For most of 2008 my old blog was showing up if you did a search for "Hockey.com web designer". My theory is the message I had at the top saying I was unavailable for work at the time because I was employed as the hockey.com web designer was the reason.

In other SEO news, so far I’m placing well for any search query related to my portfolio entries as well as any geo-targeted search, IE Guelph graphic design, or Guelph web design, I show up on pages 2 and 3. It’s very interesting. I’m no seasoned SEO expert, so some of my practices are still theories and hunches and I wonder if I’l retain these high rankings or if it might be a kick-start from the Google Sandbox.

Wikipedia defines the sandbox effect as:

The theory that websites with newly-registered domains or domains with frequent ownership or nameserver changes are placed in a sandbox (holding area) in the indexes of Google until it is deemed appropriate before a ranking can commence.

I haven’t changed domain names, or name servers so technically I’ve been getting indexed for the last 3 years so I doubt a switch from flash to WordPress would get me back in the sandbox.

Edit (Oct 1 2008)

Apparently this blog post replaced the homepage at #1 (source)

EDIT (Jul 27 2010)

I’ve done a poor job of keeping content fresh on this website since it went up, but my positions for Guelph graphic design and Guelph web design are holding strong. Perhaps the next update will be the difference maker.

I’m a little late posting this, it took some time to really sink in, but the official word is that Hockey.com, the project, the company, everything, is dead. I can’t go into the details but as of June 2nd 2008, Hockey.com (or Hockey Corp) has closed their doors for good. The last 7 months were way too much fun and I’m very sad to see them go. The site had so much potential – especially with what we he planned for next season.

The optimistic side of me says this means I’m officially back on the market. I’m not overly keen on the idea of jumping in with another agency so soon after loosing this dream job, but I’ve spent the last week preparing to contact other agencies in the Guelph area, so expect some kick ass changes to the site (portfolio) some time next week.

… I’m really going to miss that site.

I have a fairly notorious reputation for doing an endless number of redesigns, but this is much more than that. I created Vectorthis during my first year in college. I’ve matured significantly since then – as a designer, as a person, as whatever, and I feel very strongly that the identity I created in 2005 isn’t an accurate portrayal of me or what I’m capable of, so a fresh start is in order. I’m still in love with the concept I based it all around – maybe even more now than when I first thought it up – so I won’t be ditching Vectorthis for a new identity; more like redefining what it means.

Stay tuned for progress.

Progress Update 1:

Initial thoughts:

1. Bold, loud, close to current concept
2. Bold, literal
3. Slick, slightly humbled, literal – much more elegance than 2

Progress Update 2:

Initial Thoughts

1. Elegant, sophisticated, bold
2. Elegant, sophisticated
3. Bold, heavy, sophisticated
4. Slick, forward thinking

It’s not all bad – blogs can be very useful, but i generally think of those as a group of articles rather than some online journal. The purpose of my blog is going to be on discussing design related issues: new projects, problems I, or colleagues, encounter from work, news from the design industry, thoughts on new brands, designs, campaigns, products, instructional articles, resources I stumble upon, unbelievable client stories and maybe a few bad designer puns. My hope is that I can grow this area into a neat little resource for people.

Stay tuned for more posts – I’ve got a lot to write.