I’m not sure where to begin but I feel compelled to make myself and my reasoning clear here. For one thing it’s selfish. Writing helps to organize the thoughts; publishing them, as it were, makes them solid. Also if I disappear completely you, my readers, deserve to know exactly why. Lastly, and I know I will seem foolish for saying this, I believe my experiences are relevant to other creative louts trying to feel out the limits and boundaries of the blog form. I for one see no reason to simply accept that any endeavor in this sphere, by dint of being on the internet, is automatically beneath serious critical examination. I admit that ultimately it may be this outlook which causes me the most difficulty… but there it is.

So… If you’re not a regular, a fan, a family member, a friend, an N.S.A. agent, a stalker, or acutely interested in blogging as a creative pursuit, than my all means, high-tail it out of here. I’ll wait….

Alright by way of background information the most important thing you need to know to understand just exactly where I’m coming from going forward is this: Before I donned the diadem of “blogger” the one and only rank I might have claimed for myself, in accordance with my own self image and in good conscience, was “artist,” with all that the title implies. I went to art school, learned nothing useful, was instilled with an awe and respect for the old “weighty” and “serious” forms, painted, drew, doodled, and noodled constantly, took in the world with an eye colored by it all, and enjoyed many a short-lived delusion of grandeur while engaged in art making. The second most important thing to know is that I never found what it was I was looking for.

Armed with these two facts alone you ought to be able to extrapolate much of what is to come.

For instance: What do we know about most “artists?” Most artists do not make a living on their Art, that’s what. It’s damn near the only truth you can bank on in the maddeningly subjective world of Art. I am no exception. I am the Director of a graphics department within a fashion company. I am a pixel pusher, a graphic designer in league with the dark-side. It is a job which most people would categorize as “creative.” It does not, however, come anywhere near scratching the Art itch. Not for me.

When I use the term Art here understand I am not necessarily talking about a painting in a gilt frame or an 18 foot high pewter casting of a mosquito’s reproductive organs. I’m simply referring to that nebulous thing, whatever it is, which makes good use of the artist’s hands and satisfies the artist’s mind; That thing which, for a time, makes the artist feel like an artist. Art, as I am defining it here, might be, and often is, any damn thing. It might be 8 years of graphic design, printmaking, and branding for a fashion company. In my case, however, it is not. So like millions of other Art schnooks my life is necessarily schizophrenic. I must seek my satisfaction in the handful of days and hours when I’m not earning a living. 

All of which brings me, finally, to The Nonist.

I began The Nonist in 2003. At the time my usual modes just weren’t doing it for me. I was bored. I decided to create a website for two reasons. 1: to see if I could teach myself how to code and design a website. I’d never tried my hand at web design, never seen a line of html or css, and it seemed an interesting challenge. 2: I wanted to give myself a reason to write more. I’ve been a diligent journal keeper and letter writer since childhood and I knew having my words out there, where people might potentially see them, would begin a chain reaction of stubborn pridefulness which would keep me writing if only to avoid having my failure to do so on display. Beyond these I had no plan for The Nonist.

The undertaking succeeded not only in terms of the two goals mentioned above but also in terms of distraction quotient. It was new and compelling enough that my free time, my art-making time, was absorbed. The site made good use of my hands and satisfied my mind, and though I would never claim it was a piece of Art, it did serve many of the same needs.

That the site has been my main creative pursuit for a while now is undeniable. I’ve made very little physical work. This fact explains a lot about the site I would think- its eclecticism, its continual mutation, and its quality (such as it is) especially. What you have been seeing here all this time is someone following their (I can’t believe I am about to say this) muse, willy-nilly; Someone trying to elevate a commonplace, simplistic, trivial, and prodigiously widespread undertaking, into something rarified enough to feel an accomplishment. In short you’ve been watching what I’ve begun to suspect is the comically circuitous route of a fool’s errand. 

