Southwest Virginia Blogs

After 630 odd posts, it might seem an odd time to do an “about me” post, but it’s been on my to-do list since I lost my Blogger profile in the transition to WordPress.

I’m a professional graphic and web designer currently working in SW Virginia. I’ve been doing graphic design for print almost fourteen years. Web design became a major part of my work two and a half years ago.

I grew up in a very small town, one of fifteen in my high school class. My family has a strong belief in the value of an education, with a large percentage of them being teachers, doctors, or artists. I was undecided on which path to take and ended up with a BS degree in Animal Science and a BA in Sculpture.

Graphic design, as you can tell from the subtitle on this blog (it currently reads “Random mutterings of a wandering cowboy turned graphic designer”) wasn’t my first career choice. My first job, when I was 14, was working with cattle from horseback. I loved it. I had every intention of spending my life working with horses… Time passes, things change.

I found I had to reevaluate my choices when, in my mid-twenties, I was preparing to get married. Breaking horses, as I’d been doing since my late teens, just wasn’t a viable profession any more. I’d had three concussions, a back injury, various torn ligaments, and some bones in my foot fused already and retirement wasn’t exactly looming near. I started looking for another career. Something that would allow me to fuse my education with my passion for art. I lucked upon a graphic design job with someone who liked to train his own designers. He recognized in me something I didn’t see myself, the designer. It was a fantastic stroke of luck, and I’ll be forever grateful for his training.

I’m not by nature a talkative type, my wife would tell you that I act like I have a lifetime quota on words and I’m trying not to run out too early. I do however, like to say what I think. I took up blogging because I have almost exclusively worked where I was one of few if not the only, designer. Blogging not only allows me a place to speak my mind, but also allows me to be a part of a community of people who have similar interests. While I’m often the lone designer at work, I’m one among many online. This is something that I’ve found that I appreciate.

While I make an effort to focus on design and design related subjects, I’m afraid that I often wander off topic. You’ll notice for instance, that I veer into discussing politics on regular basis. Bare with me, and I come back to discussing graphic and web design before too long.

I’m a problem solver by nature, I’m fascinated by almost any sort of puzzle. Trouble shooting design problems is a particular pleasure for me. I often find myself giving people unsolicited advice on how to fix problems on their sites that they aren’t even aware of. I’ve recently started a series on Design Review to take advantage of that. This series is intended to give people a look into how a designer sees design.

My restless nature, and my wife’s career choices, have moved us around the country in the last decade. From my native Washington, I’ve worked in Idaho, Maryland and now Virginia. I’ve designed things varying from newspaper ads to cookbooks and furniture. I even designed custom carpet for a while. I find print design the most interesting, though the technical challenge of web design has a strong appeal as well. I think I’ll pass on custom carpet in the future. I’ve enjoyed the the journey, I’ve enjoyed each place I’ve lived. While I’d like to find a place to settle down, another move is being considered as I write this. Where next? I don’t know yet, maybe the Midwest. We’ll see where this road leads.

Consider this post to be guest book of sorts. If you’re reading this, drop me a comment. Let me know who you are, and where you’re from. I’m always interested in seeing who stops by.

After 630 odd posts, it might seem an odd time to do an “about me” post, but it’s been on my to-do list since I lost my Blogger profile in the transition to WordPress.

I’m a professional graphic and web designer currently working in SW Virginia. I’ve been doing graphic design for print almost fourteen years. Web design became a major part of my work two and a half years ago.

I grew up in a very small town, one of fifteen in my high school class. My family has a strong belief in the value of an education, with a large percentage of them being teachers, doctors, or artists. I was undecided on which path to take and ended up with a BS degree in Animal Science and a BA in Sculpture.

Graphic design, as you can tell from the subtitle on this blog (it currently reads “Random mutterings of a wandering cowboy turned graphic designer”) wasn’t my first career choice. My first job, when I was 14, was working with cattle from horseback. I loved it. I had every intention of spending my life working with horses… Time passes, things change.

