A short history of how we started out
When I first dreamt up the idea of launching the 'SkinnyDesign' website, the decision was initially design influenced. Both my brother and I shared an appreciation for graphic illustration and in particular t-shirt, tattoo and comic book illustrations. Together we quickly agreed on a website name, 'SkinnyInk', not 'SkinnyDesign'.
At conception, nobody owned the 'SkinnyInk' dot com domain name, and as far as I could tell nobody else used the name 'SkinnyInk' anywhere online. 'SkinnyInk' was my second choice for a domain name, as someone else had registered my first preference, 'SkinnyCow'. In hindsight, that seemed an irrational first preference. Within a few weeks of putting pen to paper, someone else bought the 'SkinnyInk' dot com domain. Shortly afterwards, that domain was being used to offer a graphic design service, part of my original plan for the website. 'SkinnyDesign' was born.
Alongside providing graphic design services, my brother and I both agreed selling printed products would be the main focus of our online efforts. We liked the idea of applying cleverly illustrated messages to products people would use or wear every day. The possibilities seemed endless. I bought the 'SkinnyDesign' dot com domain immediately to avoid further disappointment.
Both too busy in other ventures, neither of us contributed further to the idea. My brother had begun a master in civil engineering, and my full-time work-life became intense and uneasy. We had many creative ideas during this time, but neither of us invested in seeing them through. Occasionally I tried to reinvigorate the site, but the effort was always short-lived.
At the time of writing, the 'SkinnyInk' dot com domain is 'parked' (held to ransom), however 'SkinnyDesign' seemed to describe better what I was trying to achieve. To add to the chaos, the company Skinny Design Limited has since formed; however, there is no affiliation with the 'SkinnyDesign' dot com domain. Things move quickly in the very crowded and competitive world of the dot com, and there were many lessons learned. 'SkinnyDesign' only carried out a few design projects, but it finally returned as a blog.
'SkinnyDesign' radically changed its purpose, evolving into a space for sharing stories to help create better futures. Creativity will remain at the heart of 'SkinnyDesign', even if the name may change to serve its purpose better.
So there you have it, a little bit of the history behind Skinny Ink and Skinny Design.