In 1964 Marshall McLuhan identified a new phenomenon in modern society. That year, McLuhan published Understanding Media, a book of essays focusing on the pervasive effects of new media on our lives. McLuhan predicted that the microchip would change the way we conduct business, communicate, entertain ourselves, and how we learn. He condensed the world-shattering prophecies into the saying, “The medium is the message.” We are only now beginning to understand the implications of his words. This phrase referred to the fact that media (as extensions of the human mind and body) are inextricable but independent from their content (human thought). Although the words are esoteric, they shaped my studies and practice of educational technology at San Diego State University. As my studies progressed and my skills grew, I realized that the idea that "the medium is the message" is essential to instructional design. . The constantly emerging media that educational technologists must adopt require that we understand the full range of potential cognitive benefits and pitfalls associated with each medium. We must now carefully examine the affordances (or unique beneficial properties of a medium) and the constraints (or limitations) inherent in each new technology we use. This secondary reading of McLuhan's quote brings me to a design process I call "Conversion." Conversion, as a design metaphor, describes the movement of content through media in a way that takes advantage of the opportunities of a new medium and overcomes its constraints. It is a philosophy that requires an in-depth study of how individual mediums work and how we can use media to achieve our goals. The conversion is also grounded in contemporary cognitive science research,...... half of the article.... ..the process of converting the existing design into a theoretical framework helped me grasp the power of incidental learning . Finally, the look of the portfolio is the result of Conversion. When I first started, I tried to create the portfolio from scratch using a standard website layout. Technical issues and compatibility issues plagued the page. At this point, I tried co-opting a WordPress.com blog to add more structure to the site. I started using blog offerings (a clear hierarchy and structure, dozens of pre-built layouts, and customizable interfaces) to enhance my portfolio. This conversion of a blog to a portfolio solved not only my technology problems, but also a number of design problems. These projects chronicle the transformations that occurred in my design process even as I guessed, played and discovered my way through the Master's program.