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I sometimes like to describe my style as cohesive template with soft colors, a hint of modern flair, and a dash of casual elegance. But I'm sure most would beg to differ-- even I myself am dubious at times. For now, the consensus seems to be Way Too Many Sparkels For Its Own Good. I think digital art appeals to me in more ways that I can explain, and it is a good way to waste plenty of time.

Through the years, my tastes have changed, and my style accordingly. I was never to fond of the idea that one should "find their own unique style" (something many of my contemporaries like to hastily point out); however, I do like to think that I use certain designing techniques more than often, thus making my works at least slightly distictive. Although, I'm pretty confident in the fact that I'm very, very far from being able to be recognized without some kind of mark. Then again, I never seemed to grasp the concept of, call it what you will, "originality" and Being Unique, even its antithesis. I always though that most people overlooked that personal value of their own design, and that they should be treated like a work of art they created: that it has importance and beauty to them as an individual, whether or not it stands atop the peak of creativity, and regardless of set aesthetic standards. Of course, that almost sounds ridiculous because I myself take the principles and elements of design into consideration. That's just me though, and trust me, I don't doubt that I'm at least partially impractical.

From the looks of my layouts, I have this thing for iframes, boxes, and miniscule text. Call it a habit from the old regime, if you will, but I guess I grew fond of it. Nowadays, I try to stray from them for convenience, since I realize that screen resolutions keep getting bigger every time they make a new monitor, and it would be considerate to compliment the larger scale. Also, the scrolling part of it makes things far more easier.

So, a lot of people have asked me, "Well, how do you make your layouts?". Aside from generic techniques, I do have a few specific ones up my sleeve, but not very many. For the longest time, I frequented the sinedots filter, but these days I often abuse a stardust texture I created. It's a really neat thing to use, and as you may know, I'm fascinated with neat things. Almost too easily, believe it or not. I also like to use the lighten effect with red blobs of color. It's a fun splash, and works well since I tend to use lighter, pastel colors more so than bold and darker. Textures are a useful thing; I use mostly stock images or make my own (A tip on light textures: If you have a digital camera, take advantage of every firworks display you see!). I don't use downloaded brushes very often because I can't seem to find the right one to use. However, if the situation calls for it (read: layout block), I use them. The other more obvious (but honest) excuse is that I'm too lazy to search for a set, download, install, and load them. Another reason why I stray away from them is that the abundance of brushes, specifically good ones, that function in Paint Shop Pro 7 is almost little to nothing. Yes, I do like using PSP7-- I told you that I'm an incredibly lazy person! I try to use Photoshop because it seems to be the more universal standard, but if I can help it, my preference is definitely PSP7. I'm familiar with both programs, but the latter is much easier and faster to use (plus, it takes up less memory!). When making layouts though, I sometimes run both programs at the same time because while PSP7 is undoubtedly faster in functions, I do enjoy taking advantage of brushes and textures in Photoshop. One last thing: it's difficult for me to conjure a layout without at least a tiny speck of inspirtation. Motivation, not pressure, helps too.

As far as my coding goes, I'm not terribly original at it. In fact, I tend to recycle the same CSS effects over, but I do like to try different things every so often. I code in notepad, by hand. Most of it looks really sloppy, at least to me, despite all efforts to keep it clean-cut as possible. I try to memorize most of what I know, but I do copy and paste sometimes to speed up the job, especially if I don't keep at it continuously. For the most part though, I have a good deal down. Coding is a messy job, I won't argue with that, and it's one of my more weaker, if not weakest, of my overall design abilities. Still, it's certainly a lot of fun messing about with it and figuring how to work things out-- almost like a puzzle!

Sites, designs, and content © Stefi 2002-2007. Artwork and characters featured belongs to their respective owners; no infingement intended. Reproduction without express permission is prohibited.