In case any of you don't know this I am actually a graphic designer.
It's true, I have a company called Iscariot. Kind of like Judas, but with a Myspace page.
Speaking of myspace, I'm noticing that quite a lot of bands are changing to the new 3.0 format. Now I've already been asked to do a layout on one of these new 3.0 profiles and I'm pretty torn.
Myspace profiles were always such a hassle to edit. Anyone who had one knows, and lots of graphic designers can charge a lot of money to set you up with a flashy layout. Especially if they're any good, like those gifted people at Sons of Nero. The bottom line is, if you want to be good at making decent layouts you have to be a good graphic designer and you need to be pretty good at coding too.
Now when I say myspace layouts I dont mean cramming crappy images and clip art into a profile, I mean a complete graphical overlay of the profile. This means after you have made the overlay and then written out all of the code, you have to then alter the myspace code so that it fits, aligns and works properly. That part is somewhat of a nightmare.
And thats the reason I don't like making myspace profiles in comparison to other designwork; because you're constantly thinking about how the fucking hell you're going to code the bastard. Sometimes this means you limit your designs to make it easier for yourself. I had to teach myself coding from scratch and it took me three whole days of trial and error to finish my myspace page. I will openly say it was fucking hard, and very frustrating. But now I know one or two tricks, and I can do a layout that looks good, even if it is still quite simple. Because of the oppurtunity a myspace profile gives you (you can code pretty much anything, except for java. Real handy. NOT) I always have felt that I wasnt pushing the boundaries enough.
The new myspace profile has basically taken everything cool and unique about myspace and taken a shit on it. now it looks like facebook... with more colours. Now this is bad because all profiles have to conform to the same basic structure and layout, even though you can still make it look good with a header and colour templates. But the whole freedom that made myspace so flexible seems to have disappeared.
However, this does mean that when someone asks me to do them a myspace layout, I don't die as much on the inside. The new simpler profile will obviously be easier to code for, but of course it will have its obstacles. Hopefully I will be better at new profiles than i was with the older ones, but myspace profiles are still very popular with musicians so I guess I will have to adapt.
If you were thinking of asking me for a myspace layout and have now changed your mind, I would like to clarify that I am not bad at making layouts, I just don't always enjoy it. I have things to learn still, but practice makes perfect. The shame of it is, practising is also very, very annoying.
See my awesome myspace page here
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