Space Art by Christopher Doll

Tag: User Experience Design

  • Back, like a Phoenix Rising

    Back, like a Phoenix Rising

    We’ve finished our move. It wasn’t a normal relocation, it took a bit longer than usual. We weren’t under the typical pressures of moving. I had no job waiting for me. I had no job I was leaving. In fact, I am beholding to nobody. Now we have our new home with its great new studio, and more space than I could’ve dreamed back in Bothell. Better yet, we outright own it. The silence ends now.

    Space Art is back, but the flavor is altered. Much of what I’ve created over the last dozen years or so has served dual purposes. On the one hand, I am painting the things I have always wanted to paint. More importantly, I’ve used this time to refine my skills and techniques. I’ve explored different mediums, different styles, different materials. Each project, big or small, was a learning experience.

    The goal was never to be a great space and science fiction artist. My goal has been to become the best artist I can be given the time that I have left. Even now I am nowhere near that goal. I’m making progress, but the reality is I have maybe twenty good years or so left (barring accidents or fascist uprisings that target artists and anyone with at least a half-working brain cell).

    We will still be having fun, great fun. But in the transition process of the move I have neglected making the kinds of paintings that I feel need to exist. Some of them will still be space and science fiction themed. But I feel the allure of abstraction, and painting nature with the beautiful scenes I’ve witnessed in my limited travel.

    It’s funny to me how many times I’m treated as flippant and shallow by those who have completed Fine Art degrees, or have otherwise once explored life as an artist. Especially by those I’ve encountered in the corporate tech world – the ones who turned their backs on their fine art backgrounds in favor of a big paycheck and a perceived notion of security. I can say this with great authority, because it’s exactly what I did for nearly 20 years as a professional UX Designer and PM. It doesn’t matter to them that my own studies included a full-on Fine Art core curriculum. I merely traded their studio time for more direct focus on Industrial Design (for which I remain grateful as it’s served me very well as an artist and as a corporate stooge).

    The Artist Life is difficult. The Artist Life is, in many ways, insane. It’s very easy to walk away and seek simpler means to keep food in your cupboards. But I found the simpler path to be just as tenuous, just as perilous as whatever it is that I’m doing now. I cannot count on a weekly or bi-weekly salary with a 401K, but I will also never live in the fear of them disappearing at a moment’s notice. Being broke for a while goes a long way to getting you over the fear of living as a wage slave. My only real regret is not taking this on sooner.

    Instead of grinding my teeth in frustration, I’ve used my time in the studio to pursue my own path. It was immediately apparent to me which areas I needed to improve as an artist. Some of it was a refresher – 20 years ignoring art altogether while slowly dying in a cubicle made me a little rusty. In other cases I could fairly easily identify which specific areas I needed to improve. And I’ve slowly tackled these along the way – Oil paint and mediums, color theory, approaches to realism and abstraction. I’m sure my most ardent followers have noticed along the way, especially those following the livestream.

    Perhaps my timing was better than I’d anticipated. Right now, after the move and setting up a new studio, I have all the time and materials I need to let my brain explode on hundreds of canvases.

    So welcome aboard the Phoenix Rising phase of Space Art by Christopher Doll. I promise I’ll be breaking a few eggs along the way, and it’ll be fun. Great fun.

    Ad Astra!

  • My home studio, The Bunker

    My home studio, The Bunker

    “The Bunker” was my favorite suggestion as a name for my home studio, thanks to my pal “Crazy Joe” Nedjberger. It won out over some equally good suggestions like “The Dollhouse”, “Dollshop”, “BlackBirdCD’s Cave”, and so on.

    The room itself is the fourth bedroom of our split-level house in Bothell, Washington, and the largest bedroom in the house. It was partitioned by one of the previous owners in the originally unfinished downstairs. For years it’s been the home office, craft area, and model-building space all crammed into one. Having such a dedicated room is one of the luxuries our modest house offers, but as is the nature of such a space it was rarely comfortable to walk into, much less work-friendly than it needed to be for my new career as a Freelance UX Designer and artist. Let’s face it, the hobby room is the last to be sorted out and organized unless it’s used on a regular basis.

    Gone were the piles of half-started, in-progress spaceship models, paperwork and tangles of cables from long-forgotten computer hardware. That’s all out in the adjoining family room now, or in the refuse pile. That which is to be retained has been brought back in carefully, put in its appropriate place, as I re-configured the desks to be more efficient for my work.

    Digital on one side:

    TheBunker

    And my workbench for painting and model building on the other:

    EaseliPad

    The feature image of this post shows the shelves that I use to display finished models, awards, and books that I turn to regularly for the work that goes on here. It still needs a little love, but that’s for a later date. The photos only show 2/3 of the overall space, the rest is dedicated to my wife’s craft station, and a large closet. Four people can be seated at the central island where the easel is sitting. It’s a good sized room.

    Originally planned as a weekend project, the cleanup has extended into nearly ten days of careful re-organization using the existing furnishings. It will never look this clean again, but I’ve already noticed how the change has improved my own efficiency, and my own demeanor when I’m in the space.

    If there’s any lesson to be gained from this exercise, it’s gotta be one of the most basic – “clean your room”.

  • Welcome 2013 – New Year, New Opportunities

    Welcome 2013 – New Year, New Opportunities

    2013 brings with it for me a new direction for my career as a designer and an artist. I will continue to provide User Experience guidance for software companies as a consultant through my own company, Rendezvous Design. In addition, I’ve created a plan that will allow me to devote the time and energy necessary to build a name for myself as a multi-faceted artist. The fact is, I’ve always been an artist but I’ve never put my foot down on the accelerator and made it part of my life. Instead of obsessively sketching these scenes in every notebook within reach, or building scale models in the confines of “The Bunker” – my workshop at home), it’s time to explore a path I’d not considered viable in the past. Now, in the midst of crushing economic conditions I’m taking a bit of a leap of faith. Faith in my own skills.