Were I truly successful in my career, which is to say, if my job satisfied my creative needs, I could simply blog as one ought- on a lark, for fun, as a more engaging evening option than hours of passive television watching. If I were a working author, a satisfied designer, or any other creative who drew a salary doing what he cared about, I could post an endless stream of easily digestible links, I could operate as a newsfilter excerpting stories day in and day out, I could write about how painful it is to watch the Knicks these last few years… as it stands, however, I need it to be more.

There are two obvious conclusions to be drawn- 1: my goals as a creator are not in line with the expectations of the consumer, so far as the blog form is concerned. 2: I ought to seek out more fulfilling employment. It would be the most direct way to make this all a moot point. I understand that. Really, I do.

In the meantime, however, I need to seek satisfaction wherever I can. I’m not sure where it’s to be found but I am fairly sure that it’s not to be found in a paragraph of outgoing links or in an unremarkable bit of off-the-cuff commentary on current events. One thing I am rock-solid 100% sure of is that in order to enjoy the warm satisfaction of being a creator one must actually create something; in order to feel the pride of accomplishment one need actually accomplish something.

Lest you think that I awoke one day with nothing but contempt for blogs and blogging I remind you of my little poll. I enjoy many aspects of blogging which is why the choices on that poll were all variations, to some degree, on the theme. Let me run down the options I offered and my thoughts about each.

• An only rarely updated blog of all original content.
This choice would in many ways be the simplest in that it would require no change. The architecture is already in place, as is the readership. I need only post when the urge strikes and I need not concern myself with filtering other people’s content and rehashing old news. But then, in that it requires no real change, why should I assume it would engender any change in my experience of creating it? The only benefit I can see for this choice is that it would free up time for other pursuits. But then I ask myself, “how could a blog which I attend to only while not attending to other interests be exceptional in any way?” I’m not sure it could be, and so why not just put all my focus on the “other interest”?

• A monthly or bimonthly web magazine covering eclectic subjects, possibly with multiple contributors.
This choice would seem to have many benefits. The first is that in reframing the content as a “magazine” or “journal” the perceived import can be rejiggered. (Though they are only words I believe calling the container for your content “magazine” or “journal” rather than “blog” can actually effect perception. Aren’t the expectations different? Might readers be more apt to actually read a longer piece? Might I not feel I were accomplishing more?) The second is the well known fact that scarcity adds value. The third is regularity. As opposed to the previous choice, this format would, at very least, offer the courtesy of regularity, which ought not be underestimated. Lastly, and potentially the most interesting benefit, would be collaboration. Working with others opens things up to unforeseen results, and there are unquestionably some talented people out there I’d enjoy working with.

The main problem with this avenue as I see it is that it would require a great deal of time and effort to do well. In many ways I’d be signing on to something very similar to what I have now, only more complex and time consuming and I simply can’t overlook the fact that true collaboration might be hard to find since it’s so easy to make your own site that most people, with something to say, already have an online undertaking of their very own. 

• A quarterly, printed on actual paper, which I would pay a few bucks for, could hold in my hand, and could read at my leisure.
Interestingly this choice is the one that appealed most to me when I wrote the poll. The act of doing something larger, longer gestated, better thought out, had something to do with the appeal but so too did my notions of value. I am a lover or printed matter and creating my own printed matter would certainly satisfy something within me. I could write long form fiction in its natural habitat. I could create artworks which existed outside of a server rack… Also, of course, there is the desire to measure yourself against the marketplace and try to earn some monetary reward for effort put in. As you can see from the results, however, this is the least attractive option to you, my readers. I can understand why and do not think any less of you for it. The result does, however, drive home just how divergent a creator’s and a consumer’s (no offense) goals can be.

• I’d be interested in any future projects…
This option was pretty much my escape pod. I figured if there were interest enough I could extend my status as absentee content-provider a while longer while I hashed this all out. You were very gracious in gassing up my pod and offering me a bagged lunch. So thanks.

