I’m getting a little bored of this layout, seeing as it was originally developed as a “Summer ‘02″ layout and nothing more — note use of orange and other bright colors not normally associated with the Fran palette. The thing is, I’ve kind of grown to like bright colors, especially juxtaposed with some light greys and subtle blues and dark, rich browns. And now, since I’ve decided to devote the majority of my time to writing, I’m starting to miss designing — colors, typefaces, layers and masks, doodling with the Wacom in Illustrator. I’ve been out of the design industry for well over a year now, and I miss the day-to-day challenge and inspiration.

It’s all tied up with the idea of being interested in too many things at once. A coworker and I were discussing this the other day. Both of us, we discovered, had been involved in multiple creative pursuits throughout life — writing, painting, design, music. And though it’s nice to have varied interests, I feel almost like a dilettante. For a while, I didn’t feel like I excelled at any of these things, just put in a good effort and interest. Deciding to do writing — or at least to get my MFA and see what happens — was a hard decision to make. What about art? What about music? As you can see from the beginning of this post, the visually-inclined artist in me still competes with the writer. Even after I’ve made the decision to go one way, part of me still pulls in the other direction.

So, for Spring ‘03, I’m starting to develop ideas for a fresh gritmedia. If I’m not doing design for a living, I ought to at least keep up the bits and pieces of know-how I have here on the site. Are there any new sites out there that are inspiring you, dear readers? Send ‘em my way.