I’ve owned the Steve Douglas domain for a few years now. Actually, it’s a lot of years. For most of those, it’s sat on a lone server with a splash page and some random HTML pages talking about my wedding, a pond that I built and other personal ramblings that don’t mean anything to anybody (save the Mrs., who did like the wedding stuff). With the advent of social media, Twitter, Facebook and what have you, I found myself representing my company publicly, while spouting off some fairly personal points of view.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that per se, but it’s not terribly business-like. Might even be described as unprofessional. Accordingly, I decided that I’d start using the Steve Douglas domain for things a little more personal and maybe even a tad more provocative. It wasn’t a one-of decision, but rather part of a large rebranding, repurposing and refocusing project for The Logo Factory itself (you can read more about the entire thought process behind this move here). Firing up this website properly would allow me to let my hair down (what hair I have left in any case) and feature material that wasn’t restrained by being connected, in one way or another, to my day gig.
All of this “personalizing” meant coming up with a ‘Steve Douglas’ avatar (as opposed to the corporate version I used for The Logo Factory). Rather than using a current mug shot, figured I’d use a portion of the photograph you see above. It’s a pic of me and my dad, when I was but a toothy-grinned youngster in Northern Ireland. It’s one of my all time favorites, and if I remember correctly, the photograph was taken at one of those instant photo-booths, at a holiday resort town called Portrush. The image is indicative of a simpler time in my life, especially when it comes to my relationship with my father. Those that know some of the current events surrounding that relationship (it’s complicated) may question the inclusion of the photograph at all. Perhaps they have a point. But to me, it represents an era where things were innocent, full of wonder, and I had an unclouded and optimistic view of the world. Like most sons, my father was the most powerful, intelligent and wonderous person on the planet. Not bad times those.
And that, in a very abridged nutshell, explains the avatar that you’ll be seeing around this blog and Twitter. Goofy, and maybe a bit mad I know, but well in keeping with the theme of this website.
Tags: personal, steve douglas, story