• None of the above. I want frequent, short, easily digestible blog posts which I can skim on my lunch hour… and that’s pretty much it.
This choice was, in truth, not a choice at all. At least from my point of view. I put it into the poll as a control to see what percentage of readers would back-up the common wisdom about “successful” blogs that you see doled out everywhere. Seems that a solid quarter of all respondents do indeed want frequent, short, easily digestible blog posts for consumption on their lunch hour and the like. As I think this post has made sufficiently clear that aint gonna do it for me folks. With each new iteration of the site and each month I’ve moved further from that easily digestible ideal, trying to craft as much long form, original content as I could muster. Regardless of what happens a full-on link filter The Nonist will never again be.

Much of what I’ve learned about blogging, from the standpoint of a creative pursuit, reinforces my perception that the form, which includes as a subset all preconceptions and consumer habits, may be an artistic dead-end. (What people want from a blog may very well be exactly that which the form is best suited to anyway. Go figure.) There is the popularity contest aspect of it all, which, though it can be motivating and (when you’re on your game) gratifying, is ultimately a pretty flimsy reward. The strenuous act of clawing your way, through the hustling billions, toward the top, to the upper echelons, would be a whole lot more attractive a proposition, if there were anything at the top waiting for you. Even a cheap blinking sign saying, “you win!” From what I can tell though, here on my humble cliffside lean-to, there isn’t. There’s nothing up there. It’s a lot like life in that sense I guess.

I realize all too well that this whole thing may come across to many of you as either pompous and pretentious, since I’m taking the time to even write this many paragraphs on the subject of (pshaw!) blogging, or else damn near retarded, in that I ever entertained the idea that one could attain a modicum of artistic satisfaction in such a sphere. In any case, it’s my life so I have to care, and take it seriously. You, of course, have the luxury not to. Besides haven’t I always come across as pompous and retarded anyway? Why change now?

So good reader, if you’ve made it this far into this dry, meandering, intolerable mess of a post, let me at least offer you a compliment for your troubles. It is you who offer me the only semi-tangible artistic reward I have consistently gotten here: an audience (or dare I say it, a community?) So thanks. If I do indeed disappear off the monitor of the earth, I wanted to just say thanks for reading my years of drivel and looking at my digital noodlings. Thank you for commenting when you have, for discussing things with me, for emailing me your good wishes, and seeing fit to link me across the internet. It’s been a pleasure more often than not, and aside from the mere challenge of doing it well, you are the reason. A loving familial sort of kiss to you!

What does it all mean?

As it turns out I have not actually decided what to do yet, but I am also loathe to just pull the plug and set off in my escape pod. Separation anxiety I guess. In as much the plan as of now is to just say that I’ve chosen option #1 of the poll, “An only rarely updated blog” and go from there. I will be making back channel inquiries into both the idea of a web magazine (if your interested or have any ideas feel free to contact me), as well as feeling out my suicidal options for creating some printed matter of my very own. I’ll create new stuff for your reading and viewing pleasure when (if) inspiration hits and will certainly keep you posted on my next move.

Happy New Year!

Btw the title is taken from…

Mutation

And rather than being a whiny little douchebag about it I will do my best to continue posting as always. I only mention it so that if I go a few days here and there without updating you will know why without my having to post some longwinded self-involved explanation. Alright? Business as usual commencing now.

There are streamers. There are balloons. There is a local high-school marching-band complete with baton twirler. Spilling over into the lanes and parking spaces is a thin, dead-eyed, crowd. Some are holding little pennants limply at their sides. A few are wearing oversized hats. As you roll closer, tapping your brakes to avoid vehicular manslaughter, you see the cheap vinyl signs, with their bold, shiny, type; they read: Grand Reopening !!!

Well dear reader, you have unknowingly wandered into a very similar scene. Minus the parking lot, and the cheap pomp, and the crowd… and the car of course. In fact what you’ve done, without even realizing it, is happen upon the grand opening of The Nonist, Version 3.0. Hip-hip hooray! Strike up the band.

After a month-and-change holed up alone in my lair, tapping at the keys and hammering code into a stylesheet with a rubber mallet, I have returned with the site you see before you.