    I must be mad.

    In preparation for this transition, I’ve been filling out the portfolio on this site with my latest work. It remains mostly Space and Science Fiction imagery, but I’ve discovered the joy of painting scenes from real life in and around the Seattle area.

    So what’s the plan? At the moment I’m pulling together enough finished pieces to be used as display items in galleries, local venues, and events. I’m in the process of sorting out the technical details of printing these pieces here, to sell on my site and in person. Most of the work I’ve done in the last month is at sufficient scale for excellent reproductions on canvas. In addition, there is a consortium of colleagues that are building their own body of work and we’re discussing the possibility of an organized show later in the year. Scale models will make their way into the mix as well, although the details remain to be sorted out. And, as always, I’m maintaining a program of exercises to build up my skills.

    For those who’ve read so far, my thanks for your attention. Now on to 2013

  • New Directions

    New Directions

    Today is my last day at Vertafore, a software company where I’ve spent the last year as a User Experience Designer near my home in Bothell, Washington. It’s always a bit sad to leave those you’ve grown to know and have worked with over a period of time, and I am fortunate to have worked with one of the best teams of UX Designers and Researchers in my entire career, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to take things in a new direction.

    For me, 2013 marks my return to the freelance world and an exciting opportunity within the e-Commerce space. But that’s not all. This move will provide greater freedom for me to see if I can turn some of my hobbies into something that will support themselves and, more importantly, my family.

    I have no illusions that any of this will work out the way that I imagine when I allow myself to dream about the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Although I may have the necessary skills, at least to a sufficiently meaningful level of quality, success or failure will depend on how well (or poorly) I manage the basics like motivation, the procrastination demons, and self-doubt. Luckily I’m gifted with just enough self-delusion to make this sort of thing work out, in the long run.

    If nothing else, it’ll be an exciting ride. Cheers to 2013!

  • What’s an Experience Designer?

    What’s an Experience Designer?

    UX Designer is a term shortened from User Experience Designer. It’s an�amalgam�of several distinct roles which have evolved �since software became recognized as a valuable tool. In the earlier days someone who drew what they thought the screens in your project should look like, you were called a UI Designer, or User Interface Designer. As software rapidly became more complex, information architects were called upon to draft meticulous diagrams, mapping data structures and content. To better understand what people are really doing with software, a legion of Usability Researchers grew their craft – wielding a rich combination of behavioral psychology and a deep understanding of their product’s technicalities.

    As needs have changed, business structures altered, there is often less of a distinction between these roles, although User Research has stayed true to its roots. As it should. Today the title User Experience Designer has become more of an umbrella term, encompassing a range of skills that includes user assessment, information architecture, workflow analysis, and graphic design. Most User Experience Designers possess a strong understanding of at least one of these. The best can operate effectively at all of them. The best are rare, indeed.

    So why should anyone want to bring someone with such distributed skills into their organization? The reality is, each individual piece of the UX Designer’s mantle can be easily filled by contracted individuals, some can be distributed to existing team members, and maybe your organization is running at such a pace that you do not have time to consider something as esoteric as User Experience. Your organization probably doesn’t need a User Experience Designer. You’ve got it all covered.

    In reality, most engineering organizations operate too close to the code to pay attention to the big picture. And that big picture is what the people will see when they try to use your online experience, mobile app, social experience, or dedicated administration tool. If you get it wrong, you will have few chances to turn the tide. You’re gambling on the patience level of your average user, and the only way to hedge your bet is by having a huge installed user base who see themselves as having few options aside from yours. Good luck.

    Or, you can look to a discipline that is by nature designed to bring awareness of that big picture to your project. Someone who can help provide�guidance�and direction early on, or to raise a red flag when things are going in a bad direction. Perhaps someone whose sole purpose is to keep an eye on what your users will see and experience. After all, it’s the users who are ultimately paying the bills.

     

  • Start the clock…

    Start the clock…

    Starting in 2009 I began taking a new look at my career as a User Experience Designer, analyzing my own motivations and noting the types of projects that drew my undivided attention, and the ones that were unbearable. I had the opportunity to try different User Experience Design jobs, in a variety of organizations from a start-up, to a world-renown digital agency. In only a couple of years I worked on a lot of exciting projects, across multiple platforms. I designed my first mobile apps, a wonderful hotel website, and even got my hands into hardware design again.

    In the end there were, alarmingly, far more similarities between the projects I classified as exciting, and those that were pure drudgery with the difference being largely one of an organizational nature. Did the business or team support design as a discipline? Many claimed they did, some denied it, others embraced it. It’s not difficult to deduce which types of organizations I found less appealing. Not satisfied with the initial results, I extended the scope of my analysis to include my numerous, yet creative hobbies. There was a bit of overlap in the positives between my after-hours creative pursuits, and the design work that used up the rest of my days. This was re-assuring to me, as it’s likely that I’ll continue in my field for quite some time.

    In re-building my online portfolio, a task all designers must face on a semi-regular basis, I’ve decided it would be a lie of omission to show only my work as a User Experience Designer in the software industry. It’s not the whole picture of who I am, and what I do. And at the risk of diluting my brand as a UX Designer, I’ve decided to include some of the other kinds of work that I’ve done. I’ll keep the focus on creative projects, and share as I go. Welcome aboard.