kelsall
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
Hay Alex, it’s great to see your new design finally finished; it looks really good. I do believe there’s nothing else quite like it online – truly original. I hope Retinart goes well for you this year, and I look forward to reading more (thanks for the mention, too).
PS: My favourite bit is still the “With what name do you express
140 at a time with twitter?” line. Class act…
LaurenMarie – Creative Curio
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
YAY!!! Soooo beautiful, Alex. You have so much to be proud of with this design. It’s totally unique and amazing and… I could just stare at it forever.
David Airey
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
Lovely work, Alex.
I don’t think you had any need to feel embarrassed about your previous iteration, but that’s testament to your high standards.
Well done buddy.
Alexander Ross Charchar
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
Thanks guy! I’m so glad it’s finally up and hasn’t fallen over (yet).
Tom — thanks for the subscription buddy :D
Vivien Aw, thank you :) It took far longer than I wanted it to, but I’m so happy to see it up and running (and getting comments again!). I’ll absolutely be mentioning new articles on twitter, so you’ve got no excuse not to drop past!
Ah the checkboxs were such a pain, but the solution was so simple that I couldn’t believe how much time I wasted trying to figure it out — the image is just the text (label) that goes next to the check box, with the checkbox itself hidden (left: -9999px), then its just a small Javascript script that swaps the image (checkbox empty/checkbox with illustration) every time it’s clicked!
Andrew Thanks for the kind words! I’m really wanting to make retinart do better than it ever did before and comments like that are super encouraging :)
And I’m glad you still like the comment form! It’s one of my favorite parts of the design!
Lauren Stare as looooooong as you like, it’ll help my google analytics stats! Though don’t jump out and yell “Boo!” at anyone if you’re roaming the halls of the site in that dark at night
David Thank you sir :) Embarrassed was probably a little harsher a word than I should have used, but I was definitely due for a site redesign
Jin
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
Alex, I’ve been waiting for your relaunch forever. It’s a lovely redesign. I still can see the old elements in the new. It’s very “you.” I love all the effort put in the details.
More importantly, I’m looking forward to all the future articles! Your blog is one of very few design blogs I value highly. I can’t wait.
Also thank you so much for all the help you lent me on my redesign!
Esben Thomsen
2nd of June, 2010 twitter
I am lost for words looking over your site again, I mean I had forgotten all the small details and now seeing completed — it just stuns me.
Thank you for the mention, I am all embarrassed by the kind words, that I don’t what to say.
I have to go exploring now and speed up time till next tuesday :)
Congratulations with finishing it Alexander, must be a huge burden taken of your shoulders and the tinkling feeling that is is completed.
Designer Monk
2nd of June, 2010 twitter
Oh! Yes, yesterday midnight (12:27 am), I got the message on my cell from Twitter, I was half asleep but still managed to check and was glad to see the tweet from Lauren@creativecurio. Felt like getting online then but had to take rest for today’s office hour, so decided to wait till morning. The first thing that I did today is getting online click the link in Lauren’s tweet. And to no surprise, I am finding this site #beautiful and intriguing. 13-14 months is a big time but not as big as mine because its been 24 months that I have taken a domain for my design but still not done anything. I haven’t lost my hope and so accumulating all my energy to come up with one very soon. It can’t be anywhere near to the names that you have mentioned above but something to start with, that first step. And, with great designers like you all in the world wide web, I am sure I will be able to take my graphic designing in to the next level.
Congratulations for your fresh new beautiful site.
Tracey Grady
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
How can you not leave a comment when there is this super-cool comment form to fill out?
Well done, Alex. Great to see you back in blogging form. I’ve been looking forward to retinart showing up in my RSS feed again. You’ve put in an incredible amount of work on this redesign and it’s very stylish – definitely well apart from the pack. Like everyone else commenting here, I’m keen to read the articles you’ve been working on in recent months and which you will soon “submit to the world”. Of course, this gives me a kick up the backside to do my own site redesign soon.
Alexander Ross Charchar
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
Hey Jin, it’s so cool that you see it as a progression of sorts (a bit of the old with the new). I guess whether we mean to or not, we all end up developing our own voices with this stuff, don’t we? And I was just so happy that you asked me to have a look at that gorgeous site of yours!
Ahh Esben, you saw it so much I thought you’d be sick of it by now! I’m pretty nervous about what to post next week — something with history, or theory, or opinoin, or Take A Journey of Inspiration (which is really ‘why you shouldn’t look at so many pretty pictures, it’s useless’).. ahh, will figure it out this weekend and you’ll have to let me know what you think!
Designer Monk 24 months is a long time! But sometimes you need t hat time to just prepare yourself to do something. This is the first time retinart has felt ‘just right’ for me and it’s been over 6 years since i first thought about it!
You saw through my evil plan, Tracey! I figured if the comment form looked interesting, people would be more likely to leave a comment, allowing me to write crappy content! muwahaha! And with such nice comments like that, how could i not love doing all this? :)
Thanks again everyone!
Rory
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
What a great looking re-design, nice job!
I’m updating my blog at the minute myself and have had similar experiences as you, I just got to the point where I was always embarrassed and that shouldn’t be the case for a web designer.
Nice to read you really took time in your re-design, it sounded like a well thought out process and the results have paid off. As the site looks fabio!
Matt O’Leary
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
Man.
Man. I’ve been seeing bits of this on an off for a while, but I always purposely didn’t look from a pure pleasure point of view, rather a proofing sorta view.
