2005 has been quite a year

What a year. What. A. Year.

From launching this site, being ill and getting to meet so many new friends - it's been eventful that's for sure.

I don't really know where to start, so much stuff has happened but I'll try and be brief.

2005: Early on

The year started off with the launch of version5 of this website, the primary driver being the new version of Expression Engine and my new found enthusiasm for this publishing software.

Within a month or so it was great to see this site on Stylegala and CSS Vault and I was invited to part of the 9rules Network. I wrote a couple of articles in the first few months, one of them for Design In Flight and from there things pretty much snowballed.

2005: The Middle

During early summer, Emma and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a trip to Rome which was fantastic - we even saw the Pope! On our return I spent a couple of days in London at the @media conference. It was great to finally meet some of the people whose blogs I've been reading for a couple of years.

After coming back from @media things went downhill. I lost over a stone in weight and was really quite ill. After a few of hours in hospital, I was diagnosed with an Inflammatory Bowel Disease called Ulcerative Colitis. I'll have it for the rest of my life and have to take daily medication to try and keep it in check. It could have been worse though and since August I've been pretty well.

It was during this time I wrote two series of articles which have proved to be the most popular on this site. Five Simple Steps to better typography and Five Simple Steps to designing grid systems.

2005: The last four months

Things have been really hectic in the latter part of 2005. I've had my largest freelance project coming to a close, and what with juggling that, a full time job and trying to be a husband, i've had my work cut out.

I made it down to the Carson Workshop with Andy and Molly, which was superb (write-up is here). Following that I went on holiday, nearly learnt to dive and sprained my wrist.

Some lists

Here's some lists for you:

Notable mentions

These range from the people who continue to inspire me to those who continually bring a smile to my face. Without them, 2005 would have been slightly less inspiring and not as funny.

• Khoi Vinh: Daily inspiration from Khoi. Smart writer, even smarter designer.
• All of the Britpack, but a special mention to Andy, Jon, Colly and John.
• Molly: I've only met Molly once, but in that short time you can't believe how inspiring she was.
• Jason Santa Maria: For being a designer first, and then someone called Stan...
• Kitta: Nothing quite like an Aussie wit.
• Andrew: For continually entertaining me.

Stuff that I couldn't get by without in 2005

• Tea
• My new car
• My Wife and family
• Prednisolone and Colazide

On a lighter note

• Expression Engine
• Backpack & Basecamp
• skEdit
• NetNewsWire
• Mint
• RoundCube
• Dreamhost
• My 12inch iBook

Highlights from markboulton.co.uk in 2005

• Design and the divine proportion
• Expression Engine - Designers questions
• Expression Engine - Designers questions part 2
• Five Simple Steps to better typography
• Five Simple Steps to designing grid systems
• Green n Blue - an EE control panel theme
• Semantic Typography - Bridging the XHTML Gap

2006 promises to be a biggy

2006 promises to be quite a year already.

Em and I are off to Australia for three weeks in April for a friends wedding amongst other things. I'll be speaking at SXSWi '06 with Jason, Khoi and Toni and also for those lovely Australians at Port 80. Add to that a couple of big personal projects in the first half of the year, the day job and continuing to be the loving husband I am :).

Oh, and I'm doing my best to stay fit and healthy as well.

A big thank you to everyone who reads, comments and contributes to this site. I really wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for you. Soppy eh? Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Right, is that the kettle I can smell? I'm off, tea beckons. See you in 2006!

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I'm a graphic designer from near Cardiff in the UK. I've been a designer for over ten years now and primarily work on the web. I'm still partial to a bit of print every now and then though. I used to work for Agency.com in London as an Art Director before working as a Senior Designer for the BBC in sunny Cardiff. This was all before I took leave of my senses and formed my own design consultancy, Mark Boulton Design Ltd.

I've got a thing about grids and typography and occasionally ramble on about them to anyone who will listen.

Mark Boulton Design

If you're after simple, clean and effective web design; let me know.