Introduction to Intentional Design

It's my first blog of Design 1 and I thought the best way to get things started would be to simply talk a little bit about me and then what design means to me in my life.

My name is Matthew McCleary. I am a fourth year Film Studies major here at the University of California, Davis. Movies are kinda my thing so expect plenty of blog entries about film and design. I love photography. For being a creative person I can't draw to save my life, but I can take a good photo. One of my favorite feelings is that of taking a picture and knowing it's a great shot without even having to look at the digital camera's screen or the final print. And finally, and this is where design is most present in my life, I am the Tech and Media Coordinator at my College Church group.

My biggest project right now as the media guy for my college group is the complete overhaul and redesign of our group's website. The current site (eremedy.org) was designed six or so years ago and it hasn't been updated in over two years. It looks like something that's ten years old and has very little intuitive functionality. I get a knot in my stomach when I have to look at it. For the past month or so I've been slowly working on a complete redesign (the only reason the new site isn't live yet it because I've got to move through leadership and bureaucracy as if I worked for the US Government. My design (eremedy.org/beta) is simpler, cleaner looking, more streamlined, and actually useful. It is still certainly a work in progress and we need a new logo (though I'm not allowed to change that right now...).  When I look at my work and what I think is important in the website (or any website in general) I'm getting at what is important to me in design in general. I hate things that have been over-designed (this does not necessarily mean lots of elements in the design). I hate things that have been designed and have little functionality. Simplicity and functionality, to me, are incredibly important to design. My goal in my position is to create some consistency in the design and look of the College Group. It's all about design and I love it.