Why Mind’s Eye Web Design?

About four years ago when I decided to become a freelance web designer while still in school I knew that I would eventually have to come up with a catchy name. It took me three years to finally sit down and give it one. This past June, when I started advertising myself as a freelance web designer I began by calling it “Custom Websites”, however that’s not something out of the ordinary for a web design company. Sure, it got the message across of what it is that I do but it didn’t really stick with people. That’s when I came up with Mind’s Eye, an artistic phrase that would catch on when people read it.

I came up with this name while listening to a song with some lyrics that started me thinking about the main struggle with web design.

Can you catch the wind?
See a breeze?
Its presence is revealed by
The leaves on a tree
An image of my faith in the unseen
~DC Talk
Mind’s Eye

These lyrics, exposed me to the thought that a person’s image of something, such as what they want their business website to look like, is not tangible. When people come up with a design in their head, of what the perfect site for their business would look like, how do they get that idea onto a website? They transfer the image from their mind into thoughts and words. Then they have to say them in a way that a web designer or a graphic designer could understand without loosing any detail. I believe that the main struggle in web design is transferring an image from one mind to another without the idea getting diluted. Can you hold onto the wind? Can you see the breeze? No, you can’t you can only see the effects of it on tangible objects such as leaves on a tree. Thoughts, imagery in our heads cannot be seen or even imagined the same way by another person. When I say apple, you get a picture of an apple in your head, and it is completely different from what I meant. Is it green or red? Is it small or big? Is it ripe or rotten? Does it have a stem? Is it real or animated? These are just simple questions but alone they show that you cannot say one thing to another person and expect them to have the same image as you.

Knowing this, I try to be open to anything and everything when I design websites. Any look or design is possible, especially with the way that technology is advancing. Websites can now be 3D, they can have embeded movies, music, games, flash animations. The list goes on and these are just things that have been added in the past couple of years. Many web design companies come up with a basic layout and design, charging extra for a custom layout. I believe that the customization of a website is what attracts people and keeps them coming back. That is why I choose not to follow the basic layout, but to break free from that and customize my client’s websites completely to their specifications.

I challenge all other web designers to do the same, take that extra step for your client and give them that perfect website that they’ve dreamed of.