Rebuilding Dreaded Designs: I’m Finally Three-Quarters of the Way There
When I decided Dreaded Designs needed an update, I knew I’d given myself quite a lot of work.
I may have underestimated the situation slightly.
What started as updating a few older posts somehow turned into me picking apart practically everything on the blog. Tutorials, images, wording, internal links, SEO, categories, branding… if it existed, apparently I decided it needed inspecting.
This has taken a ridiculous amount of time.
There have definitely been moments when I’ve wondered why on earth I started doing this to myself, particularly when one small job has uncovered another five. But Dreaded Designs is already in a much better place because of it.
And finally – finally – I’m around three-quarters of the way through.
Starting the Sketchbook Journal Again
The Sketchbook Journal has become part of the overhaul too.
There were only a handful of posts here, and when I looked through them, I realised I’d rather start again than update things simply because they already existed.
So that’s what I’ve done.
I’ve cleared out the old posts and given the Sketchbook Journal a fresh start.
I want this part of Dreaded Designs to be a little different from the rest of the blog. The main site is where you’ll find my detailed horror art tutorials, guides and resources, whereas the Sketchbook Journal can be a bit more relaxed.
This is where I’ll share behind-the-scenes updates, creative experiments, sketchbook ideas and some of the things I’m working on as Dreaded Designs continues to grow.
So technically, this isn’t a welcome post.
But… welcome to the new Sketchbook Journal anyway.
This Update Became Much Bigger Than I Expected
Going back through older content has been an interesting experience.
Some posts have surprised me because they’ve held up pretty well.
Others…
Well, let’s just say there have been a few occasions when I’ve opened something and immediately understood why it was on the update list.
I’ve also realised just how much I’ve learned since creating some of the older content. The way I structure tutorials, explain techniques, create images and think about what somebody actually needs when they’re following a guide has changed considerably.
Because of that, I haven’t wanted to rush through everything just so I can say it’s finished.
I’ve been rewriting unclear sections, improving step-by-step instructions, replacing images, reorganising content, working on internal links and generally trying to make the whole site easier and more useful to navigate.
Then there are all the smaller jobs hiding between the big ones.
You know the sort. You open WordPress intending to change one tiny thing and emerge three hours later wondering what happened.
It’s been a lot.
But I’d much rather get to the end knowing I’ve properly improved Dreaded Designs than rush through everything and realise six months later that half of it needs doing again.
Please, future me. Do not get any ideas.
I’m Finally Three-Quarters of the Way Through
Reaching roughly 75% complete feels like a pretty big milestone.
There’s still plenty left to do, so I’m not throwing a victory parade just yet, but for the first time the remaining work doesn’t feel endless.
I can actually see the finish line.
That’s probably the part I’m most excited about, because once this enormous update is finished, I’ll finally be able to put much more of my time back into creating new horror art tutorials, drawings and ideas.
Updating old content is important, and I’m glad I’ve taken the time to do it properly.
But I really am looking forward to creating new things again.
There’s only so long you can stare at SEO settings, image filenames and WordPress menus before a blank sketchbook starts looking positively thrilling.
I’ve Closed the Dreaded Designs Facebook Group
I’ve made another decision while all of this has been happening.
I’ve closed the existing Dreaded Designs Facebook group.
I still really like the idea of having a community connected to Dreaded Designs, but I’ve realised that now isn’t the right time for it.
At the moment, my priority needs to be finishing the blog, creating better content and building up its traffic. Trying to grow and maintain a separate community at the same time just spreads my attention across another platform when the blog itself still needs it more.
That doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned the idea.
Quite the opposite.
I’d love to create a new Dreaded Designs community in the future, but I’d rather wait until the blog has grown enough to actually support one.
If there are more regular readers visiting Dreaded Designs, then a community has a much better chance of becoming somewhere people genuinely want to visit – somewhere to share artwork, ask questions, exchange ideas and generally bond over our mutual enthusiasm for drawing things that probably shouldn’t be standing at the end of a dark corridor.
That sounds considerably more fun than trying to force a community into existence before it’s ready.
So, for now, the blog comes first.
What Happens Next?
For the immediate future, my mission is painfully simple:
Finish that remaining quarter.
I’ll keep working through the parts of Dreaded Designs that still need attention until I’m happy that the overhaul is genuinely finished.
Or at least as finished as a website ever gets.
Once that’s done, I can shift much more of my attention towards new tutorials, artwork, experiments and growing Dreaded Designs rather than constantly repairing its past.
And the Sketchbook Journal will be coming along for the ride this time.
I’ll be using this space to share some of what’s happening behind the scenes, document creative experiments, explore sketchbook ideas and occasionally talk about things that don’t really belong inside one of my structured tutorials.
I’m hoping it’ll become a much more personal little corner of Dreaded Designs – somewhere I can document not only the finished artwork, but some of the mess that happens while getting there.
There’s still that final quarter to tackle, so I’m not celebrating quite yet.
But after spending what feels like an eternity working my way through this overhaul, I can finally see the finish line.
Then I can get back to creating new things instead of endlessly updating old ones.
Until, presumably, I discover something else that needs fixing.
I’m choosing not to think about that.
