FAQs
Answers to common questions about the website and my work.
What platform is this site developed on?
This website is written in a flat-file format using basic HTML. The blog is written in the same method. The entire thing was built from the ground up with a simple text editor, starting with line one of code.
I designed the template in early 2014 as part of a project pitch, then adapted and further developed the code in December 2015, intending to use it for the next version of my own site.
One thing that I love about HTML is that it can provide its own aesthetic that recedes with good content. Apart from the basic attention to typefaces and layout, emphasis is on the subject matter, not the design. This is a basic philosophy in the work I do.
Why don't you have a full menu at the top of the page?
My intention was to thoughtfully approach the problem of presenting diverse content in a rational way. Normally websites would use mega menus and drill-down menus. My approach is to direct users to the most relevant content at the top—basically, the main sections of the website, with my current work below that. As the user goes deeper into the content of the home page, a more detailed view of the content is provided. A full index is provided at the bottom of each top level section.
From a user perspective, this is helpful in that it doesn't overwhelm at the start. It respects the user by presenting the structure of the site in layers. The more one goes in, the more they see, but it's easy to comprehend at the 50,000 foot level.
It's likely that you arrived at reading this page by that very process…
Who took the cover photo on the home page?
Mats Jerndal, with art direction by me. Tim Snyder was also present and provided input. Kamase Washington's album The Epic was on the sound system.
What does your logo mean?
My logo is an acacia leaf set in a circle, which is offset by a classical border.
Acacia trees thrive in warm temperate climates, are wide-ranging and versatile. The wood is exceptionally hard and resilient, and as such, has been used since ancient times for boatbuilding. People in the Asian subcontinent traditionally believed that smoke from acacia wood fires was believed to keep demons and ghosts away. In European monastic traditions, the acacia represented purity and endurance of the soul, resurrection and immortality.
The logo is designed to work in a flat, one-color format, yet it provides allowance for further stylistic variation. It contains complexity within its monolithic nature.
How can get free stickers?
Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to PO Box 7932, Fredericksburg, VA 22404 and I'll send it back with some stuff.
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