Letting go of the design

This weekend I picked up a project that I haven't exactly been avoiding, but one I haven't been rushing to pick back up! The project is for website, but one that I have been able to see all the way through, not just the designing and building it, but working out the audience, the structure, the copy writing, the works. Aside from my own personal site I can't think of a project where I've had that much freedom, and that comes with a certain amount of pressure, and it is a little bit intimidating look at the blank sheet of paper!

The structure and copy writing was completed a couple of weeks ago, and this weekend I did a lot of work on the design and feel of the site.

One of the things I'm beginning to notice about more work is that straight after I complete a design, or a bit of code, or some writing, or whatever I think that it is the best work I've ever done. Right now I'm at this point with the Oxford Training Partnership design. However after some time has past and I come back to it, I start to notice issues or problems, things that need tweaking, adjusting, sometimes just starting again. But rarely I give the time to go back and polish the design.

In a effort to get past that I am giving a healthy break between working on the design and committing it to code. I sent off the first round of design work to a couple of friends for feedback so with their help I can tighten up the design. Hopefully this time apart from working on it will help me to let go some of the design and my own opinion and coming back to it later and look at it critically.

If you want to throw your feedback into the mix the design work is on my portfolio site. Comments below are welcome!