Inspiration comes in so many forms. Certain things resonate with us that don’t with others. We think some of the movies we have seen are the greatest movies ever when others can take it or leave it. It’s not that they don’t appreciate our infinite wisdom and the depth of insight we possess, it’s simply because we are different.
We look alike, we talk alike and for the most part we act alike, we’ll leave that for a different discussion, but we come from different roads, different experiences in life that sets us apart from each other. That’s why we are so infinitely fascinated with people that are our opposites because it is foreign territory. It is a place we haven’t traveled instinctively.
Overall, I have had a good life. To keep it in perspective, my struggles are nothing what the people of Haiti, Katrina or other horrific events have gone through. My life has stayed in one piece. While those experiences might not have the impact from the outside looking in, they were monumental, life-altering moments that were real to me. Throughout my life, those journeys have been traveled with no regret before or after the fact.
The journey has been magnificent. I felt I have lived three lifetimes in these 35 years, with the grey hairs to prove it, and looking forward to many great years ahead of me. During the first 35, I have had moments that have impacted me in such a way that I needed to do something about it. Not through violent actions… well most of the time, but through art.
Creating music and then taking on other forms of art in graphics design, photography, writing and the random attempt at drawing became my outlet. They became my way to express myself. I found out that expression through these forms of art became almost therapeutic. Over time, I realized that I tended to write when I was depressed or angry and I needed to get my thoughts on paper or I couldn’t put two thoughts together without it eating away at me. I take pictures when I am in a good mood; I make music when a song inspires me to make my own tune. I make graphics when I see someone else’s work of beauty and it keeps me in awe. I make websites because technology and the ability to create something that offers instant gratification is a necessary facet in my life.
I don’t want to forget those moments, whether they were bad or good, they were important for me to endure and live through. Keeping my pain and joy close to me keeps me sharp, it keeps me grounded, and it keeps me wanting to always do better.
So in a pretty lame attempt to pay homage to those words items or things that have been sources of inspiration, I made my own tag cloud. A tag cloud or word cloud (or weighted list in visual design) is a visual depiction of user-generated tags, or simply the word content of a site, typically used to describe the content of web sites. Tags are usually single words and are normally listed alphabetically, and the importance of a tag is shown with font size or color. They also are links to pull back what on your site hits those specific words.
So I saw this vision and I loved it. There was some elegance to it but a bit plain as well. That was my inspiration. I took the words I knew, made a color palette that I liked and arranged 50 words in a way that meant something and put it up on my little store. It turned out great. I know that I am waxing poetic about my opinion, and that’s just it, it’s my opinion and in these cases it’s the only opinion that counts!
Here are some of the examples of my little design on stuff.
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