If you were to sum up jemjabella.co.uk in one word (positive or negative), what would it be? Also, how would you represent that in a design (either in a series of shapes or an image perhaps)?
Alright! I admit this is not some sort of social-impact exercise and I’m not trying to discover how my website affects your mindset. This layout is stale and I cannot come up with anything I like that sums up the site as well as being relatively attractive, so I’m trying to get ideas here. Humour me.
Unrelated edit: I did a bit of bug-fixing in BellaBuffs yesterday, do be sure to upgrade to the latest version when you get chance :)
14 Jan at 9:29 pm
In one word: varied. In more than one word: Hard to find things sometimes. Would prefer dark text against light background.
14 Jan at 9:40 pm
Hmm, I find the site easy enough to navigate, but the dark colors are kinda… bleh. After snooping around, I did find your layout with the circles along the header (similar to this one, with the logo horizontal) rather interesting. I think light background with dark text would be good. A horizontal menu may also be nice. All in all the site is amazing!
14 Jan at 10:22 pm
Summing up Jemjabella in a word? Opinionated?…. No, wait – I know! “Prickly”. Yes, that’s perfect – your blog posts contain either prickly opinions and prickly humour (or both) I vote “Prickly”… Pick Me!! Pick Me!! Oh and as a small request – Any chance of dark-on-light?
14 Jan at 10:29 pm
Uhh… it’s not possible to describe your site in one word. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to help much with ideas, it’s hard enough for me to come up with them for my own layouts. However can I just say that it’s the name that actually lets you know that this is a personal website. It sort of looks very professional and for lack of a better word ‘mature’. Yes I know that you are probably mature and don’t want your site looking like it was created by your regular teen. But why don’t you try and be a bit more creative with your layouts? Bring some of your coding skills into play and see what you can create. Experiment a little, it won’t hurt. Also put a little more of yourself into it, after all it is your personal website. Oh yeah, you don’t need to be a brilliant at creating graphics to make a creative layout. ;) Also I have to disagree with with Lew and Nick, I rather like a dark background with light text.
15 Jan at 1:20 am
The first thing that comes to my mind actually is a computer, but this would be so plain, boring and unoriginal that you’re much better actually not use this. I think the problem is that you blog about a bunch of things, many of which are not physical. I mean, there is no physical representation of PHP (beside the actual code), for example. I must second the guys who speak of dark-on-light. It just looks better to my eyes and everyone knows you should please me. Perhaps you could make a layout with things you like. Well, I don’t mean celebrities, of course, but, for example, coffee, another thing I associate with you.
15 Jan at 1:50 am
Geeky. In a good way. Eh…I dunno. This is the first site I’ve found where I didn’t actually get sick of the layout after some time of visiting it. But…I don’t think you can go wrong if you use some of your own pictures (I say the car incident was funny, so if you can come up with a phrase to go with that particular photo, it would be fine).
15 Jan at 1:51 am
Oh, and I like the light text on a dark background. (Am I the only one?)
15 Jan at 2:48 am
I also have to say I like the light on a dark background. But one word to sum up this site? Feisty. But I no clue as to how to make that into a layout. Good luck!
15 Jan at 4:09 am
I don’t really care about light on dark or dark on light. Yes, attack me with links to standards websites but dark on light or light on dark is not a big deal to me.
15 Jan at 5:04 am
Geeky. =) Yeah, how about with a real pic, and somewhat like your Red Berries WP theme?
15 Jan at 5:53 am
I’d have to say “opinionated”, hehe ;) When I need some inspiration, I go to sxc.hu and jump around for some photos I think I can work with. You could even use some of your own photography (that’s the subject of my current layout). Most of my better layouts come to me when I’m not actually trying to make a layout, but am just playing around in my graphics editor. Anyways, good luck :)
15 Jan at 6:39 am
“Supreme” comes to mind, but I’m not sure if that’s something you can use on a logo/layout without it biting you right back in the butt… :—D
15 Jan at 7:30 am
I’m with Hillarie on the text colour, i also prefer light text on dark background. But i also agree with Nick, The site colours are sort of ‘bleh’ too, You have taken some incredible photographs Jem, Why not integrate them into the site somehow? Or better yet as Anne suggested why not a pic of you and possibly even Karl? More colour and more personal interest perhaps?
15 Jan at 8:19 am
Well content-wise: meaningful. Your content is more than just “I spilled soup on my jeans, woe is me” and “here is a picture of my backyard with my new swing-set!” The content and blogs, typically, are useful for learning. The personal ones are interesting and never boring/bland. Layout-wise: boring. I’ve never loved this layout as much as you. With a larger resolution it look too pushed to the right. I sometimes find myself leaning to the right when I read your blog/site. I don’t like the way the white and the blue work together either, too stark of contrast to me. I like the diversity of the colors though. Using them is unique, just not my own taste.
15 Jan at 9:17 am
I don’t think there are any specific standards that say what colour combination you should use, as long as there is enough contrast between the two.
15 Jan at 2:02 pm
One Word: Code.
15 Jan at 3:47 pm
Just to voice my opinion on the colour and/or layout aspect; I think light on dark works very well, and I’ve been a fan of this layout since it first was published. /end useless comment
15 Jan at 4:26 pm
I still love this layout, and many webmasters leave the layout as it is for much longer. I also prefer light text on a dark background. In one word…rightous
15 Jan at 5:18 pm
Hrm… One word, huh? I would say Opinionated. I think the majority of people come here on a regular bases to read your highly opinionated take on the web and the world at large. Or they come for some insight into your coding ninja skills.
