If you’ve checked The Mental Attic in the past couple of weeks, you’ll have noticed there hasn’t been much going on (also, thank you for checking!). The site isn’t dead, not by a longshot. But as I move into my 3rd year of blogging and taking inspiration from the hard work done by my friends at 1001-Up and Geekout South-West, I’ve decided it’s about time to tighten the reins and steer The Mental Attic into a better direction, something perhaps more focused and with better content and design.
For those who have followed TMA from the start, you know it’s gone through changes in menus, categories and even themes but it’s always remained rather bland to the eye. You will also remember how much I’ve begged for designers to help. So I’m actively looking for one to help me figure out the best look for the place.
But it’s not just a visual thing. It’s also about focus, about determining what TMA is all about, what its purpose is. I spoke to Tim the other day and we were discussing logos and I passed him the base concept I had for The Mental Attic’s, and we both agreed the current version lacked colour, and as we discussed that point, Tim gave me a list of what each colour represents before asking “What is The Mental Attic about?”
This site started as my foray into blogging and writing, to explore ideas and thoughts and feelings. As things went on and as I got to know such wonderful people, I opened The Attic to others and as I did I realized what it’s truly about, and you can take this as a mission statement:
The Mental Attic is about creativity and growth. A place to explore our minds, have fun and become better versions of ourselves.
It’s certainly been like that for me. I have much about myself and about the world in these past years. My writing’s improved considerably since the first post I ever wrote. And I’ve had so much fun and made so many good friends. Some of the most important people in my life came to me thanks to The Mental Attic. And I can only hope that TMA’s content has expanded your mind or helped you grow in some way. I sincerely do.
As of now, I have a logo, a clear idea of what TMA is about and a new tagline, one that sums up that mission statement: “Think Better, Think Bigger.” But I still have to get a new design going, weigh moving from WordPress to private hosting and finish a plan and schedule for the new features and content.
On that note: You will still find reviews for games and films. You will still find Urban Arcana. And you will still find opinion pieces. But now you’ll also find new and recurring series, videos, audio, and hopefully a steady stream of guest posts. I won’t give much away but here’s something that is definitely coming: A weekly series about the Spiral of Mediocrity, analyzing the weekly series (that I see or that you fine folk recommend) and decide if they’ve slipped in quality. This will replace the 3-episode reviews, though I will still do Full Season Reviews. In another series I’ll give you some advice on writing, based on my own limited experiences.
With all of this said, I just hope you’re patient with me. I promise it’ll be all worth the wait. And as the above (and featured) image suggests: I’ll be back!
