As you can tell, plainbeta looks a little different!
While it doesn’t look like I previously talked about, its new, and custom. So I’m happy.

Why didn’t I use that grid that I was so excited about?
It wasn’t working for me. It’s a great idea, I’m just not ready for it. So that theme will come later.

At any rate.
This design.

The Theme - Pier 3

I have dubbed this theme Pier 3. The three columns and the way they’re formatted just reminded me of a pier jutting out into sea. When I get sick of it I’ll make it available for download as a Wordpress Theme.

Half the time I like it, half the time I don’t - so I’ll probably end up making another one by the end of summer, or the end of the year at the latest.
I already am tossing a few ideas around in my head…

What’s Special about Pier 3?

If you haven’t noticed, the search bar, RSS links, and category links are all contained in a lightweight javascript accordion - though I am considering switching.

Other than that, the color scheme, and the inclusion of PIXELATED, Pier 3 isn’t that different than what I had before.

It’s a nice change, and I hope it keeps me happy until I come up with something else.

It’s still new, so there may be a few bugs here and there - if you see any, let me know.
Further more, I’m still working on it… so it’s not quite done… I still need to format the comments a little more. I don’t like how they are now.

I also updated my “comprehensive” list of design showcases - it now includes 77 showcases!
I’ll be submitting plainbeta to them all today or tomorrow…

On May 5th the World Design Association will be having its soft launch!
I haven’t worked out all the details, but it’s going to happen.

So What is the World Design Association Anyways?

Well.
It’s rather simple.

The WDA is an archive of designers, a high-quality unique showcase, a design forum, and design blog.
It is meant to be “for designers, by designers” - so y’all can feel free to get involved. Since it is for designers, you will not find a single ad anywhere.

If you would like to learn more about the individual components of the WDA, check out the post: Welcome to the World Design Association (I know… it’s a lame title…)

Something to Look Forward To

With the launch of the WDA (which requires a community), there won’t be much content.
That gives y’all an opprotunity to be featured on main pages, such as the home page, the designer’s home page, and the showcase’s home page.

If you’re interested in getting added to the designers archives, or a web site added to the showcase, or become a guest (or regular) blogger - contact me!

Be sure to come back on the fifth for more info!

Warning… this may come across as a rant…

Let me give you a hypothetical situation.

You have a blog.
It’s a fairly nice blog…
Your blog has about 200 loyal rss subscribers and a fair amount of daily traffic. You update it 2 to 4 times a week and each post averages over fifty comments per post. The design is a free theme that is not very well known and you customized it to fit your blog - not perfect, but fits very well.
Pretty good right?
Now you can sit back and relax, right?

No.

Never settle for the mediocre.

Always strive to improve - no matter what it is - strive to improve.
If it’s a blog, hunt down more subscribers. If it’s a web site, add more content, features, etc to obtain a larger visitors base. If it’s a hobby, strive to achieve the next level!
Always strive to improve what you have.

How does this apply to design?
Simple.

Look at one of your design works.

Is a pixel off?
Could you add some effects?
Should some be taken away?
Could the content pack a greater punch?
Is there anything that could be improved?

If your answer to any of those questions is yes, then fix it.

Never settle for the mediocre.
Always strive to improve.

There.
Got that off my shoulders…