Apparently I’m a web designer now. I guess it’s not really a new thing, it’s all over my resume – designed and built the website, designed and built the website, etc. It’s something I always seem to end up doing, in part because I’m asked, in part because I volunteer, but mostly because web designers charge so damn much. I’m not a good web designer, as proud as I am of my website I can’t claim that. Regardless, it seems like I’m doing it more and more. I made the website for Nishi’s business, which she has started up again, and I made a redesign for Connecticut BioFuels, though it’s unclear if/when it will be implemented. Now I’m involved in a start-up of a friend of mine, and it looks like I’m their man on the web. I’m not complaining, I just find it funny that I keep drifting towards something I consciously avoided.
I have no desire to be a web designer and nothing else. It isn’t a full time job that would work for me. I don’t think I have a good aesthetic eye, for one, and I’ve never been especially handy with graphic design. I love the initial part of designing a website, planning and troubleshooting. The fine-tuning bugs me a bit more, often because it consists of a thousand tiny changes that I largely disagree with. I think to really make a good website you need to be both involved in the project and tweak it as it is used. Being a professional web designer precludes all of that. But I’m not a web designer, and shouldn’t be looked at as an authority about what makes a good website. In that way I’m thankful for the middle road I’ve paved.