Nov 11 2008
I want your layout
I have been thinking about redesigning and redeveloping my blog to make it more… bloggy. Kind of like a cross between kottke and Diaua!com. Do you think they’d mind if I took their layouts and mashed them in to one?
Edit: I was thinking something a bit like this… it occurs to me that I perhaps forgot a few things. Like, you know, navigation. :| *gives up as bad idea*
Warning
This post is over 6 months old. This means that, despite my best intentions, it may no longer be accurate. Age, motherhood, experience, loss... these things have all changed me from when this blog was started back in the heady (ha) days of my youth.
As much as I would like to go back and edit 10 years of archives to provide an insight into the 'me' of now — to update coding snippets and revise website advice — it would probably take years to do so (by which point I'd have to start again!) This would defeat the point of keeping these archives anyway.
Please take these posts for what they are: a brief look into my past, my history, my journey.
37 Responses so far
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Wow, those are two very different layouts. It’ll be a challenge merging them, so I’m pretty sure they’d be more than happy to see the result :P
I like your current design though, leave it! Well, maybe change the blue to a girlish pink and the grey background so a lovely flowery green ^-^
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Uh. How does that look more bloggy? o_O
And, I dislike both the first and the second one. No visual cues to tell what’s the blog and what’s the ‘other’ info in the first, and the text is so big it’s screaming at me in the second. Yeah. I’m really picky. ;)
Anyway, who knows if they’d mind? Better check out their copyright licenses, as it is derivative… but maybe they released copyright on their stuff. Wouldn’t that be nice?
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@Stephanie: kottke is *all* blog, but he mixes his asides with his main entries, and I kinda like that format.
I’m not really going to steal their layouts though ;)
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Just don’t make the blog headings as huge as on Diaua. >_<
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I love Diaua’s layout. Yes, even the bigness of it.
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I don’t quite get what the point is to have both asides and “regular” blog entries… Just because one is shorter?
Meh, I prefer your current layout so much more to either of the two sites’ mentioned… so I hope you don’t :P
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@Kiera: your site is very bloggy too.
I don’t know.. in all 3 examples, the blog is what gets your attention. I think I need that kind of focus.
*rambles*
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I love both of their layouts. It’d be great to see a mashup of them.
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Personally, I dislike Diaua’s layout. It is way to big. The colors & the design is just not you, Jem. The other one is ok, but still not you. It just seems to simple, Jem. But this is just my opinion.
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@Hev: “me” is an imageless layout with monospace font and justified text. The only reason why I don’t do that is because I’d never hear the bloody end of it :p
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Hm, I don’t much like either of them. However, if you want your blog to be the main focus, I’m sure you will come up with something to do the job, Jem. :)
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I love Diana’s site SO MUCH.
But anyway, I REALLY like what you have going on here right now. The blog gets plenty of attention, and this style really suits you. :D
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Do it! Just with bigger headings.
I don’t see what’s unbloggy about any of your designs though Jem :-S
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I love your current layout and I truly think this is the best you’ve ever come up with, so I’d keep it if I were you.
Now, I really liked diaua’s site, but not kotkke. It was too bland and boring. It’d be interesting to see how you manage to merge the two.
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Hmmm…you got me thinking about my own layout (I know I said I only wanted to change some things about the current one, but I’m really thinking about other ideas…).
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While those layouts do scream: “BLOG!” they don’t offer much else, while you do.
I think the way you design your site fits perfectly with what you have to offer from it, your blog, content about & by you, and then visitor content. It just flows right and makes sense. =/
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I think your example is more plain than bloggy. In order to pull off imageless, you need to be dramatic. Which is why the bright bright green works for kottke, and why Diana has such a huge font and contrasting colors. The blue/grey/white thing is too blah to handle imageless (or practically imageless).
You can do it, Jem ;)
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I’m too lazy to do it. I’ll probably just stick with what I’ve got for a while :P
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I wouldn’t mind, but I agree with Roxanne that my site is just a blog and yours offers a lot more than that, like scripts. Thanks for the plug, by the way <3
Yay for sticking with what you have though~
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Aww but this is one of my favorite layouts of yours in quite a while!
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I really liked what you started to make. I always love your layouts!
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I like the first reference :D
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I don’t like these layouts much. What you have right now is perfect.
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I think both examples are just plain boring. If I weren’t friends with the owners (well, I’m not but yeah) I wouldn’t stay for a minute. I like this one, I think it look bloggy to me, but also slightly artistic. I reallllly do not like boring layouts, please don’t subject me to it! (Kidding, haha)
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I’ve come back again to say that I think the layout you currently have is absolutely PERFECT for your site.
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Eeeeek! I personally love your layouts. I think they look very “bloggy.” However, I think those other two sites look ridiculous. As everyone above me has suggested, they’ve very boring. Your site has always looked awesome, though.
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I absolutely LOVE Diana’s layout, and the other one mentioned isn’t all that bad either. In my opinion, those layouts don’t suit your website. They’re blog oriented, but your website offers more and it requires a more structured layout (like the current) to pull it off nicely.
I like this layout, keep it. Although, I like your old orange and blue layout the most out of any you’ve made. I miss it. :(
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It would be very interesting to see how you’d merge those two! I’m neutral towards kottke but I love Diana’s too. Don’t know what the complaints about the big fonts are about, I have a craze for them at the moment. :P
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I really like your current layout a lot more than those two you linked. But it would be nice to see how it turns out if you somehow merge the things you like about those two layouts and add your personal touch (because as they are, they don’t remind me of your layout style at all). Except for the lack-of-navigation thing (LOL), the little test-merge you did looks nice.
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The suggestion you put up, is not that bad actually… you could go for a horizontal navigation… or not enough space for that?
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I like how you’ve found two layouts & tried to combine them. I like what you’ve done so far, don’t give up! :)
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Well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right?
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I personally like your current layout — it’s easy to navigate and read while the others you listed were not. :| Diaua is not flattering whatsoever & kottke is cramped and hard to read. I think if you made a layout sorta like kottke’s but tweaked it a bit, I think it could work. :)
Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
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I think something like http://kottke.org/ would look a little more professional.
Not saying it doesn’t look that way right now :P
But I like the layout you made it’s really cute, i’m sure you’ll come up with something. -
I love Diaua!com’s! I’ve been experimenting with huge font sizes and will probably implement it in my next layout!
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What’s with everyone bringing up “bloggy” in explaining how something looks?
Anyway, I’ve always loved how kotke intermingles his asides with his posts (same with Ma.tt from WordPress.) I’d definitely like to see something leaning more towards how the content is displayed with Kottke. Not sure about the other site, although it does remind me of how intesify.org is set up; Always loved how her content is placed, and the extra non-blog content on the front page.
Either decision you make, looking forward most to something new and fresh!
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I actually really like your current design, but it is, of course, your site. Are you working on a new design now, a week after this post was done? (I’m so behind in my blog reading.)
