As you might have noticed, the new website design is online after significant downtime (another result of my busy schedule, I am sorry to say).  I have been wanting to write about my process approaching this redesign as well as some thoughts about it.  However, this would be incomplete without a brief review of the previous version (Version 3).  So here I begin.

Web Prints

I never truly had the right feeling with Version 3.  It just seemed like I threw things in and hoped all the elements cohered together.  I think the main cause of the awkward mismatches was the fact that I never bothered to first design a concept image or print.  I only recently started to this (which, by the way, is quite embarrassing).  It was with websites designed only after Version 3 that I created a whole .psd to slice up into respective site elements.  With Version 3, I just tried to come up with something that I thought would look cool and then created the isolated element as a separate image.

I think the main source of this sigma is from my previous work with designing forum skins.  With skins, all the HTML and PHP is already laid out and coded, and all the designer has to do is edit the CSS for styling. (On a side note, I actually learned CSS by merely designing forum skins. I think the fact that forums [free ones, anyway] restrict to mainly editing style sheets really forces you to know your way around the language. But more on that in a later post.) While some designers create prints for designs before implementing them with code, I did not think it was worth the effort, since you could not totally customize the skin’s design anyway. I guess I just visualized what individual skin elements would look good and just created them. I then carried this technique over to my websites.

I might have gotten by doing that with forum skins, but I truly think it is vital to first design a whole site image before coding (even if it is merely preliminary). It helps to do two things:

1. You can better visualize the design as a whole and make necessary changes to it based off of this visualization before you even begin coding, which could prove to be much more efficient. As a result, your coding can be focused on matching your design instead of experimenting on what might look good.
2. If you do it correctly, it forces you to be precise with designs. You can use the rulers and guides to fine-tune your design to the exact pixel. As stated in the previous point, you can then match this precise design with precise coding.

In the end, you have a much cleaner, professional, and overall, better web design.

Layout

Another negative aspect of the previous version that stood out to me was the layout of the pages and the organization of the site as a whole. One thing I wanted with the new design was much more simplicity. There were so many pages on the last version, and I kept on adding more. I think I had “Home,” “About,” “Portfolio,” “Blog,” “Music,” “Gallery,” and “Contact” pages. This was way too many, especially for what I am doing. I felt that having that many pages made the site too confusing and perhaps even overwhelming.

As I thought about it more and more, it made even more sense to consolidate. True, I do have many interests, but there had to be a way to present all of them much more simply.

Projects

I decided to condense most of the excess pages (i.e. “Portfolio,” “Music,” and “Gallery”) into a single “Projects” page. It was just a matter of figuring out how best to present this content. I thought about this for a long time before coming upon the result. I was aiming for a simple, visual, easy to understand layout. So I decided to go with a large, clickable icon appearance. By utilizing jQuery, I felt that there was a better way to present my work. Instead of having whole blocks dedicated to one web design project (as is popular for professional web designers today), I presented them much like an photo gallery with a description that appears once clicked (soon to come). And instead of presenting music projects on totally separate pages, I, like the web projects, presented them like a gallery with a popup containing the track and lyrics. I decided that since my focus is not necessarily in web design or anything else and since I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, it would be best to present everything equally as “Projects” to show that I have many ventures in different fields.

Homepage

I also figured that having a “Home” page in addition to the “About” page was extraneous, and I could never seem to come up with content for a “Home” page, so I made the “About” page the homepage. All of this condensing really cleaned up the navigation and the site as a whole.

Footer

That last major element I simplified was the footer. Before I had a large footer containing posts from the blog, links to other sites, as well as a bunch of icons to my accounts on social networking websites. I decided to remove the blog elements since I figured the blog was only a click away. (I added a popular posts box to the blog and a related posts box to single posts.) As for the icons, I kept Twitter and the RSS feed. I felt like I should still somehow keep the links to the other ones, so I moved them to the “Contact” page. I think they look nice there.

Technical Stuff

Lastly, I have constantly been learning more and more about code and the proper way to code. So I have been working on cleaning up my code and streamlining my coding techniques. I have moved on to HTML5 and CSS3 (although the CSS does not validate; see this). I cannot say it is perfect, but it is much better than before (and constantly under revision).

Conclusion

I think (and hope) overall you will find my website much simpler and cleaner. My goal was to streamline the content and present it much more efficiently, since this site is supposed to just be a personal website/portfolio. Hopefully, people can visit, check out my projects, read my blog briefly, and maybe send me a comment! Do not get me wrong, there is still a large amount of work to be done on the new layout, so drop me a line if you have any suggestions.

