Elizabeth Gorgon

I would love to have my own restaurant. A cozy spot where I can focus on giving my guests a delightful experience. Cooking and connecting with people brings me joy. And, of course, it must serve the finest espresso in town.

I never wanted a boring template-based website. I looked online at the sea of Squarespace-inspired websites with similar layouts, colour palettes, and predictable designs. So, I took it upon myself to build something better. This was rather ambitious seeing as I had very basic web design skills. I had only really played around in Wix and basic HTML up until this point. But, I was hearing good things about drag-and-drop web design tools like Webflow and Elementor. So, I signed up for Webflow and fumbled my way through the process of creating my website. STEP 1: Figure out what I am going to build. At this point, I went into Figma and began outlining the website using wireframes. I didn't really know what I was doing so I watched some YouTube videos of other people using Figma to design websites. Through trial and error, I drafted the website outline for the home page, and now it was time to build! STEP 2: Build the home page Now, a big challenge I came up against here was translating the design I had in Figma into a responsive website. I spent hours trying to figure out the various elements and how to make the site responsive for mobile. I eventually built something I was happy with and I was feeling good about myself. STEP 3: Build the rest of the site Once the home page was done I gradually started building the other pages. This took an inordinate amount of time because I ended up constantly revisiting my old designs and changing them. My process looked somewhat like this: Design in Figma > Start building in Webflow > Deviate from the design > Go freestyle > Get in trouble > Scrap most of what I had built > Go back to designing in Figma [REPEAT] STEP 4: Marvel at the finished website After a LOT of time and MANY iterations, I finally got to the point where I was happy with the website. I had chosen the perfect font, the colour scheme was on point and the design was looking great. After months of developing, I stepped away feeling a sense of pride. STEP 5: Scrap the whole thing and start again Upon looking back at my website I realised that I had overlooked one thing. The core content. I had designed a beautiful art project with nice animations and cool interactions, but I realised that the story I was trying to tell was getting lost. So, with a heavy heart, I decided to pull the plug on the site and start again. Except, this time I was bringing all the lessons I had learned from my previous project into this one! CONCLUSION: No regrets In the end, some may say that my first website was a failure. But I would say it was a stepping stone. It was thanks to my first website that I was able to up-skill so rapidly in web design. No way on earth would I have gained the same skills by watching videos of other people building websites. It was thanks to this period of experimentation that I was able to bring these skills into developing my new website. And now... Time for the grand reveal! The original website: https://inner-compass-life-desig... The final website: https://www.innercompass.academy/ Let me know what you think and feel free to ask any questions, or share your own stories. Jan

In this digital age, we have an app for almost everything and tracking our health is no exception. From monitoring our steps to logging our meals, there seems to be an endless array of options at our fingertips. But I'm curious, do you actually enjoy using these tracking apps for your health? Whether it's a fitness tracker that counts every mile you run, a food diary app that scrutinizes each calorie, or a sleep monitor analyzing your night's rest how do you feel about using technology to keep tabs on your personal wellness? Some questions to consider: -Do you find health tracking apps beneficial and motivating, or do they sometimes feel like a chore? -Have you experienced positive changes in your health habits since you started using these types of apps? -How does the data from these apps influence your daily decisions about diet, exercise, and overall well-being? -What features do you love in a health tracking app, and what would you like to see improved? I'd love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and even your recommendations for health tracking apps. Let's kickstart this conversation and dive into the tech side of staying healthy! Looking forward to your responses!