I have been designing for a couple of years now, and I like to still learn new things and new tricks to make my designs look better. I have been designing for so long that I am not only critical of what the things on my computer look like, but that habit is starting to follow me to the outside world.

If you have been designing for a while online, have you ever started applying your online design principles to the designs in the real world? It’s amazing how bad it can get

I have changed some things in my life that all come directly from my design habits online. I like to keep everything organized, in best condition, I now appreciate art, live a simple lifestyle and love Apple products.

But this post is about the funny stuff I picked up from designing for so long. The stuff I am about to list below are all things that come through my mind every once in a while and get me thinking “I’ve been designing for way too long!”

Design Principles I live by Offline

1. Just because a color scheme looks good on a website doesn’t mean it looks good on your clothes

Trying funky color schemes to design a website is something I do a lot. But, I don’t go crazy over the way I dress. A sweatshirt and some jeans will work for me, but I don’t go all crazy and try funky colors like purple and yellow just because I saw it on a website and thought it looked cool.

2. I keep my room simple and love it, but others hate it

In my room, everything is simply done. I have a desk, a television, a bed and two chairs in my room. I have plenty of space on the ground and wall. But every time a friend comes over, or my family walks in it’s always “wow, what a boring room.” No one understands minimalism like a web designer I suppose.

3. In school, I really go overboard while formatting notes

It’s crazy how over the top I get. When we go over Power Point presentations and are forced to take down those useless little notes, I find entertainment in doing stuff I would normally do on a website. Like centering text, keeping inside the lines and all of that designer stuff.

4. Working in a public area blows

They say working in public areas like Starbucks or something makes you more productive because of all the activity around you. Not only does it make you unproductive, but you look like a total douchebag.

I tried working in an office at my dads restaurant in Florida. It’s distracting enough that people are constantly walking through there trying to get help from the boss, but it’s another thing sitting there with a MacBook Pro and having people who have never seen an actual Mac asking if they can see it. I will never work out of my own office again.

5. No matter what, my handwriting will never look like Georgia

Georgia is the best font ever, and my handwriting is probably the worst ever. Not only did I come to realize my handwriting doesn’t look like Georgia, it doesn’t look like Arial, Tahoma, Verdana or eve Comic Sans. Just crap.

6. There’s no CMD/CNTRL + Z in life…dammit

Wouldn’t this be a useful feature in life? You fail a test, bam — CMD + Z. But it’s not that easy, and no matter how hard you wish, you can’t undo mistakes in real life.

7. You look worse “powering on” than you do “shutting down”

This is just kind of from computers, but usually at the end of a workday, the computer is all hot and maybe a little slow for being on all day and it just wants to shut down. When you power the computer on, it’s fast as hell and ready to work. But when we as humans go through that process of powering on and powering off…it’s more like the opposite.

8. “I could have done so much better”

Whenever I get a worksheet in school, or see a flyer on the wall at a store, I get so picky about it and lists of improvements on how it could be better just race through my mind.

Have you been designing too long as well?

When I put this post into retrospect, it seems like I have been designing for a while and maybe too long for someone at the ripe old age of 16.

But I seriously think that being a designer has changed my views offline so dramatically, and even for the best. My mind is always on the creative side and in constant thought which I think is good for me. I respect the tools I have and live with, and I don’t have anything I don’t use every day.

This was just a fun little post I would bring up here. Hope you enjoyed it!

This blog is my first personal blog since last year. I have had multiple ideas for a personal blog, but it wasn’t until Asnio that I have truly went through it.

I used to blog on my self-named domain, but believe it or not it wasn’t a personal blog. It was like, a blog about blogging, marketing and SEO blog. I did it for about 6–7 months, but it had a set topic that I had to abide by in all of my writings. Unlike this blog.

Sure, so far I haven’t really wrote about anything that isn’t related about the web, but who cares — it’s MY blog. I think personal blogs are too few nowadays because people are so worried about ranking for a certain niche instead of letting their creativity flow and not caring what the hell Google has to say about it!

So with that being said, I came up with a list of 21 great reasons why you should start a personal blog, and 8 reasons why you shouldn’t. Yeah, 21–8. I’ll say why.

Why You Should Have A Personal Blog

1. Write whatever you want, whenever you want
2. You’re more likely to bring in traffic to it if you post your opinions on something. Personal blogs, I find to have more opinionated posts than regular niche blogs, and opinions lead to controversy, and controversy leads to traffic.
3. Great learning experience for niche blogging.
4. You can really get to know people on it.
5. People can really get to know you.
6. You’re free to jump from topic to topic without truly giving a crap what Google, or any other Search Engine has to say about it.
7. Get your name out there.
8. Self-promote your services like crazy.
9. Become a better writer.
10. Your personal blog will probably be the most creative, and most original blog you will ever make.
11. Mad? Write about it at your personal blog. It will help you vent out those bad thoughts.
12. You can finally blog the way YOU want to blog instead of conforming to the standards of any niche.
13. Whatever you say goes, son.
14. It’s okay to talk about something that has been talked about millions of times before.
15. You’re not wrong. Ever.
16. You can build a reputation/brand for your name.
17. Always a possibility for some income.
18. Get in touch with people with similar interests.
19. No money is needed, and it’s okay to not have a custom domain on personal blogs.
20. Let’s you to really express yourself online without worry what others think. Hopefully you’re like that though.
21. You can have odd numbered lists and not really care what people think.

Why You Shouldn’t Have A Personal Blog

1. Chances are, no ones cares how your day went.
2. You probably won’t make any money from it unless you’re like, John Chow.
3. Unless you’re a celebrity of some kind, you might not really get your blog read.
4. If you don’t have a brand or selling point,  you’re f*****.
5. Can distract you from your niche blog.
6. Might make you fall in love with yourself.
7. You might write some things you regret later.
8. Like any blog, it’s time consuming.

Just 8?

I seriously could only come up with 8 reasons why you shouldn’t have a personal blog. Like, I think personal blogs are the most unique blogs on the planet, and everyone who has a little extra time should come up with one, regardless of how boring you might be.

You don’t really have to be a great writer, and you don’t really have to have an audience to make a personal blog. It’s really just for shits and giggles when it comes down to it, and you never know what the future holds for it.

Photo by Michael Randall