Re: My new website is finally up…

[Brian Meyer]

Trey, Hi. I am an employed web designer, with a degree in “visual communications”. You need neither to be a good designer/artist, but I want you to know I take the craft seriously, and have invested a lot of time studying/developing in it. I want to offer you some constructive advice, and I am not trying to be rude. Assuming you’re not just teasing us with some bad designs, please read on.

Your websites are absolutely poor. There is no other way to state it. I feel like i need to be honest with you, because it’s not worth your time to be given minor aesthetic criticisms like, “I don’t like how large the font is”. Now this is totally excusable if you’re a young guy. Are you under the age of 18? Honestly, it’s fine if you are. Let us help you. I certainly made some “interesting” art when I was a teenager. It’s very clear to me that you do not have any kind of background in design. Web design could be thought of as an extension of a good sense of graphic design, mingled with some technical knowledge. The technical side of things is variable, but accounts for say 10% of a good site aesthetically speaking.

What to do now? Start from the basics. Go to the library and check out some art history books. Read up on Bauhaus, De Stijl, Modernism, Mondrian, Frank Lloyd Wright. Get inspired. Go to a museum. Read some magazines. Find an artist who’s work you admire. Tell us why you like it, and why you think the work is “successful”. Are you able to take some beginning art classes? Drawing, painting, anything?

For the next several months of your artistic education, you should not touch a computer unless it’s posting on this forum, or looking up art. You do not need to read tutorials, because you lack the fundamental design sensibilities REQUIRED to create successful work. Computers tend to be bad for a developing artist. You need to grow.. A LOT…

Shelf your idea of free-lancing as a web designer until you’ve grown significantly as a designer. If it’s truly a passion and you’re able to evolve your aesthetic sensibilities, you’ll be fine.

Let me know if there’s anything I can elaborate further on, or if you’d like some additional advice. Best of luck.