Now- picture yourself in a boat, on a river, with tangerine trees… Just kidding.

What can I say? I’m glad to be back… (tap tap. is this thing on? hello?) Ahem… I’m glad to be back though what I’ll post now that I’m here is beyond me. This whole stretch that I’ve been away from the site I’ve really been away. I’ve barely payed any attention to internet goings-on. I’ve neglected my surfing duties and am now hopelessly out of the loop, not to mention woefully out of practice. The funny part is just how easy it was to unplug…

Anyhow, be that all as it may let me offer you a hardy welcome. Honesty I feel that I ought to shake your hand and congratulate you on your impeccable timing. It’s uncanny really because I was just now about to cut the ribbon on the front door with a pair of oversized novelty scissors. Huzzah! 

So to you beloved readers who were patient with me and to those of you who just wandered in by accident, come on in and have a look around. I hope you like the new digs. All that remains is for me to scrape up some actual content.

Now if you’ll excuse me there is bitter, disinterested reporter, on assignment here at the “Grand Reopening” to secure some positive, community-related, puff for the local news who I need to exchange phony, overenthusiastic, exclamations with. (Is my tie straight?) Enjoy!

As I’ve mentioned here previously, one day I logged onto the site and found that I was, for no particular reason, vividly aware of its shortcomings. In my estimation, as pleasant as the old Nonist was in some ways, it was also victimized by certain design affectations. The lowercase body-copy, as one example, which did not go un-derided.

What might have been less apparent were the limitations which the tight formatting actually placed on content. I was constantly tailoring posts to better fit the fascistic design. It was tiresome and I decided to start over, from scratch, with an eye toward both simplicity and a greater range of freedom in terms of actual content.

These goals might make it sound as though the design I finally arrived at came naturally. I assure you it did not. Which brings me to the reason everything took so long-

Excuses. Excuses.

Letterpress, linotype, woodtype, woodblock, 19th century broadsides complete with the attendant ornament, borders, brass rules, dashes, and embellishments. I’ve been inspired by these for a long while. I’ve got hundreds of examples cramming folders on my machine. I’ve got books piled on the floor. I can look at them endlessly. When It became apparent I’d be redesigning I figured it would be a great chance to delve into the aesthetic.

I created a broadside-inspired site⊕ but something wasn’t quite right. It was awkward somehow and I wasn’t happy with it. I began futzing, noodling and re-jiggering. It took me entirely too long to realize what the problem really was. And it was simple. My goals and my inspiration were at odds. What I’d come up with was, though true to my inspiration, more affected, more bloated, and more constraining than what came before. Needless to say I was annoyed.

I decided to make a long overdue purchase, Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style, to try and help myself refocus. (If there was one thing I was sure that I wanted it was clear, legible, and stylistically correct text.) It’s a fascinating book which were I worth my salt as a designer I’d have read long ago. Almost immediately I came across a sentiment expressed by Bringhurst which was relevant to the problem at hand when he called the 19th century a “dark an inflationary age in typography and type design.⊕

Just an offhand opinion, I know, but annoyed and behind schedule as I was it seemed like a omen too obvious to ignore. I decided to do the hardest thing I can think of, as a designer, and cast aside as many of my own crutches and old mainstays as possible. I decided to abandon any aspirations of “coolness” and focus instead on attempting elegance. I’m not certain whether I ultimately succeeded in this but I’ll explain my reasoning and let you be the judge.

The gut and its reasons.

The “more is more” philosophy seems to be the overriding reality in web design. 85% of the sites out there are so crammed full of columns, thumbnails, text links, rollovers, nav-bars, banner ads, and animations that the act of bringing your eyes down a page has become a form of strenuous exercise.⊕

Many sites have little choice but to jam-pack every inch of screen real-estate. News portals and online merchants for example. They have a vast amount of data to dole out each day, the location of every bit of which needs to be immediately apparent. I don’t think the same can said for a huge swath of the internet and this approach by no means benefits all types of content.