• 50. Linkin Park – “Shadow of the Day” – Minutes to Midnight
• 49. The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes” – Broken Boy Soldiers
• 48. The Letter Black – “Hanging On By a Thread” – Breaking the Silence
• 47. Paper Tongues – “Ride To California” – Paper Tongues
• 46. We the Kings – “We’ll Be A Dream (ft. Demi Lovato)” – Smile Kid
• 45. Breaking Benjamin – “Give Me a Sign” – Dear Agony
• 44. Paper Tongues – “Trinity” – Paper Tongues
• 43. Falling Up – “Moonlit” – Dawn Escapes
• 42. Lifehouse – “Halfway Gone” – Smoke & Mirrors
• 41. B.o.B. – “Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore)” – B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray
• 40. Needtobreathe – “You Are Here” – Daylight
• 39. Sixpence None the Richer – “There She Goes” – Sixpence None The Richer
• 38. Rise Against – “Savior” – Appeal to Reason
• 37. Anberlin – “You Belong Here” – Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place
• 36. Falling Up – “Searchlights” – Dawn Escapes
• 35. Nickelback – “Far Away” – All the Right Reasons
• 34. Sixpence None the Richer – “Breathe Your Name” – Divine Discontent
• 33. Rise Against – “Audience of One” – Appeal to Reason
• 32. The Gaslight Anthem – “American Slang” – American Slang
• 31. Mumford & Sons – “The Cave” – Sigh No More
• 30. Rob Thomas – “Mockingbird” – Cradlesong
• 29. Weezer – “Buddy Holly” – Blue Album
• 28. Needtobreathe – “Stones Under Rushing Water” – The Outsiders
• 27. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Kings and Queens” – This Is War
• 26. Katy Perry – “Teenage Dream” – Teenage Dream
• 25. B.o.B. – “Magic (feat. Rivers Cuomo)” – B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray
• 24. Paramore – “Turn It Off” – Brand New Eyes
• 23. Maroon 5 – “If I Never See Your Face Again (feat. Rihanna)” – It Won’t Be Soon Before Long
• 22. Mae – “Suspension” – The Everglow
• 21. Needtobreathe – “Nothing Left To Lose” – The Heat
• 20. Dorothy Savage – “As Long As It Takes” – Glorious Mess
• 19. Kerrie Roberts – “Beautiful to Me” – Kerrie Roberts
• 18. Falling Up – “Good Morning Planetarium” – Captiva
• 17. Relient K – “The Lining Is Silver” – The Bird And The Bee Sides
• 16. Needtobreathe – “Shine On” – Daylight
• 15. The Classic Crime – “The Fight” – Albatross
• 14. Train – “If It’s Love” – Save Me, San Francisco
• 13. 30 Seconds to Mars – “This Is War” – This Is War
• 12. Kerrie Roberts – “No Matter What” – Kerrie Roberts
• 11. Nickelback – “Never Gonna Be Alone” – Dark Horse
• 10. Owl City – “Vanilla Twilight” – Ocean Eyes
• 9. Anberlin – “Dismantle. Repair.” – Cities
• 8. Falling Up – “A Guide To Marine Life” – Captiva
• 7. Train – “This Ain’t Goodbye” – Save Me, San Francisco
• 6. Anberlin – “The Art Of War” – Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place
• 5. Breaking Benjamin – “I Will Not Bow” – Dear Agony
• 4. Kerrie Roberts – “This Love Doesn’t Run” – Kerrie Roberts
• 3. Needtobreathe – “Something Beautiful” – The Outsiders
• 2. 30 Seconds to Mars – “Closer to the Edge” – This Is War
• 1. The Temper Trap – “Fader” – Conditions

The Big Bang Theory holds that everything originated from a single point in space-time and that the universe is expanding from that original point even as we speak. Many who criticize this theory and support others, such as Creationism, typically base their argument on largely the sheer improbability of intelligent, intricate human beings coming from primordial sludge. Yes, this is true, but first, let us take a look at the implications of the universe.

I have heard it said that it is nearly impossible for something like our world to develop out of pure chance and random processes, that the anthropic principle must necessitate intelligent design. However, by the very definition of space and the universe, infinity is a possibility. Take, for example, a combination lock with, let us say, an immensely large number of digits. Sure, it would take an exponentially greater amount of time for a brute force attack to crack the code, and sure, that would be near impossible by our standards, but what if time was infinite? Surely, the correct combination would eventually be found.

