Notes from the Studio

This guest post is by Michael Beckwith, who helped develop & launch the newly redesigned Postscript5 in August 2011.

When I was asked and tapped to help implement the final touches and functionality details for Postscript5, I knew that I’d have a good time working with Grace. However, before I touched a single line of code, I didn’t realize that I would also end up helping her have such a good time as well.

When a site hides Lemons, you can’t make Lemon-ade

Not only did I bring about the idea for the Socialise page that proved to be highly popular, but I also brought about the idea of some hidden easter eggs. Most are only small touches and barely visible outside of those who utilize the view-source capabilities of browsers.

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After recently relaunching my portfolio, Oliver Lindberg, Editor of .netmagazine asked me to write about my experience. As a regular subscriber, I was hugely excited to be asked to contribute to such a respected publication.

Introduction

Our portfolio can break or break us, which is often why creating a unique, well crafted site that showcases our work is one of the toughest tasks we undertake as designers.

Before you even create that first pixel though, it’s important to determine if a redesign is even needed. ‘Incessant redesigning’ has been the trend for some years; you get bored of your site, you redesign and three months later the process begins again. These redesigns are often only concerned with the superficial and do little to address the overall user experience and most importantly, how well your portfolio converts visitors to clients.

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Derwent Pencils recently asked me to contribute an article on how I use sketching to develop ideas for my design work.

Sketching isn’t optional for me as a designer, it’s essential. I can’t go straight to digital at the start of a project, I always start off with some browser templates or Moleskine (and a few Derwent pencils!)

Sketching kick-starts my creativity and allows me to get ideas out on paper and is the fastest way to brainstorm and convey as many ideas as possible with the least amount of effort.

Process

Staring at a blank Photoshop canvas is not a great way to start a project. Although it may sound exciting to just jump straight in, it can also be quite overwhelming. Sketching gets you over this hurdle and allows you to quickly explore concepts and ideas. I see it as the frame upon which I craft my projects.

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