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Do You Sweat Over the Details?
“Finally” doesn’t nearly come close to describing the sense of accomplishment (or relief) that I’m feeling, now that we’re in our new digs.
Moving our site was a long, hard process that started two months ago. There were plenty of times James and I wondered if we should have launched the site earlier, only to tweak it along the way, but neither James nor I were willing to settle for less than perfect. We wanted everything to be just right for the new site launch, and I’m damn glad we waited.
During the process of changing domains, I wondered whether anyone else sweats out the details as much as we do. We had a few moments when we racked our brains, whereas other people might have considered well enough as being just fine. And I wondered if we were the only ones who went to such lengths.
I think I started wondering about our standards when we were writing something as simple as a line of text. One word was giving us a hard time – and we both had to find the right word. Good enough didn’t cut it.
James and I tend to be perfectionists at times. This might hamper our progress on certain projects. I’ll tell you something, though; our attention to minor details makes all the difference. Time and again we hear compliments from people about the quality of our work compared to others.
When you’re meticulous, the resulting product exceeds your expectations – and the expectations of your clients. Now, isn’t that worth the effort?
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Congratulations on settling into your new home!
I used to be a terrible stickler for details. (It’s why I put things off for so long.) After years of scheming over several projects, pushing pixels, drafting designs and generally procrastinating, I decided this year to just get on with it, and put something out there.
Sweating the details is great and your work really shows the hours you’ve put in, but for me I’ve found it’s best to just put it out there and tweak later! I have a frightening list of to-dos for my own blog to refine it, but at least it’s out there.
Sometimes you have to step out from behind that curtain and then wonder if you remembered to put your trousers* on this morning.
*I almost wrote ‘pants’. Thank goodness I didn’t.
What’s wrong with pants?
We’ve done things your way too. That happened with our first blog. We put it up quickly and spent the next year constantly making additions. I don’t think displaying a work in progress is the way to go anymore. It’s exhausting to the creators and probably a little annoying to the viewers.
There’s a difference between procrastination, and knowing what you want and taking that time to get it right. In addition to this, you have to know when enough is enough. True, we still have a few things to do on this blog, but they’re so far behind the scenes no one is going to know the difference.
Pants are overrated. (“Down with pants!” is a protest march I once wanted to lead, but have somehow never got around to. It really would look marvellous on a placard.)
You’re certainly right about first impressions counting and discovering when enough’s enough. The problem (and power) on the web is that nothing’s ever finished! Whether or not we launch whilst fulfilling our own high standards, there’s always something to tweak here or twiddle there, ad infinitum.
Perhaps I should have stuck with print design There is something most satisfying about holding a completed artefact!
You have me laughing over here. Go ahead, I dare you to lead a march like that.
I know what you mean about print or any other physical medium. It’s so cool to point to something in the real world and say “I did that”. When I worked for a sign company here in Vegas, I used to get a kick out of seeing my animation work up on the big LED boards outside the casinos. On the net, well, you’re just another website, you know?
I am saving the aforementioned march until I’m retired and bonkers. (Octogenarians can get away with anything — instead of phoning the police, people will just smile and write me off as senile but sweet.)
I kind of like being just another website. Not that I’d turn down the offer of having my name in Vegas in bright LEDs, of course.
The cool thing about leading a “down with pants” march is that no one would even realize you’re protesting. Unless you wave them on a stick above your head, maybe…
Ew.
I hear you on the incessant tweaking. That drives me bats. I think I’m finished and then I notice something new and wonder if I missed my chance.
But I thank you on the encouragement. I think we’re pretty pleased with our look
I know in the film industry, “incessant tweaking” is standard vocabulary during post-production. The editors tweak and tweak and tweak, with constant input from directors, producers, executive producers, and maybe a guy off the street, until they must absolutely, positively, the-Fedex-driver-is-waiting-outside-ly have to send out the “finished” work.
Which explains why we later get the “Director’s Cuts”.
When you think about it, details are very important in most jobs: engineering, accounting, medicine, music, are just a few that come to mind.
I find I agonize over the details in my own blog posts (and comments) as well.
Anyway, congratulations on the new site. Looks great!
Nez’s last blog post..A Simple Truth about Wealth
@Nez: Yes, director’s cuts, and new special boxed limited editions every time you turn around.
I think there’s a big difference between the details an engineer, an accountant, or a doctor need to pay attention to, and the kind of details the rest of us deal with. While we want our creative work to look it’s best and fit our vision, if we forget a detail or don’t get it just right, a building won’t fall on our heads because the loads and stresses weren’t calculated correctly.
And other times, like you mentioned, it’s a case of too many cooks. Everyone has to have their say and it gets ridiculous after a while. Finally someone has to say enough is enough and let it go.
@ Nez – Our director’s cuts would be clips of me slamming down the screen of my laptop and giving Harry the fuming version of the silent treatment by cutting off instant messaging. That or Harry weeping as I continually send back emails that say, “No, I think I liked it the other way best. Could you change it back?”