A Quick Question on How This Blog Looks
Hey there guys. So I have a favour to ask, if that’s okay?
I’ve been toying with the idea recently of redesigning the old blog. Don’t get me wrong – I like the way it looks now and how it feels.
Yet I’m often antsy, always wanting to change something here or fiddle with something there. To that end, I had been looking at changing the design to one that has more defined typography, and visually-led.
Since you guys are here as often as I am, I like to take your thoughts into consideration too. After all, this is pretty much your home as much as it is mine. So, with that being said, I’d like to know what you think. Should I change or stay the same?
Over to you.
43 Responses to “A Quick Question on How This Blog Looks”
Man, that’s a blast from the past, Jeff – think that was probably beginning of last year!
But yes – orange on white probably not the greatest decision I ever made
Ha! 6 votes and no answer yet as its 50/50. Have a good day.
I can see this is going to be fun…
Cheers Kathy, you too.
Hey Hey Mr. Brown -
My own USD0.02 – a blog design is as much an expression of the author as the content is (to heck w/ the readers beyond interface and usability issues). I think the current blog fits with what I’d expect from you on a personal level – clean lines, good, softer tones, etc.. Feels to me as if I should pull up a seat and spend some more time.
Compared to the 12for12K site, which also serves its purpose – bit more contrasty, more “let’s get down to business and help people out.”
So, at the end of day, while I voted keep it the same, if you’re feeling the need to change it for yourself – go for it. For me it works as is, but I have little doubt that whatever redesign you do will still be all-you.
.-= PR Cog´s most recent blog post …Embedded Tweets Verdict: MassiveFail =-.What’s wrong with the Canadian dollar, Cogster? I hear it’s giving your boys a good run for its money at the minute…
And I’m not sure what to make of your “personal level view” – have you been watching too many shampoo commercials?
But cheers, dude – always a pleasure.
I like it as is, Danny. Not too crowded with stuff, nice simple layout that doesn’t obscure the actual blog. Some blog pages are so distracting it’s hard to read the content!
I like to call them Yellow Pages blogs, Roger – so much advertising and information it can be hard to get to the stuff you actually want.
Cheers for the compliment – will definitely try and make sure that whatever design I have, it’s always clean and user-friendly.
Well, Mr. Brown, you’ll need to do whichever makes you happy.
I think your current blog looks great – I love the navigation and colors. It’s easy to find things. But, like Cog (Cogster? Coggie?) I understand if you need a little change. I’ll also admit that it’s fun, as I learn more and more about the design process, being able to notice the little tweaks that bring originality to your blog.
So, not very helpful, eh?
Thanks Mickey – easy navigation has been one of the things I really wanted to try and get right, so at least that part’s done.
I don’t think even Cogster/Coggie knows how to address himself, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much
I know exactly how you feel, Danny. I’m always wanting to renovate and tweak my site as well. We actually just completed a pretty big overhaul recently and I’m going to resist doing more changes for right now. We had our readers give us feedback and they were happy with the new look and said it was very easy to navigate through and read. That’s what’s most important and I’ll say the same for your blog. It’s great as it is, but thanks for asking.
Darryl
.-= Loving the Bike´s most recent blog post …Team: Happiest On My Bike =-.Not surprised your readers like it so much, mate – just checked it now, great job. Very clean and visual – nice.
Utilmately it should be up to you, Danny, regardless of the vote, I believe, because it should be a reflection of who you are and want to become. IMHO, the site looks fine.
Darren
.-= Darren Sproat´s most recent blog post …On Motherhood =-.Agree 100%, Darren, and whatever the design is, it’ll always be something that I would hope people think of when they think of me (if that makes sense)?
Always like to bounce around for different views, mind you
Danny, I like your color scheme and layout. I love the header – it’s one of the best personally branded sites on the net. My own advice would be to make small tweaks instead of a total overhaul. Experiment with typographical changes but not necessarily re-design. I decided long ago that my own blogs would constantly be in a state of evolution, so I make little changes all the time.
.-= Brandon Cox´s most recent blog post …Don’t Just Market for Attention – Call for Devotion =-.Hey there Brandon,
Cheers fella, really appreciate that. And that’s not a bad idea, either – small tweaks as opposed to large-scale changes. Something to think about for sure.
