In my murky past, I was a designer of sorts. More about that in future posts, I’m sure.
It’s been a while since I’ve had to do anything design-related… until this week when I put together this bl*g site. [For more on my use of 'bl*g', see previous post]
Suddenly, I found myself having to choose a ‘look’ for this obscure little patch of the bl*gosphere. Picking out heading photos, page formats, theme options, widgets, backgrounds, menus, etc. At first it was more or less a perfunctory task. I just wanted it over with so I could get down to The Writing. As I got into the process, however, the little choices began to matter more to me. For the first time in a very long time, Style lay at the root of what I was doing. Form had the same weight and importance as Function. The exact way an image appeared took on renewed significance. And it reminded me just a bit of the creative person I once was.
If I say so myself, I was not too bad at what I used to do back in the days before I defended the downtrodden and rescued damsels in distress. I created things. And when I got it just right… they were things of beauty.
The tiny exercise of putting together The Kosher Samurai this week provided me with an opportunity to let that creative spark flicker again. If starting this experiment gives me nothing else… it has at the very least given me the faint almost-forgotten whiff of what I used to do in a previous life.