We can apply the same logic to our existence. Sure, it would take an infinite amount of tries to get it right, and sure, it could take an infinite amount of time to get it right, but if space-time is continuously expanding in the universe, you can see why it might be possible for nature to finally succeed. Our existence may be highly improbable, but it is definitely possible. Perhaps it is the one successful attempt out of many preceding it. If we look at it in the manner, you can see why that argument against the Big Bang fails. The boundlessness of space, the continuity of time, and the eternity of the very essence of God contradicts with the basis on which it is founded.

On the other hand, I have also learned about the way evolution facilitates the acquirement of complex traits. Some characteristics are obviously quite advanced, and to explain this, scientists have adopted a step theory. They postulate that through gradual, incremental adaptations, in which they retained the beneficial ones and selected out the maladaptive ones (natural selection), organisms developed the complex traits which were based upon each other. However, some complex attributes are interdependent and cannot exist without each other. How does the theory account for this?

Please understand that this is not meant to be an argument for either side of the origins debate. I am merely pointing out faulty reasoning. It just bothers me when people say there is only one in however many chances that the universe as we know it can occur, when, by the very definition of the Almighty Lord, this small number hypothetically does not matter. I am not against Creationism. I am against this manner of supporting it.

“Ride to California” is a highlight.  It opens with a slightly ethnic beat and rap and goes into a more hip-hop/pop/rock groove that you can’t help but bob your head to.  And all along, there are deep, soaring synths and guitar riffs accompanying.  It’s hard to keep their music in a box.  That’s one of the things that stand out to me.  Paper Tongues is original.  Mark my word, I predict “Trinity” will be a radio hit, and “Ride to California” will be popular among clubs, dances, and college campuses.

Be sure to download “Trinity” for free from iTunes.  Also, you can get “Ride to California” for free on the Paper Tongues MySpace page and the music video on the Paper Tongues website by entering your e-mail in the form on the right side of the page.  Definitely check this band out.

So a while ago I was casually looking over at my roommate’s desk when I noticed a bag of Starbucks coffee…it was a really nice bag of coffee.  I kept looking at it over and over again, just studying the design, layout, and color scheme.  I would grab it, put it on my desk, and slowly spin it around to look at the details.  Finally I decided, why not, to make a website design out of it.

I wanted something pretty simple, yet classy, to reflect the look of the bag.  It’s complete, for the most part, but something still doesn’t look quite right.  Something’s still bothering me for some reason.  Maybe the footer overpowers the rest of the design, especially the header.  What do you think?

For many years, when I was back home, I listened to Air 1 in the car.  They played “You Are Here,” “Streets Of Gold,” “Signature Of Divine (Yahweh),” and “Washed By The Water” regularly.  For various reasons, including the fact that it is usually hard for me to appreciate a song by listening to it on the radio because of the missing frequencies, I dismissed NeedToBreathe as any other band.

A month or so ago, however, I was in a movie theater watching trailers before the feature presentation when I saw the one for Extraordinary Measures.  When I saw it again before another movie, I noticed the song that played in the background of the trailer.  When I returned home, I immediately looked it up and discovered that it was “Nothing Left To Lose” by NeedToBreathe.  Then I thought, “Hey, isn’t that one band that I heard on Air1?”  Though I did not really pay much attention before, I recognized the band’s name.

I looked on their website to find “Nothing Left To Lose.”  I absolutely loved it. I listened over and over.  Discovering that the track was from their album, The Heat, I also recognized “Streets Of Gold,” “Signature Of Divine (Yahweh),” and “Washed By The Water” in addition to the album cover.  I then checked out Daylight and found “You Are Here.”  Then I thought, “Yep, it is them.”

I became addicted to their music, and I think I still am.  Unfortunately, I am currently not in the position to purchase the actual, physical albums from the store, I listened through all three of them on their website.  Bo Rinehart’s voice is just so deep and rich (reminds me a little of Caleb Followill’s), and the music is filled with so much warmth.  You can really hear the band’s small South Carolina town origins in some of their very soulful songs.  Listening to the tracks, I cannot help but be moved with the passion and emotion.

I noticed a transition from a pop/rock sound on their first album, Daylight, to a more folk/country-ish sound on their following two, The Heat and The Outsiders, which is interesting, yet they still seem to preserve some of their original pop/rock roots as well.  I do not usually like the folk/country sound, but NeedToBreathe is definitely an exception.  Somehow, I find their music comforting and fulfilling.  I also did some research on the band and discovered that quite a bit of their songs were featured on various television programs and commercials, as well as feature films including Extraordinary Measures.

NeedToBreathe is definitely a gem, and I am so glad I happened to stumble across them.  Hopefully, I will be able to purchase the albums soon, but for now, I will continue streaming the songs from their website.  This is probably my best find of the year so far.  I would absolutely recommend you check them out.