Justin Aguilar - Blog

A few weeks ago I launched a new website in collaboration with a very talented friend of mine for his literary series, Hobbes Journal.

I was approached to create a destination to download the .PDF-based poetry journal. What resulted was a simple, one-page website with a clear call-to-action. But for me, the project was an exercise in creating fun, unexpected interactions and trying new things.

Check out the website now, and don’t forget to download the PDF.

A screen cap of the Hobbes website isn't the same as the interactive experience.

With a basic premise established, it made sense to keep the experience straightforward and concise. See the cover, get some background information, and download. That doesn’t mean it has to be boring though!

Unexpected Interactions

Since this was a personal project, I used this opportunity to experiment with different techniques. With the popularity of tablet devices and the possibilities available with new technology, the way we interact with the web is drastically changing. I find myself constantly trying to figure out how people are doing what they do. Some of my favourite experiences on the web are when I’m surprised and delighted by unexpected interactions. I might scroll down and have elements fly onto the page or see things animate as I jump between sections.

With this project, I tried to incorporate those subtle, pleasant interactions. For example, when you scroll down the page, instead of moving down the canvas, another section comes up over the existing section.

Responsive Design

This is also the first project I’ve built that is responsive, for an optimized mobile experience. So, you know, you can read about heartbreak and stuff wherever you go.

iPhones taking pictures of iPhones

All images from Need Supply Co.

Over the last year or so I’ve gotten a lot of requests from friends to help them make a website. Most of the types of projects happen to be either a blog or a portfolio site. After looking into and experimenting with different portfolio options available, I set out to lay down a basic framework I could use for similar projects in the future.

I chose WordPress as a portfolio CMS because the platform was one people were already familiar with, was easy to set up (most host providers have one click installations), and had already seen it done effectively. WordPress development was something I had a little experience with so it was fun exploring it further.

Although this isn’t anything new, and it might not be the best portfolio theme out there, I wanted to make this available to everyone because I feel its a simple solution and enough to get the ball rolling with your own portfolio.

The theme isn’t perfect but this is my first time putting something out there for public use. I wanted this to be an open project, something I expect to keep updating, improving, and adding new features to (not to mention fixing bugs I might have missed).

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Over the weekend I released one of my biggest projects to date and I’m very happy with the way it turned out. I decided to write a case study on it since a lot of my favourite web design posts are case studies. I’ve learned a lot from reading them and certain nuances can only come from getting into a designers head as they describe their goals and creative process. If you haven’t checked the site out I don’t know what you’re doing. You must not follow me on Twitter (given all my tweets and retweets over the weekend). In that case follow me on Twitter THEN check out the site.

Ehliens is a Canadian apparel company with a minimalistic, brand-oriented approach. Their signature logo and clean aesthetic are the basis to their loyal (and growing) group of supporters who wear the brand proudly. It’s rare for me to go to the local mall and not come across someone in an Ehliens crewneck or t-shirt.

In previous projects, I’ve usually been asked to establish a new or preexisting company’s online presence, however, Ehliens already had a strong following mostly through the blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Ehliens needed a permanent home to tie it all together. When I met with Ehliens founder, Adriel (@Ehliens), he drove the point home that Ehliens is all about supporting local artists and athletes, and he wanted the redesigned website to represent that. Yet, despite the local ties, he wanted the website to look as though it could stand next to the KR3Ws and Supras of the world.

The website needed to be community-oriented and at the same time, represent the brand on a bigger stage. The website needed to be elegant and simple, yet uniquely Ehlien.

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Not that anybody noticed, but I  changed my blog from a Tumblr to WordPress. From quick design inspiration to (hopefully) long form text posts. It was an idea I had been toying around with for a while now. I figured if I were to have a blog at all it should be more personal and more expressive. Qualities that don’t exactly come across with screen shots of really great sites. That, and I never realized how much fun theme’ing for WordPress could be.

Even though I’m not an expert on anything in particular – I’m certainly not pretending to be an expert on design – I want to use this blog to share what little I can about web design and share some of the personal projects I’m working on. Whether it’s a new website, or I’m dabbling into print, or making a rap album (yeah, right).

While I was in high school I ran a blog with a couple friends and, overall, it was a very fun experience. For me the toughest part about running a blog, and the reason why I was hesitant to start one again, was trying to come up with content on a regular basis. A challenge I’m sure all bloggers are faced with. This time around I’m going to try to move away from that. No forced posts.

For anyone who bothered to check out my Tumblr (all three of you), I appreciate it and I hope that this new blog/experiment proves to be more useful and worthwhile. Oh, and a lot more fun!