I can never seem to stick with one design for my site. I like to try and keep things fresh. But, I think that this new look is going to be versatile enough that I can carry it through for a while and let it really breathe.

There are still some spots I am fine tuning, but I decided that if I didn’t get it up online I would never be able to finalize the design. Over the next week or so there will be some minor tweaks and new features being added.

Also, I have moved away from my own custom content management system, although it may be temporary, in favor of a ready-made solution. Textpattern with some plugins and customization was able to get fairly close to the ideal environment that I was trying to accomplish with my custom solution. Some of the customizations I have done will be made available through plugins to the Textpattern community. When the work / projects section(s) see the light of day that is where you will be able to find them.

It has been a while since my last post, 5 months on Friday (for those keeping track). But, the absence has not been without good reason. I have been keeping very busy over that stretch. Currently, I am on my Thanksgiving break between quarters so I will be working on some interesting articles to be coming alongside a possible re-design.

A sneak peak at some topics I am planning on writing about:

• When to call it quits on a business.
• An inside look at Internet Marketing strategies.
• Being a student entrepreneur.

• Popular tools to help improve your personal brand.

The main reason I am posting about the coming updates and not just working on them is that now I can be held accountable to get them done. I find that works much better to motivate myself when it comes to this blog.

Development frameworks are all the rage right now. Discussions are on going as to which is the best or most useful for speedy development. What is interesting though, is that not much focus is being placed on how frameworks can benefit other parts of the lifecycle.

For any development project to be successful you need an appealing an eye-catching design effort. This is a perfect example of where a framework could be used to improve speed. A framework is a skeletal structure designed to support ( link ). It does not have to be some third party solution, it can be any structure that fits with your style and implementation.

But, if it is not some solution I download, then how do I use it?

That’s simple, just look at the way you do things when you design. Look at what process you go through in terms of starting on paper before moving into some computer application. What naming convention do you follow for your files you create? What directory structure do you use when you want to keep things organized? All of these things make up what a framework is. By simply analyzing how you work and consolidating it down to be common across all projects you now have built your own framework for your design style.

In development, whether it be software or the web, there are two aspects of every project that need attention. The front-end user interface and the back-end system. In the old school of thought, that would mean two different people or if big enough two different teams.

No longer is that necessarily the case.

With the boom in the entrepreneurial spirit, more and more you see people trying to strike it up on their own. Easiest way to do this? Handle both aspects of that development process. You might not end up as the best programmer and you might not end up as the best designer. But it is a special trait to be able to at least understand both and help the translation process.

You still have to be careful not to spread yourself so thin that you are no longer good at anything. “Jack of all trades, master of none” is the common phrase. Even if you play exclusively for one team or the other, it always helps to at least take a peak at the other team’s play book.

Well, I technically missed all the big reboots, but of the same essence here I am. Despite the fact that Prudential is running me ragged, I have gotten inspired to put a re-design together.

Right now, it might seem rather plain, mostly because I focused on the core functionality first. Blog, About, Contact. I have plans for Work and Projects to both make their returns. In addition to content improvements, there are a few visual improvements and components I have yet to include to round out my vision of this design.

I want to avoid calling this a live redesign or beta, I don’t want to be too Web 2.0. But nonetheless, the site is most definitely ever-changing. A moving target as we say here at Prudential.