15 Jan at 5:34 pm
I would say to mix some of the old and new ideas you have done. The setup you have now is not bad, but the side image *points to the left* is way too plain and just a bunch of circular brushes in varied size. Why not liven that and the colours. You are good at tutorials and scripting, but why not try experimenting more with your style combined with different colour and image combos? I am sure you will come up with something good. :)
15 Jan at 7:43 pm
I can’t put it into one word, but I think maybe something birghter because this is a bit dark and dull and grey and saddening. Maybe it is something to do with me being colour blind, but kind of the colours have that affect. Something happier, if that makes any sense?
15 Jan at 7:58 pm
I think I would prefer it if the navigation bar was fixed instead of scrolling with the content. I really like this theme though. I’m more of a funky coloured person though – something like the primary colours you’ve used before are my preference.
15 Jan at 8:26 pm
Eloquent! I especially love how your site is not all about the wrapping but content, content and quality content.
15 Jan at 9:37 pm
There are no standards for text colours vs background colours. However, there are guidelines when it comes to accomodating for dyslexia and such. Not something you really need to concern yourself with but I’ve done a few sites professionally that were really insistant on it being dyslexia-friendly.
15 Jan at 10:21 pm
Oh, and I’d also like to add (I add a lot…I still have math, you see… /lamejoke) that I’m going through a layout block, too. Apparently my site has ‘no color’ (hellooo, black, white, and gray are definitely colors). So, I know how annoying it can be when you have no idea what to do with layouts. As I do.
15 Jan at 11:40 pm
That’s a hard one. I’d have to say interesting. Your blogs are always a good read, but your pants awards are amazing! I’d have to say that tutorialtastic is probably one of the most helpful tutorial websites around. Anyways, for some reason, the text size in the comment form is tiny in my browser. I have to highlight everything to see what I wrote. Well, I also can adjust the font size, but then then the text takes up too much space.
16 Jan at 12:36 am
I’ve always admired your layouts, but the past few have been quite samey – a variation of the circles and greys. It would be nice to see something different again.
16 Jan at 12:50 am
BAM! I think that word sums up your site quite well. :P
16 Jan at 2:02 am
In any case, the Jemjabella Circles (eee) seem to be a worthy permanent fixture so I’d definitely recommend you keep with them…as for colour schemes and whatnot, I *personally* liked the rainbowy themes you’ve had up previously, as well as the clouds. Whatever works for you though.
16 Jan at 4:09 am
Pixel art would be cool, though I know that would be really hard.
16 Jan at 6:25 am
What about an image of a girl drawing with crayons/markers/pens on a computer monitor? And one word? Uhm… Intelligent, literate… what about.. the literate geek? Is that used? You know, I like the use of prickly used before- what about something like A Prickly Intelligence or The Prickly Intelligent. I can’t type intelligent anymore, now it doesn’t look right.
16 Jan at 7:13 am
One word: Wise… or maybe supreme. I like prickly too! XD I think wise is appropriate because you always seem to know the better thing to do in every situation. Colours: I wouldn’t exactly call them “bleh” The grey and white is uninviting, and the pink is a bit too bold. I actually prefer light text on dark background – Because whenever I look at a black-text-on-white page, I feel like the amount of white *beams* at me too much. (Even if my monitor and lighting are set up right.) It’s really hard to think when it comes to, “Colours you like VS. Colours appropriate for screen display”. One of my design teachers told me that brown is the most comfortable/calm colour for a website. I personally prefer earthy colours like brown and green myself. Just don’t go with any green/grey colours like deviantART uses because everyone I know hates it. XD
16 Jan at 9:22 am
Hmm, a word that describes your site is… well… fixed. The content isn’t mixed or anything, it’s just organized. I’d represent that design in circles, I just think the circle things for the background/image/banner are nice. Oh, I also have a question on BellaBuffs bug-fixing you did, if I am going to update the script, which file must I upload/update? Like, which files did you modify with new stuff? :)
16 Jan at 10:59 am
I too like dark text on a light background. I think that even by inverting the nav bar to dark and the post area to light would help. I’d like to see your text a little larger so it’s more legible. Good to see something original to me though. Keep eating those cream eggs. mmmmmmmmm.
16 Jan at 11:09 am
Positive: Originality. Negative: Too dark (layout). I personally prefer looking at light layouts with a dark font. Colour suggestions: Blue, green, and pink.
16 Jan at 5:06 pm
Random? What does your font have to do with your website or your images? On the left side it looks like a bland happy website but then when you look over it just doesn’t match. Also, there has got to be a way to fix the emptiness of the side column when you’ve scrolled down to the bottom of the comments page.
16 Jan at 9:05 pm
I want to say: Boobies. But I’m going to say: UK.
17 Jan at 12:43 am
I know, I comment too much, but another JUST came to mind: firefox!
17 Jan at 5:50 am
I don’t know why, but the first word that came to mind was “spikey.” That doesn’t even make much sense o_o
17 Jan at 7:50 am
Mike! That’s it! Boobies! =D How come I didn’t come up with that.. UK is nice too. ;D