Music and computers were omnipresent throughout my childhood. My parents were in a band, so since I can remember, there were always keyboards and speaker parts and cables and computer chips and guitars and dismantled rhythm units laying around - somewhat like a retirement home for anything musical and digital.

Being in the band led us to travel around the country in a motor home until I was 14. Because we were never in one place for more than a couple of weeks, my mother home-schooled me. If we were studying science, we'd go outside (in whatever town we were in) and find bugs and leaves and flowers. We would make big colorful poster-board charts mapping out the different types of clouds or even the strategically placed lines of the Periodic Table. History lessons always consisted of a trip to the local museum. We would check off states in our Atlas as we traveled through them studying their state flags, indigenous animals, landmarks, cities and cultures. She taught me everything in the most fascinating way. I had a hunger to learn because it was fun and it felt good.

Since she relied on imagination to make creative visuals for the subjects she taught me, one of the things that seemed to blanket over everything else... was arts & crafts.

I realized early that this was something I thoroughly enjoyed. It came natural. My mother nurtured this spark from day one and lavished me with art supplies. I've owned only a few dolls in my childhood... but I've had countless easels, marker sets, smocks, crayons, paints, pads of paper, etc. It was wonderful!

March 1st, 1982 -- MTV had it’s "I want my MTV" video campaign. I was glued to the television not believing my eyes! THAT was it! At that point, I decided I was going to do whatever it took to go work for MTV.

I have yet to work for MTV, but only because my goals changed and I never truly pursued it specifically. As I bounced around in the graphic industry I would continuously find another facet that I hadn't explored yet. Slowly but surely, I'm scratching them all off my to-do list. Who knows... one day music video production might just find its way back on my list. I hope so.

Years later, when I was 14, the "band" broke up.

Suddenly I found myself in a real school with real kids! With huge chalkboards and a library and an entire art department! I was so excited about bouncing ideas around with other kids... and having classes and a locker to call my own.

However, I'll always wish I could have graduated from Mom’s University.

After high school, I had a barrage of jobs in various sign shops. I realize now that it was at that point when the technical and the creative split. There was the CAD software and the green pixilated monitor on one side of the shop, and the colorful vinyls and plastics, exacto blades and paints on the other side. Oddly enough, later in my life, the split between technical and creative actually caused me some heartache. We'll get to that in another article because there’s a lot to be said about the "great divide".

Years later, I was being more and more drawn to computer graphics. In the early 90’s I got my first computer and started laying out logos, brochures, and the obligatory posters, flyers and business cards for every person I knew. I found myself pulling in enough work to survive, so that’s what I did for about a year.

Back to school. I signed up for whatever art and computer classes were available at the community college hoping to be "taken to the next level." On the first day of my pre-requisite computer class, I found myself sitting there in disgruntled disbelief. I was being told that my mouse was a mouse and my monitor was a monitor and this little square thing, this is called a floppy disk. Class... can we say floppy disk?

You're kidding, right?

Unfortunately, he wasn't kidding.

So I quit school and got a job as editorial designer/illustrator for a local alternative magazine. One of the sections I laid out and pasted up weekly was the classifieds. I saw more and more ads related to computer programming and web design. By this point, I had done a couple of HTML sites for people and even had one of my own (everything centered with blue lines around all of my linked images) so I wanted to know more. The book store became my best friend. For me, a hot date on a Friday night meant Matt and I geeking out in the computer section of Barnes 'n' Nobles. It was true love.

In fact, my first official web design job was working with Matt. We learned together, pushing each other to learn more. We were both contractors for a computer consulting agency; sometimes working on projects together, sometimes not. This was a great way to get experience because each separate project was a little universe onto itself. Coming out of a completed project meant you were updating your resume with all of the new technologies you've mastered along the way.

Being a people person, I was eventually drawn to positions where I could lead and direct web design studios. I wanted to take what my mom taught me and apply it to my job. Beyond imaginative brainstorming, organizing and keeping schedules on track, I was also the liaison between, what seemed like, extreme opposites. On one hand, was my fun and creative team in the back room with the black lights and music blaring. On the other hand, were the suit and tie corporate officers who just wanted it all done on schedule and under budget. I was the mediator.

Creative people are a strange breed. Sometimes inspiration for a great idea will come flying out of nowhere. Maybe the syrup on your pancakes this morning made a shape that would make a great navigation system. Or while sitting around flipping through magazines you might see a shape or a color that completely changes your mood. Or sometimes, the answers will come to you in your dreams.

Sometimes, I would take the whole team to lunch or to my art studio and line the tables with paper and crayons and markers and say "okay, draw what this project tastes like to you, close your eyes and just taste it." In the beginning, while holding back their instinctive chuckles, my team thought I had a few screws loose; but they soon came to understand I was trying to open their minds, encouraging them to color outside the lines and to be free. A couple of invigorating and extremely productive days later, we would come back to the office with dozens of designs taped to the wall for the CEO to choose from.

It never failed; they would always choose at least one solid layout.

Viva la dot-com craze! It was fun while it lasted, that’s for sure! The long hours, the promises, buzzing around high on life (and carafes of coffee) with visions of stock options and early retirement, fame and fortune. I've built up several amazing companies, only to see them fold before my very eyes. It was heart-breaking, but it was worth the experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

A year ago, I found a wonderful gig telecommuting for an international software engineering company that’s been around for over 10 years. I was looking for freedom and stability; and I found it. I have a "virtual" office that I log into every day and I have about 50 co-workers that I've never met face to face. From one extreme to the other: office hours to no hours, neon lights to candle light... from crayons to pixels.

I have many experiences that I would love to share. Stories that might make your next project a little easier, or ideas that might help you present your designs in a way that the calculator toting business men will understand... and agree with. I hope to share my experiences in hopes of not only documenting them, but also to share a piece of myself with others in the web design community.

We're all in this together.

We're all here to learn from one another.

We're all web designers because it’s what we love to do.

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Column logo design by Daisey Kondziola. This article copyright © 2001 by Daisey Kondziola for Wow Web Designs.

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