Uncreated Conscience

While my host’s servers were updating yesterday, it appears that some of my files were lost during the move. So if my blog looks wonky, it’s because I am slowly in the process of rebuilding them. Thankfully all my content seems to be intact, so it’s really the cosmetic changes that were undone. Le sigh. Anyway, carry on! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain as he tries to fix this.

Edit: It doesn’t appear as though all of my content survived, as the image links are broken/gone. I’m not sure how far back this goes.

Edit 2: Sigh. Looks like 16 Dec 2010 is how far back it goes. *grits teeth*

I think it’s been nearly a year since I last changed my website’s layout/design and I think I’m long overdue for another one. I’m a little tired of staring at my face behind White-Harp, although never fear, White-Harp will always be a mainstay of my design elements. My aesthetic has changed little, but I think it’s the blog design part that’s driving me a little batty. I spend so much time on Tumblr these days that this blog is feeling a little unloved, which I hope to remedy by somehow integrating the two better.

But that would involve a design overhaul, mostly because I’m disliking the blog layout. I’m all over the place when it comes to content, so I need to go for simplicity and more of a zine-like look, with articles and the like, I think. So if my blog looks kind of funky over the next couple of days, don’t mind me.

I’ve been trying to come up with a design overhaul for the past couple of weeks, but I’m not liking anything I draft up. I need something that’s minimalist and readable, but with touches of whimsy here and there. Nope, not inspired. Sigh.

It’s that time again! That time when JJ gets so sick of staring at her previous layout that she feels the need to do a site redesign. This was one was a long time coming as the last time I changed the look was back in September. (It feels so much longer than that.)

A new layout.

I’d been wrestling with this redesign for a while because I wanted to keep it looking clean, almost periodical/zine-like (after all, what’s the point in having lots of images when I deal so much with words?). I struggled for months before scrapping a previous design entirely and coming up with this one in about 2.5 hours. The very small amount of time I devoted to it is entirely due to the fact that I relied heavily on the 960 grid system. (Thanks for the tip, Ivy!)

I will back later today with a publishing blog post. This week I will be focusing on character development. Stay tuned!

At last I’ve finally gotten around to purchasing my own domain. I have been Tara‘s hostee for two years now and she was generous enough to continue hosting me after I retired the old URL. (Admittedly, http://jaejones.aigoo-chamna.net/ is a handful to remember.)

New Domain at SJaeJones.com

The home page of SJaeJones.com

After wrestling with HTML, CSS, and merging my old blog with the new space, I finally have SJaeJones.com up and running. Huzzah! The layout isn’t exactly complete, but it’s about 85% finished and that’s good enough for me.

I’ve also added a Portfolio section in which I’m intending to showcase my webdesign and illustration work and (possibly) drum up some commissions here and there. I don’t have a commission structure set up or anything and in the next few weeks, I should be picking up the loose ends.

Anyway. Yay! I’ve got a headache now. I think I got sick at a screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, so I am going to lay down now and hope not to die.

So very quickly on the heels of the previous layout I come up with a new one! As referenced in my last post, I finished up the “rough draft,” so to speak.

Snow Can Wait

I just want to tickle White-Harp’s nose in the drawing and give her an Eskimo kiss. Anyway, as I’ve said before, it references print websites and was inspired in large part by Jon Tangerine‘s website.

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Until the day I die, I will never, ever get over the novelty and beauty of snowfall: the way the world gets hushed and silent, the way the flakes stick to my lashes, the tickling feeling as it catches in my hair and down the back of my shirt.

I say this now to remind myself, for when I wake up tomorrow it will likely be brown slush and half-melted.

It doesn't have a title yet.

New design in the works and I’m really liking how this one’s turning out. It nearly has a print feel to it (by “print” I mean “news media website”) which was a bit of a fortuitous accident. Ah, serendipity. I’m loving being in the process of genesis and creation. Unfortunately, it’s not genesis in the area where I need to be working.

Unfinished for now as I find some food and attempt to work on the book. ~Sigh.

I must absolutely be kept away from the internet. And CSS. And HTML. If I could choose when and which Muse should inspire me, I most certainly wouldn’t have stayed up until 5:00am working on a layout instead of revising or sleeping like, you know, a normal person.

Welcome Page

I especially love the doodles. According to Web Designer Wall, hand drawn and watercolour grace notes seemed to be popular in 2008. Well, I missed the bandwagon this year on it, but I had a good old time playing with my tablet and Adobe Photoshop.

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I don’t know why I do this to myself but…

I have finished another layout! This time it’s my default. Kinks still need to be worked out, but as it is 4:24am, I think sleep is more important.

Aviation Therapy

I love the doodly elements. And now…zonked.