I found I had to reevaluate my choices when, in my mid-twenties, I was preparing to get married. Breaking horses, as I’d been doing since my late teens, just wasn’t a viable profession any more. I’d had three concussions, a back injury, various torn ligaments, and some bones in my foot fused already and retirement wasn’t exactly looming near. I started looking for another career. Something that would allow me to fuse my education with my passion for art. I lucked upon a graphic design job with someone who liked to train his own designers. He recognized in me something I didn’t see myself, the designer. It was a fantastic stroke of luck, and I’ll be forever grateful for his training.

I’m not by nature a talkative type, my wife would tell you that I act like I have a lifetime quota on words and I’m trying not to run out too early. I do however, like to say what I think. I took up blogging because I have almost exclusively worked where I was one of few if not the only, designer. Blogging not only allows me a place to speak my mind, but also allows me to be a part of a community of people who have similar interests. While I’m often the lone designer at work, I’m one among many online. This is something that I’ve found that I appreciate.

While I make an effort to focus on design and design related subjects, I’m afraid that I often wander off topic. You’ll notice for instance, that I veer into discussing politics on regular basis. Bare with me, and I come back to discussing graphic and web design before too long.

I’m a problem solver by nature, I’m fascinated by almost any sort of puzzle. Trouble shooting design problems is a particular pleasure for me. I often find myself giving people unsolicited advice on how to fix problems on their sites that they aren’t even aware of. I’ve recently started a series on Design Review to take advantage of that. This series is intended to give people a look into how a designer sees design.

My restless nature, and my wife’s career choices, have moved us around the country in the last decade. From my native Washington, I’ve worked in Idaho, Maryland and now Virginia. I’ve designed things varying from newspaper ads to cookbooks and furniture. I even designed custom carpet for a while. I find print design the most interesting, though the technical challenge of web design has a strong appeal as well. I think I’ll pass on custom carpet in the future. I’ve enjoyed the the journey, I’ve enjoyed each place I’ve lived. While I’d like to find a place to settle down, another move is being considered as I write this. Where next? I don’t know yet, maybe the Midwest. We’ll see where this road leads.

Consider this post to be guest book of sorts. If you’re reading this, drop me a comment. Let me know who you are, and where you’re from. I’m always interested in seeing who stops by.

Spammers are stepping up the pace lately. I’ve got over 900 attempted spam comments and trackbacks in the last three days. Is it something I said?

I should have started this sooner, but better late than never. Design Reviews. I’ll focus on website design primarily, but we’ll see where it goes. Since I’m rarely called humble, I thought I’d start right at the top. Starting in the next day or two I’ll be doing design reviews of some of the more popular blogs. Don’t have a popular site? Don’t think you’re safe, because I’ll be going there too. Reviews will cover these areas:

• Style - A straight judgment on appearance. Good, bad, or dear God what happened here.
• Structure - Regardless of style, does the site have good bones.
• Content - Quality of content, regardless of subject.
• What would I change - Criticism, (hopefully constructive) on what’s wrong, what’s right, and how I’d improve it.
• Review topics are of course, subject to change.

If you have a site that you want reviewed, feel free to make suggestions. If you don’t want your site reviewed… I’ll accept cash, check, and most major credit cards.

This was one of the original concepts behind this blog, but it’s something I’ve never felt ready to start. I’d like to thank Mr. Guzman for kicking me into gear with a post on this subject a few months ago. I’m not linking because his site (samguzman.com?) doesn’t currently seem to be online. If this changes, please let me know and I’ll link to you properly.

I’ve been playing with a new WordPress theme for this site for a while. It’s seems to be ready, so I’ll put it up shortly. Please forgive any chaos that ensues when it first goes up. No matter how much you test a theme, when it first goes live there always seems to be some little quirk. More often than not it’s a browser not wanting to refresh properly, but I’ve been known to make an error once in a while.

Happy Blogiversary to me, Happy Blogiversary to me…

I’ve been blogging as hdw for two years today. Here’s to many years to come. Clink!

I’m getting hit with a lot of comment and trackback spam the last few days. Very annoying. I see that I’m not alone. This is th same IP address that’s hitting me.

Terminally Incoherent » rant

Comment spammers are getting more sophisticated every day.

All the comments show up as posted from 74.52.68.226.