redesign, redesign, redesign

Hi all,

I cannot settle on a design for my blog...at the moment you can view it at http://blog.1840dsgn.co.uk.

BUT I've decided I want to redesign it, something more simplistic, but classy.

This update will also have a complete overhaul of my blog engine to something more secure and with more features now I have learnt more complex PHP.

http://www.development.1840dsgn.co.u...gine/index.php

So far i've come up with a basic header and navigation.

I used the sliding doors technique in a PHP template with a headre anf footer. basically, on each page $current is defined and this variable name is given to the navigation div...this means on each page the menu will be different for that page...oike a current tab kinda thing.

Its also got rollover, bevels and features of the sliding doors technique.

What do you reckon so far?

Can you see this becoming a great design?

Mike

It was your birthday on 31 July!!!! Happy birthday for last week

Your new design is very elegant and sharp, but the old one was more unique I feel, and somehow friendlier, depends what you're trying to convey really.

Hmm... The graphic at the top is a little fuzzy and i am not sure about the buttons, they seem too IN YOUR FACE!

OH, and the forum must have a new feature telling me that someone has replyed whilst i was writiing my message and asked me if i would like to review. Cool stuff!

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That feature's been there a while Marc! Certainly as long as I've been here (April), you've obviously just never come across it before, it is useful, I've changed several posts as a result!

I have to agree with Vanessa. The new design is very professional, but I like the In your face of the original design. Remember, this is a personal opinion.

hmmm...I dunno what i want really thats the problem!

I've had three designs for this blog already...

I always look at other peoples and think wow that looks awesome I wanna make something along the lines of that...then i make it and a week later I see another nice site and think...wow I like that one! etc etc...

Yea the pic is like three stages of him throwing the dice, so its blurred a bit...its supposed to be though....

@marc that feature has been on the forums for ages! since I signed on at least! Must have been the first time its happened to ya!

@vanessa Thank you! Was the 30th July!

yea I know exactly what you mean...

I like the professional look a lot, I like it on other blogs and its those blogs that have inspired me for something more professional crisp and sharp looking.

BUT my current one is more personal, friendly kind of design...which is maybe what i should be using!

I'm just so indecisive I never know what i want!!!


I'm developing this new engine for the blog so i might design this template along with the engine and once its done and ready to go live I'll decide what I want...which will be really difficult!

I don't think it's so much that Mike, you're a creative person and you have lots of ideas that you want to try out. It's good for you to question what you've done and see how you can improve, don't think of it as a bad trait! I'm sure as you build up your own design business and start doing more things for other people, you'll find your creative urges are more satisfied and you won't feel the need to change your own stuff so often!

Ok, It is call "site envy". It is nice to ask opinions and you know we will always weigh in with our 2%, but in the end it is your site and you want something that says...This me, This is 1840desgn. You will know when you have it. This may sound silly, but it will feel right and look right and it will be all yours.

The thing is, the new design is nice and pleasant, sleek and professional but the current one packs more of a visual punch which as a personal/ web design blog might be a good idea. Then again something simpler may be better as the content is the most important things. I like the fact that your current one has a great visual identity yet the content areas are simple and clear so reading is not made difficult. I do think that the formatting of the content areas isn't quite as good as the rest so maybe you would want to build on what you have got rather than starting again.

Mike, point out somne blog designs that you like to us and maybe we'll be able to help you in the right direction to getting your own awesome blog design. Like I say though, that imagery you have currently is pretty strong and, for me, you'll have to do something great to top it. I'm sure you can manage it though. Nothing like a bit of pressure to get you going.

I'm a massive fan of the simplebits design and this pretty recent redesign of a blog. Very different but each one is possible the best example I have ever seen on the 'net of that particular style.

Pete.

I personally really like

http://thebignoob.com/

Its simple, looks professional, and is really easy to read...my inspiration to get designing again was reading articles on sites like A List Apart especially. I love how easy it is to read and I don't think mine currently has that because the content is taken away from a bit by the strong images.

Thats what led me to this redesign, I wanted to make it a isngle colour background, with a sleek image at the top and clear title. Simplistic yet informative and well designed. Thats whay i decide to pull out all the stops on the buttons using sliding doors (by the way I've altered them a bit to make them less IN YOUR FACE!) lol.

Its realyl hard designing for yourself...one weke I want something the next i want something else.

I love the big noob and I also happen to know its secret. Content. They designed the site around the content with meticulous attention to detail. It's so good you almost don't notice the design. The colours are perfect; the layout, balanced; the typography, unconventional (for the web) but superb. They also write excellent content which is the key to its success, I think.

This is a simple design, but brilliantly executed and I think that is the key - to decide on something and then do it well. If you want and illustrative style, great; if you want a bare, minimalistic style, fine. Just make sure its the best it could be. Try not to get bored with your design and work it from every angle until it is perfect (or close). Attention to detail is so important. Take the big noob, look at their 'popular post' listings on the right. They didn't just throw a list together, they thought long and hard about how to best present that, often neglected, part of their site. You should do the same.

Pete.

Of course it is, that's normal. The best way to get past that is to look at yourself as the client. and think like you do for a client. or if you have never had clients, use your imagination on what it would be like. I guess it is sort of like stepping outside your comfort zone.

Oh and by the way, I'm really not liking the colours of your new one. I like the design and the layout but that champagne colour brings back bad memories of cheap mobile phones and disgusting cars.

Maybe something with a little more character?

Pete.

I agree with the comments you and Pete made about thebignoob. It truly is a superb example of a fantastic blog.

However, the great thing about a blog is that you can do whatever the hell you want with it. Thats one of the downsides to a blog, though. You can make any kind of layout for it, but deciding on one is fookin diffucult! (Excuse my grammar).

I don't like the new design. I think the old one was better, but that is just my personal opinion.

Yea your right...this really isn't me...I'm just going for the coorporate look and throwing out everything else I know about design.

Time for a rethink me thinks!

Yup LOL! So true!

Yea I know I should...but its difficult...its just too easy to change it...its a fairly new blog...I know eventually I will come up with something and love it and as Pete said I will refine it until its perfect...but at the moment I'm experimenting, and can't decide!

Ah well i guess an advantage is I don't get many (if any) readers at the moment so its not like I'm being disruptive or anything!