Naturally inspiring

I had to post this image, and I’ll give you a short explanation as to why. I’ve got 4 websites racked up on my to-do list right now, and I’m suffering from a total brain cramp. I’ve even got wireframes and layouts approved for 2 of them and I just can’t get things finalized to my satisfaction. So I took a day off on Sunday and went for a hike. Not hoping for inspiration really, but I brought a camera nonetheless. One of the sites I’m working on happens to be a redesign of Natural Communities Magazine, for whom I did the original site just a couple of months ago. We’re converting it into an online magazine format using a highly modified version of Wordpress. I’ve got the programming done, but the design is killing me. I want something clean and modern juxtaposed with an earthy, natural feeling. Well, more natural than earthy, in my head. But I digress. I’m walking my favorite mountain biking trail with my wife, Aditi, and my dog, Chance, and we notice this combination of trees that I’ve always whizzed by on my bike before. It creates different designs that reminded me much of my Gestalt theory classes depending on which angle you look at it from. This picture ended up being our favorite angle (and was actually discovered by Aditi). It didn’t solve my inspiration problems, even so far as giving me a clue on the Natural Communities site, but it did give me hope. So there, now you’ve seen not only a part of Winona, but a piece of my brain. I hope you’re no worse for the experience ;-).