Cheers!
Of the 100+ blogs I subscribe to via RSS, yours is one of a handful for which I automatically click through to the site after reading a sentence or two.
Reason 1: I love how it looks.
Reason 2: Your site reinforces what you’re saying far better than most.The only things I’d change are the distracting/annoying drop-down and floating SM share menus. But that’s just me.
Hey there George,
Thanks a lot, fella – sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read each time, and here’s hoping I can keep you interested.
The floating bar/sidebars are something I’m experimenting with from an analytic point of view – see how they work versus the more “standard” end of post sharing options.
But that’s the great thing about feedback – I can also gauge what’s working aesthetically, so will definitely keep your thoughts in mind.
Cheers, bud, appreciated.
Hi Danny
Been following you for awhile (via Jim Connolly) and generally I agree, I like the blog’s minimalism, and there’s something quiet about it that seems to reflect you… still I am so wishing sometimes you would look up so I could see your eyes!Ha, I’ll keep that in mind for the next header design, Yael
I love the colours and layout. But I’d really like the header to be smaller. It kind of dominates above the fold and I’d like to read a bit more content before scrolling.
.-= Jon Buscall´s most recent blog post …How to Hire Great Staff to Work with Social Media =-.Cheers Jon, will take that into consideration for any future iterations
I would “improve”, instead of doing a total revision….it looks great already, but how about making your header match the footer, and then define and separate the pages boundaries more by making the background a different color than the page background. Just a few opinions, but what the hell do I know
. Don’t misinterpret this either, because I already told you that you have one of the most visually pleasing blogs I have seen.
.-= Abacoa Real Estate´s most recent blog post …Valencia at Abacoa Market Update From January to May 2010 =-.Ha, oh you know more than you think, good sir. Some good suggestions, and will definitely look into them – cheers!
Well, Danny, I like this better than prior ones and I understand the redesign issue because with Headway, some of it is because you can. I love the ease of change with Headway but the temptation to play is stronger.
I just noticed the little Tweetmeme and company widget following me around your blog. I rather like that. And I don’t know when you added it but I just saw it today. I’m slow reading blogs lately so for all I know you already tweaked.
So I didn’t vote, I think you should decide but it looks great, so totally your choice.
.-= Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s most recent blog post …Nuggets of Gold =-.Thanks Julie – haven’t made any changes as of yet, the floating social bar is just a plug-in to gauge sharing analytics.
Hi Danny,
I think it looks fine: clean, with good clear navigation. And it’s certainly way better than my ex on a good hair day (hey, there’s a reason for the “ex” designation). That said, tweet away at will and surprise us with your latest design innovations.
.-= Daria Steigman´s most recent blog post …Do Referrals Matter to Your Business? =-.Ha, I’m beginning to think the ex analogy may have been slightly “misplaced” – but it does the job
Glad to hear the navigation is clean – one of the key targets I had with this current design.
Danny, read this post yesterday and at the time was not quite sure how to answer, because my immediate reaction was what are your thoughts about the site design? Obviously you’re thinking about a change, right? From a reader perspective it works well for me. Clear, concise, easy to navigate, comment/share, etc. Emphasis is clearly on the information and your users which I think is the point. One thought (and so minor): unless people follow you regularly they may not know what 12for12k. Perhaps there is a way on the (right hand bar maybe) to surface up nuggets of recent activities/successes/posts to drive more attention there (assuming it’s a goal). From a design perspective there was one comment on size of header which I tend to agree with. Smaller would help surface up content a bit more – although, we do like nice lg pics of you
Great points, and the 12for12k one is something I’ll definitely get sorted sooner rather than later.
From the design angle, I’m not sure. Like I say, I just get antsy – I do like the current design a lot, just curious about others
For what it’s worth…every time I see something I like about a site, I bookmark it in a folder called “sites to emulate”. I visit a lot of sites….been through over 10k in sites looking for ideas. I have your site bookmarked in that folder, so that is a good sign
.I’m re-doing my own site http:jupiterflhomes.com as we speak and am switching it over to Headway … one thing I like about your site now is the round edges of the corners, but I think the sidebar would look even better if each widget had its own container and was separated from the others. Sorry to be posting so many of my opinions on your blog
.
