After 18 years I'm introducing a major revision to my one-man studio website, PixelResort.

I started freelancing in the early 2000's and quickly realised that I needed a website to call home. More than just a place to keep a contact form and more than just a collection of work— I needed something that tied together all the aspects of my ventures as a graphic designer.

I also needed a name. I was starting a business.

And so the first version of PixelResort was launched in 2007. Coded in HTML & CSS without any fancy templates or tools. It was a collection of freebie downloads and a small, but growing, portfolio of client work.

It's only when you get a portfolio on your own domain that you realise how important it is to have a place where you control the presentation of your work. The difference between sharing your art on external sites (like DeviantArt, Behance, Dribbble, Instagram and Twitter) and having it on your own domain is the difference between renting space in a gallery and owning one.

Since 2007 I have worked on several major revisions of the PixelResort website. They're little time capsules of how I saw myself as a designer at the time. They represented what I thought was important and how I wanted to present my work.

It's interesting that it took me 11 years to put my work on the front page. For the first 4 major iterations of PixelResort (2007-2016), the front page was reserved for a blog (and tropical branding). While I did occasionally write stuff on those blogs, it's telling that I thought of this site as an assembly of newsworthy things I was up to as a designer. A stream of updates that people might find interesting and revisit from time to time.

Maybe it's because PixelResort today more easily slots into a bigger set of activities in my career, but over the years, the role of this site has become much clearer.

Version 6

PixelResort is my one-man design studio. It has been for 18 years. The goal of this place is to serve as a window into the sort of graphic design that I enjoy doing. The type of work I present on my portfolio is the type of work I attract.

And so for this sixth (!) instalment, that is what I have been focused on: presenting work I enjoyed making. This is the largest collection of my work ever compiled, complete with independent pages for each project and supporting material, process shots, alternative renderings and videos.

I have tried to create project pages that would be interesting to explore. It has taken about a year, working on and off at odd hours, to put together. Even though it might not seem that way looking at the long project list, I have left a lot on the cutting floor.

I have also tried to make it clear what type of outfit this is. How exactly clients should relate to my services and what I'm all about. I made a little video explainer.

My hope is that this new home for PixelResort better communicates the sort of work I enjoy doing and how I do it. I want it to feel accessible. Hopefully it'll serve as a funnel for new clients and interesting projects for years to come.