Blog's Spot #10: Designer Daddy!

Welcome to a new week of Blog’s Spot! This is one I’ve really been looking forward too, as his writing style is wonderful. Our highlighted Padre this week is Brent Almond from DesignerDaddy.com, the tales of an award winning graphic designer, his husband (AKA Papa) and their son JJ. Brent was awesome enough to fill out our humble little questionnaire, and we’re certainly glad he did! Hope you enjoy, and don’t forget to go check out DesignerDaddy.com!

1: Besides becoming a parent, what made you decide to blog and are you still blogging for the same reason? Have you evolved since you started, and if so, how?

My original inspiration was based more on being a designer who’d become a dad, and my perspective on all the baby stuff I was having to buy. And that would be a resounding NO and YES — I am not still blogging for the same reason, and I have definitely evolved.

While I still review things from a designer’s perspective and share crafts and my SuperLunchNotes doodles, my greater motivations have become my experience as a father in general, and as a gay father more specifically.

2: Out of all your posts, which do you think resonated most with others and why?

Probably this one: CLICK HERE — where I talk about being an introverted parent raising an extroverted child. It got a bump from a huge blog, but even beyond that — it got republished on Huffington Post parents — it seemed to connect with more folks than anything else I’d written. Seems a lot of people have different personalities than their kids — who knew? 🙂

Another one that got a ton of views/responses (without the aid of a superblog) was this one —CLICK HERE — which is really just a list with photos of gay dads and their kids, and reasons why that’s awesome. It was right before Father’s Day, and while I got a bit of flack for it either being too stereotypical or not gay-centric enough (you can’t please everybody, huh?) in general it was a “feel good” post that’s fun and heartwarming to read and look at.

3: How do you think/hope your child/children will view your blog later in life?

I honestly try not to think about that too much. I know some bloggers write for or to their kids, but I realize I’m writing more for myself, and to a lesser degree for the LGBT community and other parents. It’s part journal, part soapbox, part therapy, part sketchbook. But I do hope my son can read it when he’s old enough and enjoy it as I did my dad’s slide shows or my mom’s photo albums and scrap books. And I hope he can find encouragement in it if he ever feels like an outsider for being adopted or having gay dads.

4: What kind of parenting advice have you received that you actually used in raising your little one?

I consult my Mom and Dad pretty often — I’ve come to appreciate what they went through with me and my brothers SO much now. And even if I don’t talk to them, I remember a similar experience in my childhood and try to think how my parents responded or what their perspective must have been. It’s both encouraging and humbling. From time-to-time I’ll bring something into the Dad Bloggers Facebook group or another Facebook group for gay fathers that I belong to. But I’ve built friendships with fathers from both groups, and will often message those guys directly. In regards to the kind of advice — everything from sleeping habits (mine and my son’s), making time with my spouse, dealing with questions and comments from others about my family in regards to adoption or same-sex parenting — the whole shebang.

5. What do you hope to gain from blogging? What are your goals, where do you see it going?

This is something I’ve really been mulling and reexamining since attending BlogHer in July. I feel like a jack-of-all-trades/master of none most of the time, with my interests and blog posts ranging from personal stories to lists to advocacy to design to crafts. I love honing my writing skills and really look up to folks like Whit Honea and Elan Morgan. But I also love pop culture and creating great design and illustrations and aspire to sites like Shuggilippo and How to be a Dad.

So I guess my goals right now are to continue to find my voice and my stride. To get seen more, paid more, and called upon more often to represent gay dads and the issues unique to them. To become a better writer, a better designer, and a better father. Easy-peasy, right?

Be sure to follow Brent The Designer Daddy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! And join us next week for an all new Blog’s Spot!