.-= Abacoa Real Estate´s most recent blog post …Valencia at Abacoa Market Update From January to May 2010 =-.Funnily enough, I have separate widgets on the home page – perhaps I might transfer that over to the single posts too…
And always happy for opinions, mate – it’s one of the things I’m always open to
I prefer simplicity and minimal blog design, so how about removing the blue background and making that white, and thus expanding the width of your “column 1″ so I don’t have to scroll vertically as much?
.-= Ari Herzog´s most recent blog post …Blogging with Influence in 5 Steps =-.I did have a pure white background previously, and just found it was too much open space. But, never say never on anything.
The reason I changed my content width is from a user point-of-view, funnily enough, and came up from this blog post by Jim Connolly:
http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2010/05/02/so-want-more-people-read-your-blog/
So far, I’ve had some cool emails and DM’s saying that folks like the new size. But, again, I’ll be monitoring bounce rates since the change and see how it goes.
Cheers for the suggestions, Ari
Honestly I think your header is really letting the side down. It could be much more appealing without being overdone…Also your color palette is a bit limited with the blue and orange, I’d probably extend that a bit. I’d perhaps introduce some subtle colors into the comments section, you get lots of comments and it’s hard to see where one ends and another begins…
The simplicity of your site is nice though…makes you approachable.
Just my two cents
Lisa
.-= Lisa Kalandjian´s most recent blog post …New Constant Contact Template Design – The Beauty Bed =-.What would you do differently then, Lisa, from a designer’s viewpoint? Break down what doesn’t work (for you), and why – and how you would improve it.
Cheers!
ok….so I had a good think about it and here’s my conclusions…
I think there’s too much separation going on at the top of the page…and not enough below the navigation. So your header and navigation bar don’t span the width of the page, however they’re split up too much into separate components and sort of appear to be floating in space. I like the picture of you in the header as it makes everything a bit more personal, but it’s cut off in an awkward way and I’d like to see it more integrated with a background graphic. Think the navigation buttons should be more sleek and stylish than they currently are.The post page, which we’re currently on seems a little long and needs a break between the article and the comments. Also as you get so many comments I think you need to make it more obvious where one comment and ends and another begins.
I’d rethink your color scheme a bit. I love blue and orange together but a lighter blue goes better with orange, I think a few more accent colors are needed, darker blues and beige here and there.
So I guess that’s the main points…don’t want to overstay my welcome lol…
let me know if you agree or think I’m a raving lunatic
Lisa
.-= Lisa Kalandjian´s most recent blog post …New Constant Contact Template Design – The Beauty Bed =-.Hey there Lisa,
I agree with some and disagree with others – how does that sound?
The problem is, I’m not a coder so all the “design” you see so far came from a lot of research and teeth-grinding. There’s a lot I want to do, but currently don’t have the skill sets to do.
I could outsource to a developer – but I really like getting my hands dirty, too. But maybe I’ll bite the bullet if I can find a good one that doesn’t charge a mortgage rate by the hour…
And your welcome would never be outstayed, miss (unless you like brussel sprouts!).
I do like brussels sprouts! but I’m trying to kick the habit
I feel bad now, I didn’t realize this was your own creation. In that case you deserve Kudos as coding WordPress is no easy task!
That said we should discuss the things you agreed with and things you didn’t and I’m sure we can come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement! (imagine that said in the style of Del boy) haha
I will email you
Lisa
.-= Lisa Kalandjian´s most recent blog post …New Constant Contact Template Design – The Beauty Bed =-.It seems like some of the A-Listers are going minimalistic and I kind of like it. It is easier on the eyes, and allows the visitor to focus what you want them to focus on. ZenHabits.net is another very minimalistic site.
@mikepedersen Hi Mike. I agree – I’ve been guilty of having too much clutter in the past and I’m definitely trying to weed that out. Good call on the Zen Habits site, love that look and feel.
@DannyBrown @mikepedersen Hey…who am I to talk? My blog is got quite a bit going on, but it’s a fairly new one, so I won’t change it for a while.
DB – Site looks great. The colors work better than the old orange that was in your face and hard to read with the white background.
.-= Jeff Esposito´s most recent blog post …Happy Mother’s Day =-.