2004-03-08
this is something i wrote for my portfolio as an "artist statement" does it sound too wanky?From...
�Art to me was a state; it didn�t need to be an accomplishment.� (Margaret Anderson)
My life experiences are vital to who I am. These are a few impacts that have taken place in my life. I am the 8th child in a family of 10 siblings (7 girls 3 boys yes my parents were catholic), dominated by girls. The death of my father at an early age meant a strong matriarch who ran the household. I grew up in small town and was schooled by nuns who strongly suggested I didn�t go on to grades 11 and 12. Having clarity at even this age I knew that they thought some women were destined only to be wives and mothers and they had pegged me as one of those women. I continued my education and ignored their suggestion.
After school I continued with more education at secretarial college. Hating every moment of it I did learn to touch type and for that I am grateful. The small town I grew up in had become that, just too small, so I left home and moved to Sydney. I had pushed through the small town mentality and not become a wife and a mother. I had realised my strong will.
Eventually after 3 years I moved to Brisbane and decided on more education Art College. Learning in an area I loved was where I found my voice. Creating had always been a pleasant state, it�s what has kept me centred and focused. Art College did teach me the elements of design and nurtured my creative being. It was a period of learning that was about me as an artist, not me as a potential employee. It was a period where I explored and used my hands physically to create an image. The process was as powerful as the outcome and I still believe this today. However, the outcome I do feel now is reflected within that process and the amount of time and energy you give to nurturing this process of creativity the more evolved the outcome becomes. I continued to practise art years beyond my formal education but I was never taught how to use this in the marketplace and make it a viable option. I married, I had children and I divorced and once again I returned to education.
Here at this point in time is where I am and exist as a mother, designer, part-time worker, a student, and within these areas I am a problem solver, carer, giver, an emotive being who feels, loves, expresses emotions in all areas of life. How did I get here? Well that�s been an experience of traumatic events that forced me into a journey of growth, knowledge, deep reflection, nurturing, expanding and a process of paths that have opened and closed. And whether I have been aware of the exact paths and turns. I have arrived at this point, and I am a woman of strength and determination!
Onto...
As a Web Designer, my aspirations to designing are based on what I consider 'Good Design'. This encompasses design that is complex and emotive is multifaceted and functional yet simple. It is these elements combined with an intuitive and mature approach to design that I will communicate; is a simplicity of both form and function. My motivation to achieve excellence in this field is fuelled by the desire to give an experienced surfer of the WWW an interactive journey that incorporates good design, useability, evolvability and information architecture.
Design sensibility I believe is central to most web sites as �seeing comes before words� and this has to be engaging from the initial download. In this visual design there has to be a contrast which �� is the comparison of dissimilar elements and helps to identify shapes and enhances visual variety...�1 . Design for me has to have general look, feel, visual variety, style, sound, interface, navigation, content and action.
Useability is an important factor to any web site. It is the initial contact that spurs a user forward. A journey of engagement is not unlike that of a writer taking a reader on a path of discovery. Christopher Vogel who wrote �The Writer�s Journey� was concerned with a formula that constituted a compelling journey. �The call to adventure� with which good useability propels the user forward to �cross the threshold� and engage. A great journey is effective, intuitive, engaging, easy to navigate, and allows the user to feel in control. A question every designer should ask is are the �response times fast enough to keep the user in a state of flow to enjoy the experience?� 2
Information Architecture allows the user to access the content of a site with a seamless transaction from one link to another. To allow this to happen the information has to be organized in such a way as to present packets of information that are concise, easily navigated, personalised to the intended use and can be found with ease. �Global, local, and contextual navigation are extremely common on the Web�To design a successful site, it is essential to understand the nature of these systems and how they work together to provide context and flexibility�.3
The W3C creates web standards, and its mission is to the lead the web to its full potential, which it does by developing technologies. One of these recommendations that it set in January 2000 was the recasting of HTML 4 to XML, which resulted in XHTML and it is the current and future document type for the World Wide Web. W3C has 7 points, which explain their operating principles and goals. It is the 5th point �Evolvability� which I feel that needs to be present and I am responsible for as a future web designer. �W3C aims for technical excellence but is well aware that what we know and need today may be insufficient to solve tomorrow's problems. We therefore strive to build a Web that can easily evolve into an even better Web, without disrupting what already works. The principles of simplicity, modularity, compatibility, and extensibility guide all of our designs.�4
The 4 elements mentioned above are necessary for me to maintain an intergal standard for my future career as a designer. As a designer of my life, these elements are also part of a principal by which I�d like to maintain a personal standard. Design, being my visual sensibility, architecture, the balance of my varied rolls as a person and the seamless transition to keep these all afloat. Useability is important to maintain an engaging life journey whilst evovlabitlity ensues the learning process and to extend my already existing skills in maintain technical excellence. Design, architecture, useability and evolvabitlity are very much a part of my process of personal growth.
My growth is continual and it will guide me intuitively into the next phase of my life. �I discovered that when a human being grows, this growth positively affects her environment, it affects the people around her and actually urges them to their own growth rather than the other way around. Our growth doesn�t wither other people around us; it incites others to do the same. It inspires. I found that the more I expanded, the more I grew, the better if was from my environment. The effect of this would be always positive and would always be setting others on fire.'5 It is Ana�s Nin�s description that I aspire to incite not only on my fellow designers and Co-workers, but my friends and most of all my children.
Creativity for me has not just been the creating of images. but also the formation of my life and what processes I have been through. The events in my life have come in different forms, some I have had control over others I�ve had none. For now, all the events in my past are propelling me into the future. My impact is being felt by my children, they see a strong nurturing woman beside them, who is moving forward. The combination of my past has been realised in the part time position I now hold. I am a supervisor for "Work for the Dole"and I teach design, administration and computer skills to a group of unemployed youth. I am their mentor.
all text is the � of Ms Do