Sign up to some online service, pick a username, password... and an avatar.

I had been using the same one for several years, and I wanted to change it for something cleaner. But what could it be? I'm not a fan of having my own face there and I didn't want something generic like a travel picture. Maybe a shadowed profile? Or some personal item?

After some thinking, I decided to embrace the gamer that I am and keep the Minecraft head I had been using for some time now. After all, I modeled that skin after my actual head! I changed its perspective with an angle that feels more natural, added detailing like the glasses that aren't glued to the face, and muted the background to create something less look-at-me.

Here's the before (2017) and the after (2024)!

Sci-fi fans who look hard enough might notice a small reference I put in the background. Do you see it?

I also took this opportunity to pick a new color to flag personal items, such as calendar appointments. Whenever I mention this, people are quick to point out the Interordi red as an option, but I see this as the “product” color, what I offer. What I wanted was a “me” color, separate from this. Red is already used, green is identified with the Creeper's Lab, I like orange but I wasn't feeling it... Eventually, I settled on teal. I like teal. And it goes well with a lot of things.

I took this opportunity to regroup all these colors I use on a single page, as a quick reference. The next time I need to set a color somewhere, I won't need to open each site's source code to look for it – I've got a convenient reference right there!

#branding #personal

– Doctacosa

One element I've been reflecting on lately is on a recurring theme: promotion. But rather than Creeper's Lab, or Interordi, how about myself?

Not that I'm looking at become a dreaded influencer, this is more about having an online presence that's not necessarily tied to a specific project, beyond having the Interordi frontpage, that is.

One idea I had was to run a blog to post my musings. It's entirely possible that this would fall in the “good idea, wrong time” trap, though, and would have been a better pick 15 years ago. It's not like I write a lot, but I have some thoughts I like to spell out once in a while. As a starting point, I could always build an archive from past posts I've made on forums, Tumblr and the like. This way, I would have some content from day one.

Another option would be to be more active on one or two social networks. Which one I'm not sure; I used to be more active on Tumblr, but that fell off a cliff. I have no interest on photos and videos, so definitely not TikTok or Instagram. Maybe it could be Twitter, as I like how short-form it is, and you can choose what to engage on. Plus, I already monitor the Creeper's Lab feed on there, so I'm at least familiar with it. Maybe you have a feeling on one that could be a good match for me?

And then one other key question: in which language? French or English? You reading this are more familiar with my english-language content, obviously, but I use both day-to-day. I'm not keen on having both languages repeating themselves on the same channels, that sounds too official-government-like. Separate channels could be an idea, but that's nearly double the work and not as spontaneous.

I haven't made any decision on this yet, still musing...

#branding #interordi #personal

– Doctacosa

A direction that I've been working toward for quite a while has been about branding. I've got the name and logo for Interordi that I've been using in some fashion for over 20 years now, always as a more subdued reference while other names have taken the forefront. Obviously, right now, that's the Creeper's Lab, but that could change eventually, much like it has in the past.

This isn't so much about pushing the Interordi brand itself aggressively like saying buy a t-shirt, but more about creating an awareness that there's more I do besides run a few Minecraft servers. If I was to launch a new site or product, I'd like people to know about it, and that's where having the branding comes in. The Interordi newsletter I've recently launched to annonce major updates is a key part of this, giving me a way to reach out to people that could be otherwise inactive on the network.

One notable step on branding has been the introduction of Interordi Accounts. An upgrade over the forum registration, this lets people create one account that can be used all over the network. From a potential player's point of view, it's also easier to explain that they need an Interordi Account to get whitelisted, rather than tell them to register on a forum to access a game. It flows more naturally. If I launch another service, tool or game later, people will be able to use the very same accounts to continue. As such, each location will link to the others.

Likewise, still pushing the visibility aspect, having one clear name helps to highlight that there's more. I've been gradually publishing some of my home-grown plugins, now available as public downloads, with more on the way. Other server owners might find one of my plugins, download it and move on. However, if I place a clear logo somewhere in each description, with a link saying something like “Check out my other plugins!”, each one becomes a possible entry point to raise awareness about the whole set!

Several of the things completed in the past year have played a role. Modernizing the forums was much needed, then the new Interordi homepage became a much more welcoming entry point.

What's the next step on this trip? I'm not even sure about that myself! There are a few things I want to do, plus more that I probably haven't even thought about yet, so it's all a work in progress.

#branding #creepers_lab #interordi

– Doctacosa