I gotta say, the actual FEEL here is superb. I’ve been trying to think of a way to describe it, and basically it seems like this entire thing was created on your Windmill, and what we’re looking at is a really long photograph of what you printed.
I can’t see a SINGLE pixel in this entire design that hasn’t been considered. The tickboxes! Even the bloody tickboxes are gorgeous!
Oh, yeah, the content’s good too ;) An excellent insight to the process you went through. I think people are finding it quite helpful. You’ve certainly given my inspiration a kick in the arse to get off it and get something done. Really looking forward to some of those upcoming articles, the list looks like great fun.
p.s. i think we’re all just waiting for ‘why your client is a shithead’ for a good laugh(?)
Alexander Ross Charchar
2nd of June, 2010 • www twitter
I really wish I could say that it was well thought out Rory, but it kind of just happened bit by bit.. I first decided to redesign, then realised I should take my time with it, then thought “I need to have a heap of articles in reserve” so I could enjoy the whole process more then … 12 months later, we’re having this conversation!
Keep at your redesign, just remember to have fun!
Ahhhhh I wish it were a funny one Matty, but I’m afraid it’s one in which I basically blame us designers for letting them be that way :\
Though I’m hoping the Pixar & Dreamworks one thats coming up will give a chuckle (Remember the movie remake poster article I did a while back? same thing, but with logos)
I had to look at every detail as I knew the code behind it all would be kept together with not much more than sticky tape and good wishes! Pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside ;)
Marissa
9th of June, 2010 • www twitter
Hey Alex,
Excellent, rock solid job you have done here! You should be very proud! All these months of hard work have really paid off! Nice to see your style coming through in such a well executed manner. Well done mate.
Alexander Ross Charchar
10th of June, 2010 • www twitter
Ris! Thanks for stopping past and the kind words! I’m so happy that some of the people who I’ve been talking to for a while are saying that they can see my ‘style’ come through. It’s nice to have a kind of voice that people might recognise :)
Gonzalo González Mora
15th of June, 2010
I’m SO glad I didn’t delete your feed from my RSS reader. I knew that sooner or later it would pay off :)
I found your website because of your Blackletter article (which was marvelous) and I’ve loved it ever since. I can’t wait for those shiny new articles!
Alexander Ross Charchar
15th of June, 2010 • www twitter
Hey Gonzalo, thanks for the kind words! I know how full RSS readers can get, so it gave me a good grin when I read your comment!
I’ve got some content that I’m really excited about coming up in the next few weeks, so hopefully they’ll hit it home for you like the Blackletter one did :)
Eric Edward Thor
2nd of August, 2010 • www twitter
In my humble opinion this is my favorite design on the internet.
The comment form is immaculate. The customized input fields which adds depth to the feel of the site, summarizing the purpose of each field with the bolded text. Genius.
I must say the zenith is realized by the commenter when they go to click the tickbox, and find that they did not create a check mark nor a “X”, but a beautiful ornamental design. It was a startling, and actually an experience for me. Its genius. People love to discover, create, and see new things. With that simple box you have enabled all three. Its amazing.
The design of this site is to be discovered. With each discovery, of each little element it adds a piece to the puzzle. It eventually builds an epic realization of beauty.
Alexander Ross Charchar
2nd of August, 2010 • www twitter
Hi Eric, I cannot thank you enough for such a wonderful comment, I really can’t.
It makes me so happy to hear that you find the design to be one that should be discovered. I peppered the whole site with little things here and there that I hoped would make people giggle or smile or even roll their eyes at the absurdity of it – just some kind of reaction! Makes it all a little more interesting, doesn’t it?
The comment form had a few major problems when I first started working on it, but once it all started to work perfectly it became my proudest moment in the redesign. Hard work pays off!
Amanda Katherine Wray
13th of December, 2010 • www twitter
I landed here again today, alighting softly at the end of a long day, sighing, thinking this would be a nice, quiet, pretty place to engage for a moment. Then that one moment lengthened into three, and I fell onto my knees and saw a seed there on the ground that I wanted to eat so much, in the hopes that it would blossom and grow in my belly, and that I, too, could become more than I am, and more like this “Alex.”
With a sense of Déjà Vu(!) that was not really real, but absolutely truthful in the way that only great sensibilities can evoke, I realized that, yes, I might have been here before, but if I hadn’t actually, I had in my mind, thinking those very thoughts you took time to put into words, into pixels, and onto that page that is really a light pulsing out at my face through plastic—but oh!—you have not made it feel so….rather you invoked a sense of the place, and like a careful and reverent taxidermist, exposed it to us in it’s most beautiful form, with surgical precision.
How can I possibly get there with my own design? Maybe never, but for now I will eat more of these carefully laid out seeds, write more, and draw more, and perhaps paint a little.
…And oh, I’m loathe to remark, than when I clicked yes to “remember these details,” the dreaded broken image graphic tore a hole in your exquisite creation. I will not tear up this loveletter! I won’t!
Alexander Ross Charchar
17th of December, 2010 • www twitter
Amanda Katherine Wray
Oh Amanda! What a fantastic comment! Utterly beautiful, thank you so very much.
The phrase “in the hopes that it would blossom and grow in my belly, and that I, too, could become more than I am” fills me with a kind of sweet envy. Such beautiful words :)
Thank you for visiting, thank you for letting me know of the tear in the fabric of the comment form (which has now been sewn closed again), but most of all, thank you for such a truly wonderful comment.
Romo
15th of July, 2011 twitter
Great work, great reads. Thank you.
Shall you delight, entertain & enlighten
us with your own thoughts?