writing
For almost 20 years I have been writing for various print and online media, dealing with the issues of design, business, marketing/advertising and other rubrics of the new media industry. I have had little time lately to pursue and fashion commentary, but I always keep my eye open for compelling stories and I occasionaly still pitch the odd feature.
Most of my writing these days involves pitch documents, and vision and requirements tomes - those I'll spare you. A goodly amount of my public output of the last 15 years is digitized here for posterity
In the navigation on your left are the various features and columns I have managed to mark-up for this site. To the right are 45 Net Notables columns I wrote for Applied Arts magazine — 1996-2005. These columns explore and analyze whatever I considered strong and compelling Web projects, at the time of writing.
« Here's a link to the last Net Notable »
These columns also contain a compendium of useful links for both traditionally trained, and new media designers. They provide an interesting snapshot of the hot issues and cool styles of the burgeoning Web, written during the firestorm of the internet bubble and burst.
The features were fun to revisit, when I was posting them for this site. I was caught up in a lot of the same hype, as many were, around this medium in the mid to late 90s, but I feel that most of the writing here still holds up rather well, despite some purple-coloured glasses prose. I wince at some of the enthusiasms years and a dot.bomb later.
Here, you'll find in-depth profiles of Digital Renaissance's Keith Kocho and information software developers, Visible Decisions — both long gone. There is a 1996 story on Web Advertising, that still has relevance, and many design features on stellar Web sites such as Shift, Scroll (both demised) & a previous incarnation of the CBC Web site.
Other features include an analysis of online Stock Photography sites, and a roundtable on the State of Web Design, with industry heavyweights, Roger Black and Clement Mok among others.
One of my favourites, is a bull session I had with Internet early-adopters Cameron Wykes and Darren Wilson. I particularly remember this discussion, because it took place one evening in early 1998 at the pub Toad in the Hole, over beers and wings, and was a very animated dissection of the essensce of design, and the impact of new technologies on it.
At the very least, posting all this scribbling provides a snapshot of the industry in training pants — the great work that was being done, and the people doing it. Screen shots abound, which is a lucky thing, as many of the sites profiled on these pages are long gone — so this is also an archive celebrating those efforts.
I will gradually be adding to this roster as I mark-up other pieces I have written. I hope you can enjoy what's here now.
Gord
