Re-Design

July 23rd, 2008

I started TightWind in April 2008, and I created a simplistic design that had little more than the logo and text. TightWind began just as finals started for my second year in college, so I had little time to work on the design itself — once I was satisfied with the design, I went back to studying and, when I had the time, writing content for TightWind.

The first design was temporary, a holdover until summer, when I would have the time to re-think the design, and build it.

Welcome to the new design. It is by no means finished — expect many small, and a few large, changes soon, but the general design is finished.

My goal with the original design was simplicity. I enjoy weblogs which, when you view them, draw your eye to the content rather than an obscenely complicated and flashy design. Daring Fireball rather than TechCrunch. I want my content to be your focus.

You should notice, however, something jutting out from under the content, and you may have even noticed some words in the background.

You can view the background on its own here. The paragraph is a quote from The Fountainhead, my favorite book, which succinctly explains the proper purpose of a site, organization, company, individual, and why I am attracted to the technology industry generally and Apple specifically:

Why? Rules? Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the material, determine the shape. Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless it’s made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A building is alive, like a man. Its integrity is to follow its own truth. Its one single theme, and to serve its own single purpose.

My intent with TightWind is provide the best possible content that I can on technology and world events. Its theme is great — writing articles worth reading, and publishing links worth considering, all content about outstanding things.

The name is a reference to a band I admire very much — the Ramones. They had the audacity to play exactly what they wanted to, never pretend to be something they weren’t, and they made excellent music. That thing extending from below the content is a building, a skyscraper. A skyscraper is a wonderful symbol. With no pretense, or doubt, its purpose laid bare, a skyscraper stretches inexorably toward the sky, the infinite, the impossible, but it first sprang from a human mind. A skyscraper reminds me of what humans can do, and what our goal should be: the perfect — the impossible.