On Building a Personal Website

Creating a personal website is probably one of the most obvious, and necessary, things a Web Designer, or Developer, can do early in their career. It also happens to be hard.

Obviously, the technical, and physical means of creating a website are simple, even natural, to someone who does this sort of thing all day, every day for a paycheck. So, it is no hardship in that respect. The difficulty comes in finding the time. In finding the inspiration. In summoning the inherent narcissism that lies dormant within all of us; harnessing its powers to create a singular, totally self-indulgent work of art. Not to mention the stage-fright. Releasing it to the whole of the 'tubes, baring your soul for observation and comment by others. The usual websites, should they be considered failures, can always be blamed on meddling clients, or a creative director who didn't share your vision.

A personal website can never claim these easy excuses for mediocrity and a personal website will always fail, in some respect, to truly communicate your entire vision, or entire self, to everyone out there who might be listening.

My main point in all of this is to remind everyone that clients may delay the release of a website for many months because they "can't find time" to review design comps, or organize content, or review the staging server, but only YOU can delay the release of your personal site; because you redesign it three times, or you can't think of anything good to write, or because everyone but you, through their meddling feedback, ruined all the stuff you would have put into your portfolio...