It seems to me this over-use of the “more is more” aesthetic creates a sort of self-fullfilling prophesy in terms of internet reading habits and attention span. We are told time and again that people do not read things on the internet, they skim. We are told we, as content providers, have 3 seconds to clearly define our identity and purpose to a reader before they click away. Designers react accordingly and front load their entire site into a single browser window. So is it any wonder with all the clutter that people scan and scram? It’s like a defense reaction.

With this redesign I wanted to provide a counterpoint. As such the most important questions I had to ask myself were: How do people use the site? What would be the ideal user experience? And how do I present the content in a way which most encourages that ideal experience?

I’m not at all certain of the answer to that first question but I like to think people come here not only to see what’s on the other end of my links but to read what I’ve written and view what’s on display as well. That’s how I approach the content in any case. Further I have to assume that most visitors are interested in what is newly posted and generally ignore all the rest. It’s likely true for all blogs, new content is primary and archives, category trees, offshoots, ads, blogrolls, recent comments, shout boxes, etc, are secondary, at best.

In my mind the ideal experience would be entering a space where reading is easy on the eyes and the focus is undiluted, a space in which you could stretch out as it were, take off your coat, and stay a while. The ideal environment would then be one which emphasizes the content and puts aside the elements which readers would otherwise have to make an effort to ignore. Better that any effort is expended on what is secondary rather than on what is primary. The reading itself should be made effortless.

So what’s the best way to encourage this ideal experience which I’d like The Nonist to offer?

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Obviously the main thrust of this redesign was simplicity but philosophically there was a shift as well which informed many of my choices. Against every piece of advice ever offered on web design I decided to stop tailoring the site toward the people who have never been here. Sounds silly but hear me out.

Many design choices are made with the people who don’t visit your site in mind. After all that’s exactly what all the “grab their attention in 3 seconds” stuff is really about. That’s also what design novelty and visual “gee-whiz” are about. Impressing potential first-time visitors. At some point it dawned on me that these are not the people I need to concern myself with. It’s my existing readership who deserve special attention. The non-functional bells and whistles of a site become invisible to return visitors after a while anyway, so why not do everyone a service and just remove it all?

People return to a site on the strength of its content and if a visitor can not take the time to discover what that content actually is without a multitude of visual cues and shiny things, then, well… In all likelihood they won’t have the patience to read my posts anyway. So if a visitor doesn’t see what they want to see in 3 seconds, and clicks away without bothering to read anything, then that’s o.k. with me. They’ve saved me some bandwidth. And hell, they’re not even reading this right now, which means there is no harm done in saying so.

So, beloved and patient readership, let’s consider the old site and run down the changes- 

Looking at the old Nonist now I must say it’s awfully busy. This is in part because of the side bar. As you scroll down the page to read a post you must make an effort ignore the entire left side of the screen. As I said earlier everything contained in that sidebar, from a user standpoint, is secondary. How many times do you guys need to see the special-projects thumbnails or the blogroll? A hundred? A thousand? You already know what’s there. So I removed it.

The tight formatting of the main content created discrete blocks. In terms of the site as a whole it achieved a certain balance but at the expense of readability. The lower-case formatting of the text⊕ kept these blocks heterogeneous but again at the expense of readability, to say nothing of grammatical precision. To remedy this I reformatted the text to give it, and your eyes, plenty of room to breathe. As a designer large type tends to illicit a sort of pavlovian cringe, but I also changed the fonts and enlarged the text somewhat in an effort at greater clarity.

Then there is the matter of the header. I really liked the old rotating headers. I think they said something about the attitude here and, well, they were pretty. But they were pretty huge as well. And again, how many times do return visitors need to see a logo that takes up half the screen? You know damned well where you are, wouldn’t a single line of simple text do just as well?

The nav-bar and all relevant content from the side-bar

Gentlemen, let’s Forget the past, its related errors, coarseness
Of parents, laxities, unrealities of principle Think of tomorrow. Make a firm postulate Of simplicity in desire and act… -Allen Tate.