The Trials of Designing for Oneself.

Designing a project to represent oneself has unique challenges. When I began this project I knew I wanted to design a portfolio site. This is something I have attempted before but always questions plagued me. If you are designing for oneself how much of the design should be for you and how much for the audience? Sure in any design you want the audience to like it but if you hate it can you really call it your design? For the record, I like this design, although it is very difference from my original concept. I guess the question is will I love it in a year?

As an individual and a designer you are always developing. But once something goes out on to the web it becomes a brand. And once you brand yourself there are certain complications to changing that brand. People, your audience, begin to expect something from and when you want to re-invent yourself your audience may object. But what if you get sick of the design? How much can you change before you are no longer you to your audience.

As of right now I am very much struggling with these questions very much on my own. While I am attempting to get in to the Design program at Western Washington University, I am not in. So I am struggling with how to be enough a designer to design something that will get me into a fairly competitive program.

Design is about solving a problem. But when you design a product where you are the brand you are the problem. The problem becomes how you see yourself and also how others see you. The audience sees in the way you present yourself. So first you must ask how do you want to be seen? Then you have to ask yourself how do you present yourself in such a way that you’ll be seen that way. I am still struggling with the first question so how do I attempt to answer the second question? And then the next question is how do yI solve that question with design? Sure picture of design may be worth several words so wouldn’t the wrong picture or design be worth several of the wrong words?

Written by Krisna Marie on June 4, 2019.