Version 1

I met my good friend Sheila West in a previous life at MPS Development in North Vancouver. We worked together and found ourselves of like mind on the importance of usability, design thinking, and the importance of aesthetics in software design.

When I decided to go solo, Sheila created the first visual treatment of the brand, along with a site design that conveyed the creative and more technical aspects of what I do. The focus at that time was requirements discovery and documentation, only to shift to a more full product and interaction design focus a couple years later.

Sheila’s was the only version of the site to feature the crow imagery. On knowing that Corvus is the family of crows, ravens and magpies, I’m usually asked ‘why that?’ The answer: I really like these birds. They’re clever, social, curious and can be a little loud; I share those qualities in different degrees, so I went with it. I got some feedback that crows do historically have a bad rap as symbols, so in the next version the crow image went away, but I stuck with the name. If you didn’t know it, crows are also a bit stubborn.

Version 2

I never met Damien Tanner in person but I got to know his work through his Ma.gnolia Blossom dashboard widget. Motivated to get on the content management bus, I chose Rails-based Typo and contracted Damien to set one up with a fresh look at the theme. He did so, and came up with something quite transformative. I don’t have a screenshot of the site as Damien did it, but his work was the basis of the theme I was using until today.

It was in this version I dispensed with a formal homepage in favour of brining visitors directly into the lifeblood of what I do: thinking about what makes great software. To stand in for the orienting value of a homepage, we brought in the Introduction Box, the yellow space at the top that can be closed from view for those who know me and what I do.

Version 3

A couple years later I asked Eric Grossnickle of Mighty Dream if he would do a little touch-up work on the theme. I knew Eric from advising on his social web app thesis project, and was impressed with his talent, now evidenced by his growing portfolio.

Eric freshened up Damien’s theme and added some convenience macros to Typo, but his most important contribution was off the website where he came up with a new business card. It was a radical departure in brand, but came at the right time as I was well into working with Ma.gnolia and had grown more interested in product design and strategy, as well as the social web.

Version 3

As the Typo project get more and more quiet, WordPress really took off, so I eventually asked Tzaddi Gordon of ThriveWire Media to migrate the site to WordPress and to re-create its look in a custom theme. She did so, adding some considerate additions like a dynamic 404 page to go with a well-coded theme and setup.  I’m really happy with WordPress, but couldn’t have made the move if I felt like I was giving up something in Typo. Tzaddi made sure that didn’t happen, and it’s been smooth sailing since. Except when I break it, which is when Tzaddi steps in again to fix my completely innocent missteps.

Version 4

Today I’m happy to unveil another big jump forward for the site, this time crafted by local designer and musician Frederick Brummer (aka Overmind Productions). I met Frederick through his day job at LiFT Studios when we worked on a project last year, and really liked his design style and insights.

Frederick did an extensive collaboration with me to figure out where to take the site, bringing a great deal to the new theme beyond pixels and code. He also put a lot of work into the site’s typography, something I had only given passing attention to in previous versions. The improvements that a change in typeface can bring are striking. Yes, I have seen Helvetica, but I can still be surprised by the impact of type.

The Twist

Here we are, then, up to date. I have a weird thing about my site: I only ask someone to work on it once. I’ve been very happy with and recommend everyone I mention here, but I love the idea of every revision being a totally new look at where I’m at. Doing this keeps me mindful that design isn’t just about making something, that its process often reveals what is otherwise unnoticed.

I don’t take this approach in my regular work, saving the eccentricity for my own properties rather than clients’. That makes it more fun, of course, and turns my own site into a project that pushes me into new areas in unexpected ways. I couldn’t do it any other way. Here’s to a great 2010.