Kim Siever’s Blog

In 1994, dozens of men and women between the ages of 19 and 24 got together in Provo, Utah for a social. There was a BBQ with a lot of meat and a soccer game. There was also a jalapeño eating contest.

Someone brought a 100oz can of whole jalapeños. Eight of the men and women volunteered to be contestants. I was one of them. We all sat around a picnic table—four on each side—and were each given a plate of 12 jalapeños. The person who ate his/her twelve jalapeños the fastest would be declared the winner.

Once everyone was ready, the race was on. Half of the contestants dropped out before they were even finished half of their plates. It did not take long before the contest was nothing more than a race between me and Troy Gaspar—two Canadians. We had out-paced the remaining contestants and were going neck and neck to the finish. Finally, I pulled ahead and finished my plate with Troy just finishing the last half of his last jalapeño. I won the contest! I ate twelve jalapeños faster than anyone else did.

What does this have to do with design?

I did not take part in the contest because there was a prize for the winner. I did not take part in the contest for the fame. I took part in the contest because I thought it would be fun.

I have the same attitude for website design. When I started designing websites in 1997, I did not do it because I wanted money or fame. I did it because I thought it would be fun. Many years later, website design has developed into a hobby that takes up roughly 60 hours of my time every week. It has been my commitment to website design that has pushed me beyond simple tag-soup HTML to learn CSS, JavaScript, ColdFusion, PHP, information architecture, accessibility and user-centred design.

Just as I was committed to participating and winning the jalapeño eating contest, so I am committed to website design.

A hot pepper not only has historical significance to me, but it also represents my passion for design and my commitment to forge ahead while others around me fail. I wanted something that represented me, that was widely recognizable, and that would work well at various sizes. Hot peppers are found in numerous cultures throughout the world and are instantly familiar to those who see them. I also love spicy foods. These were all indicators that a hot pepper was a good choice for a personal dingbat. Besides, I am hot stuff and a hot pepper represented that well.