Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

When you first install a copy of WordPress, it comes standard with a single post (replete with comment), a page and some links already installed so that you have an example to see what you’re working with. I can’t think of a better title to open up my first *official* blog post for this site. So there it is – Hello World.

My name is Dan Simon. I’m a Toronto-based designer that works in several mediums – print, web and trying to break into television with some concepts. I’ve been a visual conceptualizer since I was very young, and I’ve been trying to express those concepts and ideas through visual mediums since I could hold a marker in my hand. I’ve been encouraged and supported throughout my education and career by friends and family that believe I have a talent for being creative, and I’m doing everything I can to prove them right.

It’s both my greatest asset and my biggest fault. I’ve been told throughout my life that I’m often ‘lost in my own head’. I tend to split my conscious time (and some times sleepy time) between the real world and the inexplicable expanses of my imagination. I actually have to doodle while I’m listening sometimes to maintain my focus on the task at hand, instead of drifting of and thinking into the next half dozen projects I have on my plate. I wander off in thought a lot, which means I tend to bump into things quite a bit.

One of the original concepts for this site (there have been several iterations of it, reaching varying levels of completion) was that of ‘the machine.’ I am, and always have been notorious for the ‘all-nighter’. Although, as I age, I am less and less capable of it, my infamy will probably stem from the lack of sleep that tends to surround my work. I have been known to work for days straight, napping only a few hours in a three day period. While my work schedule (and subsequently my sleep schedule) is unpredictably wonky, I make great efforts to ensure that my work is always professionally completed, relatively error-free, and is ready to go when it needs to go, and where.

This concept is where, what I refer to as the “M1 Robot” image originated from. I’ve always been a little obsessed with ‘post-apocalyptic’ stories and imagery, so the theme of the M1 Robot always seemed to hold within a realm desolate and ugly, where this relentless, rusting hulk continues to operate, trying to make the world a slightly better place. Though that iteration of the website is long gone, I still hold an affinity for the imagery. I’ve turned it into a desktop, which will be made available at Reasonable Retail

I’ll be using this space to catalogue and record my work as I go. I’ve made an effort to include work I’ve done before this blog officially began, so that a history of some of the things I’ve done exists is the foundation for things to come. I offer it up as my portfolio – a (hopefully) easy way to navigate through the history of my work – both in professional and personal pursuits.

In addition to that, I’m going to make an effort to keep a blog of sorts. While I’ve never been a journaling sort, I feel that there are things I wish to say to the world, things to report, items of interest and opinions that need shouting out. I know that sometimes I’ve bored and annoyed friends and family with my tendency to go on long diatribes about a variety of topics, so my intention is to lay them out here, get it out of my system for the sake of my social life. (That remark is meant somewhat tongue-in-cheek.)

However, that is not the sole intention of this blog. I will also be writing about the things that I do – art, design, and freelancing. I hope to create a resource where people can come to learn techniques and tricks of the trade, inspiration for their own work, and perhaps some insight into how things tend to work in realms of design. I’ve never been very good at explaining the process, so this will be as educational an experience for me as it is for you, I hope.

So, with all that said, I sign off this first post. Read, and enjoy. Comment, if something strikes you – be it right or wrong, I welcome praise and criticism with an open mind.