My life: a constant work in progress and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Set Your Goals: Work In Progress

In keeping with my goal of changing what I write about here, I’m working on a redesign for this site that’s basically built from the ground up. It’s not as quick and dirty as my old designs. I am taking my time and, ever the iconoclast, I plan to buck a few growing trends observed by Nick La.

I have a few personal style guidelines I have in mind whenever get to designing my own site. For one, I never use any sort of image replacement techniques where text presented in an image is concerned. I tend to browse with images turned off and I find it easier to style alt texts through CSS. Try it some time; you might like it. This year, I think minimalism is dead. And finally, I’m not a big fan of Web 2.0-style gradients, even though Anthem Of Our Dying Days uses something very, very close to them in the background.

I will probably place a few sketches on my site between now and the design release. I think it’s time I approach this project the way *ahem* real designers *ahem* do.

It started with Scott about four years ago, when I took the baby steps to design his site. I did it for a postcard and possible referral business. Over the years I’ve brought in quite a few design clients. Many have moved on, others have stayed with what I have done, while others I have failed in maintaining a good business relationship.

Times change. Schedules change. People grow in different directions. This is a fact of life. I’ve dropped out of the loop, but honestly I have been happier as a result. I am in the best health of my life. I have built the best friendships a person can have.

I am also beginning to feel the itch. My creativity needs channeling, and I would like to pick up design work again. There are plenty of free WordPress themes out there, and I’m not in the mood to add another drop to that bucket. I have between two and three hours a night, three nights a week to do some work for someone willing to pay. Turnaround time may not be as immediate as some. My price may be higher than reasonable for many. That’s all fine. I don’t mind any of these issues. It helps vet my customers, and it helps them vet me. One client, one project at a time. That’s how I’d like to do it.

And so here comes the problem that faces me. I would like to reinvent this site. I want to write about beautiful things. I want to post my photos. I want this site to be about what I want to share, design-wise, because this is the brand name I have built for my design work. It’s also the site on which I’m quite well known for my conservative views. I feel that my politics, though, especially in an election year, would detract from the theme of what I want to do here.

So the question becomes: what do I do? Do I keep my politics away from this site by blogging at Red State for example? Or do I just go balls to the wall and let my clients know me fully? My life, my politics, and my creative work, in one package, take it or leave it?