I have just finished V1 of a blog mock-up. Since I'm working full time I haven't put much effort in sorting out my website, I feel as though 2011 might be the year.

 

Its early days design wise, but I wanted to know what you all think, I'm hoping it's something a bit different.

 

Linky.

 

Thanks!

I like it, but I find the short x-height of the font combined with the generous leading a bit excessive, especially with the smaller sidebar font.

 

Reduce the line-height by 5-10% on the body and go for a 3:2 or 5:4 incremental leading on the sidebar.

ITS good...

 

my suggestion is increase the header height. keep more space between the logo (bottom & Top)

I like your layout, it is simple and clean. I dont understand the language, and Im just wondering what the site is about. The reason I ask is cause it's not entirely clear to me what the bottles in the header are and if they have to do with the theme or something? Also, you could use a bit more of a jump between your posts, as they are quite close together at the moment. Good luck ^.^

Thanks for your replies, again this is just early days.

 

@Renaissance-Design - Completely agree, I knew the spacing was off. I'll get this adjusted.

 

@Shabu - If I increase the height of the header it does not flow as well, I will give it another try though.

 

@Louibyte - The text is just Lorem Ipsum for now, it won't make much sense. It will be my personal blog where I host a few open-source projects I’m working on as well as a few tutorials on design, Coldfusion/Flex, HTML5 ect. Although there is no personal brief for this, I do think the lab style is in keeping with the context of the website. I’m sure it will make more sense when there is content in there.

 

I will update the design at some point and re-post.

I finally got around to spending an hour or so on my design.

 

Here is the revised version. Any feedback is appreciated, hopefully I can build this thing soon.

 

http://packjallo.com/V2/

The colours are lovely, however I'm not a fan of the greys, it takes away from the colour - especially the grey text in the header.

 

I feel the header is a little big too. Other than that it's standard fare well executed - would certainly make a good blog design when coded!

 

Good luck

1. It lack colors

2. It lack images

3. Couldnt quite get the idea from the image in header

4. Header is too big for no apparent reason

 

Overall design is boring and blog isnt engaging, You see some grey image, then after scrolling for a while you see texts and then some more texts and then some more texts. Makes me want to close it right away.

 

I liked entry layout though, you seem to love those little cute letters, give them some space and thats awesome. But you need to add some shinies to that. Like small colored icons, images to illustrate entries, something fun...

Edited October 27, 201114 yr by Lieto

Similar views from the both of you, I will take these on board.

 

Regarding the color scheme, I didn't really want to go all out on colour. I found that making the site more colourful was a bit distracting. I find using the subtle grey colour for the outer background, white as the main background and black body text provides better readability.

 

Images I agree with, there will actually be imagery in the content areas, I probably should of dropped this in.

 

I'm going to have a re-think possibly tonight and try and incorporate some more color into the header.

 

Thanks for the reviews.

I recall this site could give an idea, sadly it updated to be more color intensive.

http://web.archive.org/web/20081209101544/http://www.ndesign-studio.com/

Anyhow, check those small icons, coloring on titles etc, its not "all out" its just "some" and it looks more alive.

I recall this site could give an idea, sadly it updated to be more color intensive.

http://web.archive.org/web/20081209101544/http://www.ndesign-studio.com/

Anyhow, check those small icons, coloring on titles etc, its not "all out" its just "some" and it looks more alive.

 

Hi Lieto,

 

Thanks for the link, I actually prefer the new site, the colours are much more subtle whereas the old one is a bit of a nightmare to be honest. If you try reading the opening paragraph your eye gets easily distracted.

 

I have a few ideas I will incorporate, thanks for your help so far.

Not saying new one isnt better. I was referring purely to how you can insert orange hyperlinks, green icons and dark blue headers and it wont ruin the site nor will make it look childish. Not the best example prolly ))

Nah I got it, thanks for your help.

The space between the top navigation the the start of the first post seems a little too big- Eyes are drawn to the white space though the arrows help a little.

 

You can try adding some subtle inner shadows to the logo to give it more depth. Navigation buttons can use some shadows too. The circles are limiting if you decide to add more buttons that may need more space.

Post images should brighten the site and the only thing that I really don't like are the bottles.

 

the bottom of the bottles are drawn in a way that resembles a perspective where you look at them from a height, but the bottle necks and liquids don't.

I have had a bit of a play in Photoshop to try and improve the look, let me know what you think.

 

Please note that some elements are a bit rough around the edges for now.

 

The sidebar needs a bit of work, I have left the majority of it blank for now as I'm sure it will grow over time.

 

Blue

 

Blue & Silver