People see results. They don’t often get to see the process that lead to the finished piece. Here, I’d like to share the various layouts Lukiih.com underwent before becoming what it is today. Enjoy and perhaps laugh a little.

Pre-Launch #1: What’s with the Flower?

The first layout I ever made (in Jan 2009) was composed of an awful mix of colors with a random cropped photo of a flower. I scrapped it back then because I wanted something more edgy. In retrospect, this layout was a disaster and I’m thankful I never used it.

Pre-Launch #2: But I’m Not a Paint Artist

On my second attempt, I tried to make the layout more edgy by incorporating splashed paint on the background. But I also tossed this one to the trash because I didn’t feel like it suited my personal style. I’ve never even used paint.

Version 1: Stuck At a Short Height

Lukiih.com launched in August 2009 with a simple and modern layout. It was the first website I ever coded with CSS and I was proud. Although Version 1 was up for a while, the layout wasn’t versatile with a fixed height and there were a hosts of other problems. After a few months, I took it down as I wanted a website that had more potential for growth. Furthermore, I wasn’t producing too many works of art at the time so I also wanted a website with less emphasis on my colored pencil works.

Version 2

#1 – Why so Blue?

With Version 2, I broke out of the box (literally). But I quickly rejected it after my design friend pointed out how blue and tastelessly symmetrical it was. Thank goodness for design friends.

#2 – The Fun Dies Here

I got rid of some of the blue and forced the layout to be asymmetrical. Although it was an improvement, I felt myself losing fondness for this layout. It was too boxy and sharp for my taste and I scrapped the design altogether.

#3 – Hello, Dynamism? Where Are You?

Created from scratch, Version 2.5 mixed two of my favorite colors, teal and gray. The layout was more mature and versatile. It also put more emphasis on web design over art, which was the direction I was moving towards. I kept Version 2.5 for a few months and then I realized it was completely static. It was very difficult for people to be aware of any updates.

Version 2.5: The Current Layout

The current layout, a departure of my historically fixed websites, is a redesign of Version 2. It takes the good aspects of Version 2 and makes it dynamic and user friendly. It contains a blog, and less pages while providing more content. And of course, it’s just more aesthetically pleasing.

Concluding Remarks

I’ve been recoding and redesigning Lukiih.com for a little over a year now and I’ve learned that building a website is an ongoing process. The first time I built Lukiih.com, I wanted it to be eternal and perfect. But your website should always change over time to reflect your changing needs and growing self.

I love my new and current layout, but my future self will no doubt find reasons to design Version 3.