Wesley Hodgson - Boner Noise
boinnnnggggggg, wheeeeoooop, brngngngng
Posted
Who are you and what do you do (for a living)?
Hey! I’m Wesley Hodgson, and I’m a UX Designer at Microsoft.
What is Boner Noise?
Boner Noise is a little soundboard type site I made that has a few err… uplifting sound effects that you can play should the mood strike you.
Where did the idea come from?
I like things like silly, one-page websites (eg: dowebsitesneedtolookexactlythesameineverybrowser.com), and I get far too much amusement from some soundboard sites like sadtrombone.com. I also like building websites and keeping those skills up to date.
The world definitely needed a website with a boi-oi-oi-oing sound on it, and at the time I hadn’t played much with HTML5 Audio or media queries, so I registered the domain and got crackin’. I knew that one of my co-workers at the time, Pablo Rochat, would think the idea was funny, and it’s always easier to motivate yourself when someone else is involved, so I asked him if he wanted to help with the icon/logo design. His enthusiasm for the idea cracked me up even more, and he totally killed it with the icons/logo. I probably would never have made the time to do it if it weren’t for him.
What did you learn making Boner Noise?
Well, if it wasn’t obvious already, I learned that while I usually shy away from involving other people in my ridiculous ideas, sometimes it can help you actually act on them. You’re more likely to do something if you tell people you’re going to do it! I learned some technical stuff too, but I don’t actually think that’s as valuable a lesson.
What are some of the things you’d like to do to Boner Noise?
Hah! What an odd thing to ask! Actually, I do have a couple things I’d planned, but have never gotten around to (see above). Maybe now that I’m saying it here, I’ll actually get around to it. I’ve meant to convert the icons to SVG, and probably put some sort of ‘loading state’ in for between the button press and the sound play (particularly helpful on mobile). I’ve joked about other sound themes with friends as well, including the obvious bonerfail.com, which I pictured as essentially the dark, flipside of bonernoise.com. When I describe that I always picture the “dark world” in the game Super Meat Boy.
You know, I think mixing bonernoise.com and Super Meat Boy in an answer may have just made my day.
Is it obvious that I like typing “Boner Noise” and tried to include it in as many questions as possible?
It’s Monday morning and I haven’t finished my first coffee yet, so… nope! But thanks!