When you've eaten enough chocolate you begin to know the good quality from the bad. 

It's the same thing with Web site design. 

In less than ten seconds you can tell if a Web site will be a pleasure to visit.  You either have an instant respect for the designer or your shoulder muscles start to tense up out of frustration. 

Alexandra Dillon is one of the best Web designers I've come across yet. 

"I guess like a lot of other web designers, I really consider the web to be a medium for self expression as much as a tool for commerce," said Dillon, speaking of her site Carbon Places, a multi-layering of curiosities not just showcasing her work, but also bringing her spirit alive on the Web.  

"It's unique that way, I can't think of any other medium that is so accessible and allows so many different functions. I think of myself as a communicator first and foremost, and the thought that what I create on the net is potentially accessible anywhere in the world is pretty awe- inspiring. That's probably partly what drives my borderline pedantic attitude to designing and implementing a 
site-if you stuff up, the whole world will see!" 
 
Within her site Alex explains the naming of her site: 

Sometimes we seem to get so caught up in the virtual cyber silicon hype that we lose sight of what it's really all about. After all, the silicon world is just a representation of the carbon  world, and all the wonderful carbon places within it.  
  
Living in Australia, Dillon, a 25 year-old with a degree in Psychology, saw a spark of her current passion when she was first introduced to computers. After graduating university, she began computer programming. 

"I got my first computer when I was about 13, and got stuck into BASIC straight away. I think even back then, I found it really satisfying to exercise my sense of logic," she said. 

Vivacious and dynamic, Dillon's designs capture a solid 
cyber-urbanane feel while still textured with a deep sense of reality. But as strong as her creations are, it's the tranquilness of diving in the ocean that helps Dillon gather inspiration. 

"Forty minutes in the ocean recharges me more than a week at a health farm would. It's probably more something that contributes to the overall me, and makes me realize the 
overwhelming richness of the natural world, rather than picking up specific ideas for designs. I guess being appreciative of the larger world around you also helps to keep things in perspective when you're having a bad day." 

Describing her style as "clean and uncluttered", Dillon says she discovered the Internet in 1995 and plunged into the business of Web design two years later. 

"It never occurred to me that I might be able to combine the two interests, they just seemed light-years apart. My programming background has really helped me as it's now very easy for me to put together an online database, which is something a lot of other developers are really struggling with. I'm totally aware of how lucky I am to be working in a profession I enjoy so deeply, and I'm absolutely thrilled at the wonderful response my work is receiving!" 

Alexandra Dillon goes beyond exerting an innate artistic talent.  Driven by a strong personality and a sharp intellect, her site rises above others on the Web. There's something to said for becoming aware of technology and, rather than succumbing to it, taking a hold of it and manipulating it into an expression of self.  She has done this with brilliance and grace. 

Said Dillon, " I think one of the most seductive aspects of the web is the ease with which you can slap together a site and post it for the world to see. That sort of environment encourages a lack of attention to detail and a certain shallowness in a lot of sites. It's very nice that everyone who wants to put up a site can do so, but there's nothing more frustrating than wading through an endless succession of sites which are as bare of original content as the lunar surface." 

Visit Alex's Carbon Places 
  
Copyright © 1998 by Wendy Wallace