The mat was awkward, a bit uneven, and painful to cut. It took about two hours of confusion and haphazard pencil sketching to figure out how to accurately sweep the razor blade across the stock to achieve a straight line, but by the end of it I had two fully cut photo mats and a slight sense of accomplishment. I framed the photos for that week’s assignment and headed off to class. The person sitting next to me asked where I bought the mats, and I told him about my experiment; the mat board was cheaper than the precut mats, and I thought it would be interesting to try and cut my own.
But precut mats are only $2, so would you even bother?
He was right, the precuts were only slightly cheaper. It’s not like the teacher would even care that I cut my own; in fact, the flawed mats might work against me, but none of this mattered to me.
I just wanted to give it a try. What’s the point of doing things the easy way when you can try something new?
The Project
I started creating the new theme for Tech and Ramen five months ago, even touting the ambitious project in an epically indulgent blog post. I can’t say that it’s been the primary focus of my life, but it’s been quite a fun ride. I could have simply purchased a new theme or found a decent free one, but I wanted to create my own from scratch. This wasn’t the most efficient way of updating the site, but I was more concerned with the process and learning involved rather than the timing. Today I’m proud to switch the blog over to the new layout, or what I’ve dubbed Ramen 0.9.0 I started the coding of this blog theme with no mockup, simply changing bits and pieces until I had a design that I could live with. Sure it has its fair share of bugs at the moment, but these will be worked out in time. I’ve taken screenshots of several stages of the process, and it’s quite hilarious to see how things have changed along the way.
As the project progressed, I realized that I should focus less on the complexity and intricate features of the blog and more on something that is often overlooked, readability. I removed the Google adverts that adorned the previous theme, bumped up the font sizes, and changed them to Helvetica. The colors are no longer bright and overwhelming, but soothing. The posts are more easily accessible, and all of the clutter has been removed. While I’ve left in the coding for the sidebar, I’ve determined that Tech and Ramen would be better off without one. All of the important information can be accessed from the main column but remains unobtrusive. The goal of this theme is to focus on the content, and I feel that it succeeds in this area. The true test for me was creating something that could be used in a mobile environment, without the need for any mobile themes or extra features, and this simple concept has played a large part in the design.
So what lies ahead? I’ve decided to put the comment system on hold for a bit; the site is simply not large and sterile enough to require one. For now, if you have a comment, critique, concern, or simple desire to say something that you’d like me to hear, simply email me or seek me out on Twitter. I’ve always found direct contact much more personable and meaningful than random commenting.
As I continue to develop the theme, I plan to release it for free. It’s not there yet, but I’m hoping to use a general release as way to receive useful feedback and improve my design skills.
As I’ve discovered, living to learn means avoiding the easy path. The journey to simply finish an ambitious project or learn a new skill is littered with mistakes, clumsiness, but also important lessons and gained insight. While seeing projects through until the end is important, the journey should be the focus, and the finish should merely be the icing on the cake. I’ve taken nearly 5 months to complete the redesign, which would be glacial by any other standards but my own, but the amount of knowledge that I’ve gained from the experience is invaluable.