Santa Fe poet, Michael G. Smith is an interesting guy. He worked for many years as a chemist at Los Alamos labs before a health crisis set him on a path he never expected. After a serious stroke and the mild brain damage which it caused, Michael found himself practicing Zen meditation and writing poetry. Now, this in and of itself is a fascinating story, but the plot becomes even richer when one begins reading his work; uncovering lines about science and Zen on the same page. After knowing him for about a year now, it’s interesting to watch him on this ongoing path of investigation, writing and teaching on the subject of how poetry and science are similar.
Michael Smith, guest teaching for Miriam Sagan’s poetry class at Santa Fe Community College in 2011.
If that’s not enough, he’s also an avid hiker, tackling the Grand Canyon at least once, if not twice every year on camping trips. All of these interests compose a mind of interest, but I must say after getting to know him he is anything but complicated in his presentation or demeanor.
So how to design a website for him?
When Michael came to me inquiring about a website to showcase his poems and provide him an area to journal about nature, science and meditation, I knew it had to be intelligent, creative and minimal in its design and architecture. After tinkering on a design in Photoshop for a couple of hours, I got up from my chair and walked across the room to obtain a different vantage point. I often do this during the design phase to obtain a different viewpoint–hopefully unexpected one. Even though viewers would rarely look at a website from 6 or 7 feet away, I find it very helpful to see my creations from a vantage point where their stories are often more apparent. I knew immediately I was on the wrong track. The design looked like it could have belonged to any other writer interested in nature, didn’t feel personal enough, and lacked the power and balance of simplicity. I popped back into the chai, promptly trashed the psd file and started fresh. This design is what quickly emerged in the aftermath.
Truth be told, this is my favorite web design to date and both of us have received beautiful feedback on it – the kind of feedback we all yearn for, affirming what you feel really good about, others also feel is good. (I hope you do too!)
I felt it was important to add some visual emphasis to the poetry section of the site; treating this section in a way which communicate it was somehow special without blowing over the audience. I felt the added emphasis needed to feel more like a hint of favoritism instead of a blatant spotlight. The solution, which is illustrated in the screen grabs above and below, makes use of my original photography in the form of watermarked backgrounds which allow the textured paper background found throughout the rest of the site to show through. All of these muted background images were taken in the last year and a half in New Mexico and reflect the poetry of both the landscape and wildlife so palpable in this region.
This site is a completely custom WordPress design and utilizes Google fonts, the method of choice for displaying creative, targeted typography across platforms. Please take some time to read New Mexican poet, Michael G. Smith‘s work and let us know what you think of his work!
Susan J. Preston is a web designer now residing in Taos, New Mexico and working with clients from Santa Fe to Washington DC and all the way back to California. For more information, read the About section, or take a look at the article, How to write a website RFP for help with getting your web design/redesign going.
Life in Santa Fe Instagrams
