Okay, I spent a week contemplating what to (visually) do with this blog site. I decided to succumb to a theme template for the time being. I simply could not learn enough about WordPress in such a short time. There’s no way I can conclusively design the site BEFORE understanding WordPress AND the content I create. So, in honesty, I need to see where my subject matter takes me before making any concrete future branding decisions. The content gives substance to my design principles. Yet, this is no reason to rest on my laurels. 

I need to compartmentalize the design process into stages. And every good categorical approach needs a fancy infographic. Therefore, I break down my strategy into phases borrowed from geology for extra meaty magnitude.

For those who need a refresh, a geological scale of time extends far into prehistory, measured by data left behind from great cataclysms. Time is divided and subdivided to highlight what information we have about the world long before life as we know it existed. But for my purposes, this is only an analogy.

Voila! (the dino skulls represent the time that has already passed)

You are looking at the 14 weeks of this semester divided into equal parts, cascading into smaller subdivisions. Starting from the bottom, I have been playing a bit of catch for the past five weeks (ish). Most important was to get my content up. I hope to be completely caught up this week. But that means the focus will shift towards identity. I hope that by the end of the semester, I will be able to crystalize my blog’s identity a bit more so I can move more efficiently during the content creation phases.

I have divided these 14 weeks into two; one is refining the content, and the other is aesthetics and branding, which in turn is subdivided into basic and advanced stages of development. The smallest divisions (1.75 weeks) are intentionally left empty. I can’t accurately portray these increments without a new graphic.

I look forward to the next set of milestones I produce. Hopefully, with a stronger sense of identity based on the content I’ve already created.