I did a whole lot of doodling, scrawling and idea plotting on the weekend for my new project to redo CountryVilla-Algarve.com. I was getting all kinds of excited on my plans to do a technically challenging site – something that I could really prove myself on.

I was thinking about the design. After a lot of scrawling I decided on doing a website that would capitalise on the photos that I’ve taken of the villa and surrounding area – that’s where the beauty lies!

But I began thinking. A long time ago, when I thought about tackling this site again I dove straight into Photoshop and a day later chucked out my design. Why? I thought I should create a website that would challenge my DESIGN skills.

I had a memory, yesterday, of when I previously thought about this site and wanted to give it a more rustic natural feel using warm colours, textures, romantic fonts and using more design elements. I like incorporating textures into my designs but I wanted to see if I could try something a little bit more creative. Which has now got me thinking – am I going down the right path now?

I’m thinking I am right – yes the villa’s in the countryside but it’s not all that rustic. I wouldn’t say. It’s pretty modern. Fair enough, it’s built in an old farmhouse, but the farmhouse wasn’t that old.

Can I rely on photography alone to get the message across to the visitor of what the villa is actually like?

I’m hoping the answer is yes. Mostly because I REALLY want to try doing a large background site. I like the challenges that it feels like it could give me. Technically. I get more of a kick out of problem solving with coding than design.

Maybe I’m being a bit selfish in doing what I want to do with this site. Maybe I could combine both aspects?