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Welcome to my Microblog! This is where I store all my micro thoughts. Tiny. Delicate. Handle with care.
I decided to start a microblog as opposed to a traditional blog because I felt like the standard blog format placed pressure on each entry to be something significant. A microblog is more spontaneous and low-pressure, although I've still given myself space for larger entries.
Another Rabbit Redesign?
21/09/24
It's early in the morning and I haven't had a cup of tea or any food yet, so this entry might be fairly incomprehensible.
Been thinking about the site, as always (This entry is sort of piggy-backing off of yesterday's entry). Still trying to resolve the design problems I've been having.
Obviously RabbitNET was based off of Rabbit B. Clowning, my VTuber persona. But the more I develop the site, the more it seperates slowly from their design. Most apparently is the colourscheme of the site, which is blue, green and red/pink, as opposed to Rabbit's red, blue and yellow. But also aesthetically. Part of my brain still associates the act of maintaining a website with the pre-2010s, so Rabbit's clothing and design feels a little anachronistic to me. As I said yesterday, my biggest design inspirations right now are mid-2000s MMOs like MapleStory and Gaia Online. There's no way Rabbit would exist in either of those worlds in her current state.
So now, Rabbit feels a bit incongruous to her own home.
But like.. I can't redesign her AGAIN. This'll be like her 6th design or something crazy. And even if I made a Rabbit design that's wholly unique to the site, I'd have to redraw every image of her on the site.
And then what if I get bored of this current aesthetic and re-design RabbitNET again?? Will I have to make another Rabbit design to fit?
I feel a bit stuck. Like I can't fully commit the site any aesthetic I like because it'll leave Rabbit behind, but I also can't redesign Rabbit without it taking time I don't have.
I also need a new website background, but I fucking hate drawing backgrounds. It's soo far out of my comfort zone. That said, I also can't find any background imagery from elsewhere I would want to use. I've toyed around with some DokeV (potentially cancelled MMORPG) promo art as a new background, and I do like how it looks, but the artist part of my brain is pissed that it isn't art that I've made myself (I appreciate the irony in saying this on a page that currently uses MySims Agents concept art as a background). Also, the DokeV style is a bit too realistic for the site, I feel like it needs to match the header better and be more cartoon-ish. But again, I can't find anything that fits that criteria yet...
Ruminations On RabbitNET's Design
20/09/24
Now that we're firmly into RabbitNET 2.0 and my Web dev skills are growing, I think it's a good time to take stock of where we are and where we're going, aesthetically.
The way I look at it, NeoCities websites can be split into three categories, design-wise:
Each of these design aesthetics has its own pros and cons.
Maximalist websites are by far the most "popular" designs on NeoCities. These are sites with very cohesive aesthetics and utilise a lot of hand-placed images. They're popular for good reason - they're usually beautiful and they require a lot of skill to create. They're an art form.
But as far as websites go, they're usually more form over function. They prioritise imagery over text content, which can feel a little shallow, and many of them end up abandoned or taking forever to update because each page is usually its own, totally niche design. This can also make navigation a pain in the ass for users - if every page looks totally different, your brain has to re-orient itself everytime you enter a new page.
On the other hand, sites that emulate the old web are typically a blend between form and function, although the form can be a bit ugly. Their CSS is simple and cohesive, so navigating the website is easy. However, they can be prone to eye-strain, especially with some awful tiled background choices.
Contemporary web design is pretty boring. But it works! It's totally function over form, with the design being as unobtrusive as possible to push the content of the site to the forefront.
So where does RabbitNET fit into this?
My goal with RabbitNET has always been to make it as easy as possible to update. I don't want a pretty picture, I want a website that functions as a website. I want people to be able to visit this website and navigate it easily, not just look at it in awe.
... That said, I also want it to look nice. There's an awful bastard artist part of my brain that looks at other people's pastel kawaii decora emo blinkee vomit eye-strain site and gets pissed that RabbitNET doesn't look like that, even though it runs completely counter to the type of site I want to maintain.
So, I'm trying to carve out a nice aesthetic without compromising form too much. Aesthetically, right now I'm drawn to web design of roughly 2008. Most of the sites I'm drawing inspiration from are MMO websites like Habbo and MapleStory. I like shiny web-design. Too flat to be Frutiger Aero, not elaborate enough to be Frutiger Metro, but something along those lines. Fruitiger Gummy, perhaps. Yum.
And, of course, I've got my shrine pages for more elaborate designs, or at least sampling different aesthetics.
It's just been a little frustrating trying to hone in on the aesthetic I want for the main site when it doesn't fit into any pre-existing standard, as far as I can tell.
Hello World
20/09/24
Wow look at this! The start of a new blog.