NateCreates.com

1. Traditional newspapers & television stations will become irrelevant as more and more quality video, audio and text content first appears on-line.

2. Web users will watch more on-line video ads, as long as they are short (like TV), are funny or engaging, and introduce content they really want. Copywriters, Art Directors and Ad Agencies will learn how to use this medium more effectively.

3. Web design skills for small devices will be in strong demand.

4. The Political Action Committee (PAC) of one comes full force. Political campaign ads in the form of podcasts, vodcasts, blogs will lay the groudwork for the 2008 election year, meaning individual voices will have more influence than at any other time in US history.

5. The web will continue to be more about communication than technology.

6. Black text on white background will still be the easiest to read.

7. Craigslist.com will have to make the choice, get a face-lift or loose popularity.

8. Despite improvements in technology, the web will continue to get slower.

9. Marketing departments will realize that Search Engine Optimization is less important than quality content and real buzz about their product by their customers.

10. Adobe will release an new version of Studio 8, except give it a new name. New features will be nominal. 

The architect is typically never the builder and vise-versa. The surgeon trusts that the engineer trusted the doctor. With the web though, the two roles, designer and developer, meet precariously, and often in the same person.

Experience seems to be the decision maker. You are what you’re paid to do. That’s too easy. Even employers seem to mix the two. Help wanted: Web designer with knowledge of PHP, .NET, ActionScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Perl, and Photoshop oh and must be able to create cool looking sites that engage visitors with the corporate brand. For a long time I felt I had to be both. I felt intimidated into buying volumes of 800 page tech manuals trying to bring my developer ego into line with my designer id.

I’ve spent countless hours testing if and else for which loop statements I forgot to code, debugging, testing, and debugging. All because as a new Flash designer you have to learn these things. Thirty hours later, then I’d whip out the interface in a couple hours.

(By the way, a lot of my frustration with ActionScript was probably a result of other web designers out there doing web development work. So designers, for the sake of other designers, please don’t develop.)

The end of a year brings reflection. And I’m reflecting on the fact that I am a web designer. ‘06 kisses the developer in me good-bye. Adios. Avoir. From now on, only thin books with lots of color.

Some artists are religious about their sketchbooks. I’ve never been that disciplined. I wish I had their dedication, because a sketchbook provides a snapshot not captured any other way. Just a few days ago, when I had the idea to keep a virtual sketchbook, I came across one of my few sketchbooks from 1998.

It’s a strange book. I drew the entire thing while working on the phone for a national bank. If you’re ever talking to a bank rep and it sounds like they are doing something else - well, they probably are. There are account numbers everywhere in the thing. So much for security. Stranger’s names. Addresses. All mixed in with bizarre doodles in ballpoint pen. Some pages are definite attempts to demonstrate skill, to solve how to render some facial feature. Other pages seem only to entertain the right brain while the left brain is telling an old lady why she’s charged $30 for every overdraft. Forget the fact her social security check doesn’t come in for another week. Ah yes, I still remember those days.

And then there’s my budget. I actually projected optimistically a net income of $105.

I seemed content with a $9.50 an hour job. There’s a list of expenses I could count on both hands, right next to an old man with a walnut in one eye, and tears streaming down every crease in his face.I planned on being an artist. My goal for April - complete a business plan. Nearly eight years later, I’m still working on the artist part. And my business plan is about as far along. I guess that’s what makes sketchbooks interesting. It’s less about what you thought you were including, and more how your life was at a specific point in time, how it manages to become conjoined with the doodles and drawings put down thoughtlessly on the page. While I’ve included a couple of pages don’t worry - all account numbers are gone.

Take a Myers-Briggs personality test and you’ll learn, among other things, if you’re an extravert (E) or introvert (I). I’ve always found myself in the introverted category no matter how many times I retake the test. I just can’t seem to answer yes to the questions like a typical E. 

Realizing my attempts to skew the results were pointless, I’d resigned to be in the minority crowd. I never seemed to question what impact this would have on my career. I would be one who worked quietly behind the scenes. Others, more E than my I, would lead, run companies, and have fun establishing a cool tomorrow…until this morning.

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